Due to global climate change, coupled with the increase in population, growth in water withdrawals, expansion of farmland area and reduction of forest, the surface runoff process in Africa has undergone major changes and extreme hydrological events have been occurred frequently, which has caused greater impact on the production and life of the people. 
　　In order to systematically understand the response of runoff trends to climate change and human activities, the research team of Researcher Prof. Liu Yuanbo from the Nanjing Institute of Geography & Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) constructed improved monthly runoff data for the African continent from 1981 to 2016 based on the river discharge data from 535 gauging stations using a revised runoff curve number, downscaling and interpolation statistical methods. Then, monthly and annual runoff data, climate data (precipitation and temperature) and human activities (farmland expansion and water withdrawal) were used to assess runoff trend responses to climate change and human activities in Africa during 1981–2016. Related results were published in the Journal of Hydrometeorology. 
　　Analysis of runoff trend responses to climate change and human activities revealed that land cover changes contributed more (72% a-1) to the observed net runoff change (0.30% a-1) than continental climate change (28% a-1). These contributions were results of cropland expansion rate of 0.46% a-1 and precipitation increase of 0.07% a-1. The annual runoff trends were 0.21% a-1 in the tropical region, 0.16% a-1 in the temperate region and 0.91% a-1 in the arid region. The runoff increase in the tropical region was fully caused by human activities, with a contribution to net runoff increase of 160% a-1 due to cropland expansion by 0.53% a-1. Climate change was responsible for an increased runoff in the temperate and arid regions, with contributions of 102% a-1 and 117% a-1, respectively. 
　　Land cover change was the dominant cause of increased annual runoff, with trends ranging from 0.06% a-1 to 1.38 % a-1 in 7 of the 25 major river basins, including the Africa–Indian Ocean Coast, Limpopo, Shebelle–Juba, Volta, Gulf of Guinea, Africa–East Central Coast and Madagascar due to cropland expansion trends (0.02% a-1 – 1.03% a-1). The Orange, Namibia–Coast, Africa–Red Sea–Gulf of Aden Coast and Zambezi basins experienced runoff reduction (-0.15% – -1.88%) due to the increase in water withdrawal (1.80% a-1 – 3.23% a-1). 
　　Climate change was the dominant factor that induced annual runoff change in 14 of the 25 major basins, where 11 basins (Africa–South Interior, Africa–West Coast, Nile, Angola–Coast, Rift Valley, Africa–North West Coast, Niger, Mediterranean South Coast, Africa–North Interior, Lake Chad and Senegal) had runoff increase (0.08% a-1 – 1.76% a-1) due to precipitation increase (0.15% a-1 – 0.73% a-1). Three basins (South Africa–West Coast, South Africa–South Coast and Congo) experienced runoff reduction (-0.89% a-1 – -0.02% a-1) due to precipitation decrease (-0.11% a-1 – -0.55% a-1) and temperature rise (0.07% a-1 – 0.17% a-1). 
　　The performance and simplicity of the statistical methods used in this study could be useful for improving runoff estimations in other regions with limited streamflow data. The results of the current study could be important to natural resource managers and decision makers in terms of raising awareness of climate change adaptation strategies and agricultural land-use policies in Africa.

　　Due to the inadequate control of Persistent and Toxic Organic Substances (PTOS) in Tanzania, they are still many ways to transport into the lake environment, to threaten the lake ecology safety and human health. 
　　 To understand the status of PTOS pollution in Tanzanian lakes, Prof. Zhang Lu from the Joint Research Station for East African Great Lakes and Urban Ecology (affiliated to Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences) led a joint group with Tafiri scientiest in early 2020 to conduct a field survey on PTOS pollution in East African lakes. 
　　 The study of 18 lakes in Tanzania shows that the distribution of PTOS has large spatial variations. Among the lakes, the PTOS level in Lake Jipe, Mabayani Reservoir, Lake Duluti and Lake Hombolo was relatively higher, while was relatively lower in Lake Chala, Lake Small Momela, Lake Babati, Lake Singida and Lake Kindai. Overall, the pollution levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in Tanzania lakes are relatively lighter compared to lakes worldwide. 
　　 Among the four major types of PTOS pollutants in Tanzania lakes, phthalate esters (PAEs) pollution is the more worthy of attention. Source identification shows that phthalate esters (PAEs), PAHs, HCHs and Methoxychlor have obvious watershed input characteristics. A multi-index comprehensive scoring method based on the measured concentrations of pollutants, the inherent properties of compounds (lipophilicity and hydrophobicity, structure-activity relationship), and lake ecological risks and health risks was proposed. Based on this method, a list of precedent-controlled PTOS pollutants (8PAEs,6 PAHs, 7 OCPs and 5 PCBs) for Tanzania lakes was built. 
