The National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars aims to speed up the growth of young scientific talents, to encourage overseas Chinese scholars to work in China, and to quickly usher a big group of prominent academic pacemakers in the forefront of world science and technology. The Fund specially supports excellent young Chinese scientists under the age of 45, who work domestically or abroad but plan to return soon, in the fields of basic research and applied basic research.

    Applications for the Fund are evaluated once a year. The evaluation will carry through the guideline of "respect knowledge and talents" as well as the principle of "relying on experts and developing democracy to select the best proposals for support in a fair and reasonable way". The deadline for application is March 31 every year and relevant NSFC scientific departments are responsible for handling applications.