Student travel fund

A picture of a student standing in front of a temple

Dr Lee Kai Hung has generously donated £100,000 to match other charitable gifts, creating a fund to support University of Manchester students who wish to fly to the Chinese-speaking world to study languages spoken in China, or conduct research about Greater China. Preference is given to the former.

The travel fund will also support students and early career researchers from the Chinese-speaking world to come to the University of Manchester to study or conduct research.

Lee Scholarships will typically range from £500 to £1500, and be used to cover student travel expenses.

How to apply

Please fill out this form and email it together with a one-page CV to mci@manchester.ac.uk with the subject line, ‘MCI student travel’. The deadline is the Friday, 7 June 2024.

2024/25 awardees

2023/24 awardees

Our Travel Fund enabled several University of Manchester undergraduate students to travel to the Chinese speaking world. Find out about the group below.

Sol Stappard

Sol Stappard

I'm Sol Stappard, 23, from West Yorkshire, currently on my year abroad in Nanjing, China. I have studied Mandarin for two and a half years after switching from my Chemical Engineering degree at Nottingham University.

My goals this year are twofold: to enhance my professional Mandarin proficiency and deepen my cultural understanding of China by being on the ground immersing myself in Chinese society.

This grant supports both objectives. For instance, I plan to explore less-visited areas and meet the peoples that reside there.

In the summer and winter holidays I plan to travel the southwestern border with Laos and Myanmar and the northeast border with Russia and North Korea, this will allow me to see first-hand the lives of those at the fringes of Chinese society and to what extent these regions have been able to share in the economic prosperity brought on since Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening policy in the 1970s.

Finally, I believe this experience will help in my early career development as I will be able to bring a more accurate, holistic, and 3-dimensional view of China to the table contributing in a meaningful way to furthering mutual understanding and cooperation between both the UK and China.

2022/23 awardees

Abigel Vizi

Abigel Vizi

I'm from the small town of Saint George in Transylvania, Romania. I’m currently studying at the University of Manchester, majoring in BA Chinese Studies. As part of my degree, I will spend my third year in Taiwan, studying at National Taiwan Normal University.

Being able to study at NTNU for a whole academic year will allow me to significantly improve my Chinese language skills and immerse myself in the local culture. I hope to use this knowledge and experience to fulfil my ambition to obtain a job at the UN in China, linking my passion for the Chinese language and culture with my drive to make positive change.