　　 It was concluded that PAEs were the priority pollutants for drinking water safety and ecosystem health for Tanzania lakes. Therefore, Tanzania should control the production, use and emission of PAEs, especially around the lake areas, in order to reduce the impact of PTOS on lake water ecology.
　　A list of precedent-controlled PTOS pollutants (8PAEs,6 PAHs, 7 OCPs and 5 PCBs) for Tanzania lakes

The ANSO Scholarship for International Students 2021 Call for Applications to Study at UCAS Introduction
　　The Alliance of International Science Organizations (ANSO) is a non-profit, non-governmental international organization founded in 2018. Founding members include 37 scientific institutions, universities, and international organizations worldwide. ANSO aims to improve regional and global capacity in science and technology, human livelihoods and wellbeing, and to promote broader S&T cooperation and communication.
　　The ANSO Scholarship for Young Talents (hereinafter referred to as the ANSO Scholarship) was formally launched in 2019 with the goal of training and cultivation of young scientists from all over the world. This program supports 145 Master’s students and 190 PhD students every year to pursue postgraduate education at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS).
　　 
　　 2. Scholarship Coverage and Duration
　　（1）Tuition fee
　　PhD students would be exempted from a tuition fee of RMB 40,000/year.
　　Master students would be exempted from a tuition fee of RMB 30,000/year.
　　（2）Application fee
　　Students would be exempted from application processing fee of RMB 600.
　　（3）Monthly stipend
　　PhD awardees will receive a monthly stipend of RMB 6,000 or RMB 7,000 depending on whether he/she has passed the qualification test arranged, of which RMB 1,000 is provided by the CAS Institute.
　　Master awardees will receive a monthly stipend of RMB 3,000 (of which RMB 1,000 is provided by the CAS Institute) and also a monthly accommodation subsidy of RMB 1,000 provided by UCAS.
　　（4）Travel subsidy
　　A certain amount of travel subsidy from their home countries to China will be provided to the awardees in order to begin the scholarship in China. Any scholarship awardee on site in China, the host country, at the time of application will NOT be eligible for any travel subsidy.
　　（5）Medical Insurance;
　　The insurance premium is RMB 800/year. Please refer to the www.lxbx.net for the introduction of insurance coverage.
　　 3. Duration (with NO EXTENSION)
　　Master students: no longer than 36 months
　　PhD students: no longer than 48 months
　　Awardees are required to finish centralized training in Chinese language, Chinese culture and all required credits as well as practical research and completion of degree thesis at the colleges and schools of UCAS or CAS institutes.
　　Any master’s awardee who fails annual assessments will face the consequence including: Termination of his/her scholarship; Discontinuity of his/her master’s study. Being provided with a certificate of attendance for the period of study undertaken in China but not a formal master’s degree.
　　Any PhD awardee who fails the qualification test or annual assessment will face the consequences including: Termination of his/her scholarship; Discontinuity of his/her doctoral study; Being provided with a certificate of attendance for the period of study undertaken in China but not a formal doctoral degree.
　　 4. General conditions for applicants
　　 Applicants must: Not hold Chinese citizenship; For PhD program applicants: be born after 1 January 1986 (inclusive); For master program applicants: be born after 1 January 1991 (inclusive); Meet the admission criteria for UCAS international students (please refer to the calls for 2021 Programs for international students); Not take up other assignments during the period of his/her scholarship.
　　 Please note: Applicants currently pursuing master degrees at any university/institution in China are NOT eligible for the master program of this scholarship. Applicants currently pursuing PhD degrees at any university/institution in China are NOT eligible for the PhD program of this scholarship. Applicants CANNOT apply through UCAS and other universities simultaneously. Applicants can ONLY apply to ONE supervisor from ONE institute/school. Because the education system in some countries is different from that in China,, please see the UCAS website for the degree requirements of applicants (click the link).
　　 
　　 5. Application Guideline and Deadline
　　 （1）CHECK ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.
　　You should verify that you meet ALL the eligibility criteria specified in the “General conditions for applicants” section of this call, find an eligible professor of your interest that agrees to accept you. See here for a list of eligible schools/institutes and supervisors of UCAS. Send an explanatory e-mail together with your CV, research proposal and other required documents to him/her, and indicate that you wish to apply for the Master/PhD program of the ANSO Scholarship. Your supervisor should finish the required procedure illustrated in the email automatically sent to him/her by the UCAS system immediately after your application materials pass the preliminary review by the institute/college with which the supervisor is affiliated
　　 （2）FILE YOUR SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION AND ADMISSION APPLICATION VIA THE ONLINE APPLICATION SYSTEMS.
