The US-China Education Trust, in cooperation with Tsinghua University and DC-area schools, is launching the Spring 2025 Common Ground project to advance our mission of bringing American and Chinese students together. Students will work on areas where US-China cooperation is urgently needed in an era of competition and tension between the two countries. All activities will be conducted virtually and in English.

Students Finding Common Ground— Experiential Projects for US-China Gen Z Students follows the successful example set by last year’s inaugural Common Ground projects. Students chosen through a competitive process, half enrolled in Chinese universities and half in American universities, will form groups focusing on a separate topic area: 1) Climate Change and Environment, 2) Peace & Conflict Resolution 3) Education; and 4) Public Health. Each group will work with mentors who have experience in the topic areas:

Expectations and Outcome

Each student group will complete an experiential project that outlines the details of a collaborative U.S.-China initiative in their chosen field. The project can take various forms, such as a multimedia presentation, survey, handbook, field study, or other formats.

Students must be willing to attend approximately 5-6 group meetings throughout the spring 2025 semester with fellow students as well as DC and Tsinghua faculty mentors and advisors (approximately two hours each). Professors or small group advisors may also suggest a small amount of project-related reading material. While there is no academic credit for this project, worthy final projects may be published on USCET’s website and presented virtually at conferences and other opportunities. 

Common Ground participants will gain access to additional resources, connections, and opportunities within the U.S.-China field, including invitations to closed-door scholarly and expert discussions, conferences both in the U.S. and abroad, as well as other emerging opportunities.

Applications are open to all undergraduate students in the DC-area with a demonstrated interest in US-China relations and a readiness to work alongside Tsinghua University students. Those interested should fill out the following Google Form by the extended deadline of December 15, 2024, 11:59pm ET: https://docs.google.com/forms/u/3/d/e/1FAIpQLSfv9V0zx7AONFfqbqdhWXKbiMPsIbHp4BXdXQMGSEpw50KWuw/viewform?usp=send_form

Not an undergraduate student? USCET is also hiring one part-time graduate student to serve as a program assistant to the 2025 Common Ground project. Please refer to this page for instructions to apply by November 22.

The students, mentors, and advisors will meet regularly throughout the spring semester to develop their projects. Stay tuned for more on this exciting journey!