Against the backdrop of deepening globalization and increasingly close international exchanges, the strategic value of multilingual language resources has become ever more prominent, providing core support for language teaching, academic research, and cross-cultural communication. Currently, existing corpora still face challenges such as insufficient language coverage, limited domain scope, and the need for improved intelligent capabilities, making it difficult to meet the data-driven and visualization demands of foreign language teaching and research in the new era, as well as to fully accommodate the country’s multilingual service needs in areas such as diplomacy, economy and trade, and culture. To address these gaps, leverage disciplinary strengths, and promote the intelligent transformation of language research and teaching, the Institute of Language Sciences at Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) has decided to establish the “SISU Multilingual Corpus Construction” project. This project aims to integrate high-quality language resources and build a multilingual corpus system characterized by broad coverage, high quality, and comprehensive functionality. The project is open to all universities across the country. The Institute of Language Sciences, SISU, will determine the final funded projects through a rigorous review process based on principles of fairness, impartiality, and openness.
The application details for the 2026 SISU Multilingual Corpus Construction Project are hereby announced as follows:
I. Application Period
January 1, 2026 – January 20, 2026
II. Project Guidelines
Main Content: Multilingual Corpus Construction
Languages to be Covered: English, Russian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Czech, Hungarian, Italian, Vietnamese, Thai, Burmese, Lao, Cambodian, Malay, Indonesian, Filipino, Arabic
Domains to be Covered: Science and Technology, Economy, Law, Industry, Politics, Society, Culture (excluding literature), History, and Education.
Project Requirements:
Applicants must select a language from the specified list and a corresponding domain. If there is a sub-domain, please specify in the application form.
There is no upper limit on the volume of data to be delivered for the corpus constructed for each language and domain.
The corpus data delivered for this project shall be non-internet data (excluding electronic books). For each data delivery phase, the raw data and a source list must be submitted.
The Institute of Language Sciences will organize teams to provide training on corpus data processing for the selected projects.
Project completion deadline: April 30, 2026.
III. Project Categories
Key Projects
General Projects
IV. Applicant Qualifications
Applicants for Key Projects should hold a senior professional title (or equivalent) and have successfully led the completion of relevant projects.
Applicants for General Projects should hold a master’s degree or an intermediate professional title or above.
Applicants without a doctoral degree or senior professional title must be recommended by two experts with senior professional titles.
V. Project Management Structure
The managing body for this project is the Institute of Language Sciences, Shanghai International Studies University.
Expert Review Panel: Responsible for evaluating submitted applications.
Final Appraisal Panel: Responsible for assessing project completion.
VI. Application Submission
During the application period (based on the submission date), applicants should send the project application form (download link provided at the end) and relevant materials to the email address: 2019376@shisu.edu.cn. Simultaneously, print one copy of the same materials on A4 paper, complete the “Opinion of the Applicant’s Home Institution” section, affix the official seal, and mail it to the Institute of Language Sciences, Shanghai International Studies University.
VII. Project Review
Eligibility Review: The Institute will verify applicant qualifications; those who meet the criteria will proceed to preliminary review.
Preliminary Review: Review experts will conduct an initial evaluation of the Application Form and related materials.
Conference Review: The Institute’s Academic Committee will vote by secret ballot on whether to recommend projects that pass the preliminary review for approval.
Final Review and Approval: The Institute will review the results of the preliminary and conference reviews and submit them to the Institute’s Party-Administration Joint Meeting for final approval.
VIII. Project Approval and Completion
Upon approval, the Institute of Language Sciences will issue a “Project Agreement” to the applicant. The official project start date shall be the first day of the month following the date of the Agreement.
Upon completion of the project within the stipulated timeframe, the applicant should submit the final application form via email to 2019376@shisu.edu.cn. Additionally, print two copies of the final application form on A4 paper, complete and seal the “Opinion of the Applicant’s Home Institution” section, and mail them along with one copy of the project outcomes to the Institute of Language Sciences, Shanghai International Studies University. Project completion must be appraised by the Final Appraisal Panel, with results categorized as “Pass” or “Fail.”
IX. Project Funding
Funded projects will receive corresponding financial support based on their category, scale, and academic value as follows:
Key Projects: A base funding of RMB 20,000 will be provided for the completion of high-quality corpus processing and annotation of 60 million tokens. Subsequent support will be provided as necessary per 10 million token units.
General Projects: A base funding of RMB 5,000 will be provided for the completion of high-quality corpus processing and annotation of 20 million tokens. Subsequent support will be provided as necessary per 10 million token units.
Funding will be disbursed in two installments. Sixty percent of the total funding will be released upon signing the “Project Agreement”; the remaining 40% will be released upon successful completion and final appraisal. After receiving each installment, the recipient must issue a formal invoice or receipt and send it to the Institute of Language Sciences, Shanghai International Studies University. (Specific invoicing requirements will be provided in the invoicing instructions sent with the project approval and completion documents.)
X. Final Interpretation Rights
The right to interpret these guidelines rests solely with the Institute of Language Sciences, Shanghai International Studies University.
Institute of Language Sciences
Shanghai International Studies University
January 2026
Attachment Download:
Application Form Download: [Link] (Note: The direct link provided in the original notice is not accessible via this channel. Please consult the issuing institute for the application form if needed.)