　　Please log in the Online Admission System for International Students at UCAS (http://adis.ucas.ac.cn) and follow its instructions to finish all the required application procedures. For the required materials, please refer to the calls for PhD programs and master programs (click the link).
　　 （3）Application Deadline
　　31 March 2021 (Beijing Time)
　　Additional Information Awardees must register at the time and place indicated in the Admission Notice. Otherwise, they should apply for extension of their registration. The duration of the scholarship stated explicitly in the Admission Notice. Registered awardees must abide by relevant rules and regulations of the universities, and attend reviews and examinations, such as the qualifying tests on time. Awardees who fail review or examination will be deprived of their scholarship or their scholarship will be suspended. Any work produced and published by the awardees during the funding period of the scholarship must be credited to the institute/school and the university where the awardees are enrolled. Awardees are also required to acknowledge “Sponsored by ANSO Scholarship for Young Talents”.
　　 
　　 6. Contact Information
　　Ms. Yuchen Xie (PhD Program)
　　ANSO Scholarship for Young Talents UCAS Office
　　University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
　　80 Zhongguancun East Road, Beijing, 100190, China
　　Tel: +86 10 82674900
　　Fax: +86 10 82672900
　　Email: phd@ucas.ac.cn
　　Ms. Menglin Hu (Master Program)
　　ANSO Scholarship for Young Talents UCAS Office
　　University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
　　80 Zhongguancun East Road, Beijing, 100190, China
　　Tel: +86 10 82672900
　　Fax: +86 10 82672900
　　Email: master@ucas.ac.cn
　　Relevant information
　　ANSO (Alliance of International Science Organizations) is a non-profit and non-governmental international scientific organization founded in 2018 by 37 international science and education institutions from around the world. ANSO came into being under the principles of “Extensive Consultation, Joint Contribution and Shared Benefits” championed by the Belt and Road Initiative. ANSO is committed to promoting shared sustainable development and the advancement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through catalyzing and implementing concrete international cooperative initiatives in Science, Technology, Innovation and Capacity Building (STIC). It is envisaged that ANSO will focus on the most urgent regional and global challenges through STIC. This focus includes supporting scientific capacity building and the needs, particularly of the Global South, through partnerships and cooperation with the member countries and institutions. ANSO will also promote collaborations across the scientific and technological communities of the world to ensure that the benefits of the BRI are widely shared. There will be open access to scientific facilities and information among participants in ANSO. The grooming and empowerment of young scientists will be a particular focus of ANSO. The ANSO Scholarship is one of the main approaches to achieve this goal.
　　Read more about ANSO: http://www.anso.org.cn
　　CAS is a national academic institution in China consisting of a comprehensive research and development network, a merit-based learned society and a system of higher education, focusing on natural sciences, technological sciences and high-tech innovation in China. It has 12 branches, 2 universities and more than 100 institutes with around 60,000 staff and 50,000 postgraduate students. It hosts 89 national key labs, 172 CAS key labs, 30 national engineering research centers and about 1,000 field stations throughout China. As a merit-based society, it has five academic divisions. CAS is dedicated to addressing fundamental, strategic and farsighted challenges related to the overall and long-term development of China. CAS is the leading and founding member of ANSO.
　　Read more about CAS: http://english.cas.cn/
　　 
　　UCAS, formerly named Graduate School of CAS, was the first graduate school in China. In 2014, UCAS started enrolling undergraduate students, and since then an intact higher educational system has been established. Being the largest graduate education institution in China, UCAS has over 50,000 ongoing students, and more than half of them are doctoral students. With strong support from CAS institutes all over China, UCAS espouses the philosophy of "The Fusion of Scientific Research and Teaching" as its basic system of education. The disciplines represented at UCAS include all fields of science and 90% engineering. According to the Global University Ranking by Essential Science Indicator (ESI) in September 2019, UCAS ranked No. 1 in China and No. 82 worldwide. As a member of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), UCAS has established close ties with over 100 world-renowned universities. Based on CAS overseas institutions, UCAS is building overseas joint centers for education and research to promote capacity building on B&R. UCAS is responsible for the enrollment and management of the master’s and doctoral candidates of the ANSO Scholarship Program admitted by UCAS.
　　Read more about UCAS: https://english.ucas.ac.cn/

　　Introduction
　　In order to promote the mutual understanding and friendship, cooperation and exchanges in various fields between China and other countries, the Chinese government has set up scholarship programs to sponsor international students, teachers and scholars to study or conduct research in Chinese universities.
　　Entrusted by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as ‘UCAS’) will recruit outstanding young graduate students from all over the world and provide them full scholarships.
　　Value and Benefits
　　Tuition Fee
　　Successful PhD students who are awarded a scholarship are exempted from the tuition fee of RMB 40,000/year. Successful Master students who are awarded a scholarship are exempted from the tuition fee of RMB 30,000/year.
　　Application Fee
　　Successful applicants who are awarded a scholarship are exempted from the application fee of RMB 600.
　　Monthly stipend
　　Successful PhD applicants will receive a monthly stipend of RMB 5,000, of which RMB 1,500 will be provided by the supervisor or the CAS Institute the applicant is enrolled in.
　　Successful Master applicants will receive a monthly stipend of RMB 3,500, of which RMB 500 will be provided by the supervisor or the CAS Institute the applicant is enrolled in.
　　Accommodation Fee
　　Successful applicants could live in UCAS Beijing campus for free or apply for an accommodation subsidy for those who live off Campus. The subsidy will be provided no more than RMB 700/month for master’s students/general visiting students, and no more than RMB 1000/month for doctoral students/senior visiting students.
　　Medical Insurance
　　UCAS will buy insurance for the successful applicants with the insurance premium RMB 800/person. Please see the website (www.lxbx.net) for the introduction of insurance coverage.
　　Sponsorship Period
　　Master students: 36 months (with no extension)
　　PhD students: 36 months (with permitted extension of no more than 12 months)
　　Eligibility Criteria
　　To be eligible to receive the scholarship, the applicant must be a non-Chinese;
　　Requirements on education background and age as follows:
　　Applicants for master’s programs must have held a degree or diploma equivalent to a Chinese bachelor’s degree and the applicant should be no more than 35 years old.
　　Applicants for PhD programs must have held a degree or diploma equivalent to a Chinese master’s degree and the applicant should be no more than 40 years old.
　　Applicants should meet the general admission criteria for international students (please refer to the 2021Enrollment Guide for international students).
　　Applicants must not have accepted any other sponsorship at the time of application and cannot accept any other sponsorship during the period of this scholarship.
　　Applicants should study full time in the research institute he/she is enrolled in and are not allowed to take any other job during his/her studies.
　　Application Processand Deadline
　　CHECK ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:
　　You should verify that you meet ALL the eligibility criteria specified in the “General conditions for applicants” section of this call, find an eligible professor of your interest that agrees to accept you. See here for a list of eligible schools/institutes and supervisors of UCAS. Send an explanatory e-mail together with your CV, research proposal and other required documents to him/her, and indicate that you wish to apply for the PhD program of Chinese Government Scholarship to UCAS. Your supervisor should finish the required procedure illustrated in the email automatically sent to him/her by the UCAS system immediately after your application materials pass the preliminary review by the institute/college with which the supervisor is affiliated.
　　FINISH YOUR ONLINE ADMISSION APPLICATION TO UCAS, AND CHOOSE “THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT SCHOLARSHIP”.
　　Please Log in the Online CSC Application System, fill in and submit your scholarship application, then the system will automatically generate a CSC Application Form. The agency number of UCAS is 80001. Please log in the Online Admission System for International Students at UCAS (http://adis.ucas.ac.cn) and follow its instructions to finish all the required application procedures. For the required materials, please refer to the calls for PhD programs and master programs (click the link).
　　APPLICATION DEADLINE
　　March 31st, 2021 (Beijing Time)
　　Additional Information
　　Apart from the Chinese UniversityProgram, UCAS also accept students who are awarded the Chinese Government Scholarship-Bilateral Program, -EU Program and other programs. Please check the application process on https://www.csc.edu.cn/, if you want to apply for these programs. Successful applicants should register at the time and place indicated in the Admission Notice. If you cannot come for registration on time for personal reasons and hope for a delay, please ask for approval from UCAS. The time for registration set out in the Admission Notice will be the starting day of this scholarship. Successful applicants must abide by relevant rules and regulations of the People’s Republic of China, UCAS and the research institute that you are enrolled in. You must take the qualifying tests, attend annual reviews and take other examinations on time. Otherwise, you will be suspended or deprived of your scholarship. During their sponsorship period, successful applicants should publish their research achievements with UCAS and the institutes they are enrolled in as their academic institutions and should state that their research is funded by the Chinese Government Scholarship.
　　Contact Information
　　Coordinator: Ms. Xu Zijuan
　　Department: UCAS International Students Office
　　Address: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.80 Zhongguancun East Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100190, China
　　Email: xuzijuan@ucas.ac.cn
　　Tel: +86 10 82674900 Fax: +86 10 82672900