Recognition is earned.
Participation is open to those who walk the corridor.
CASTA's seats sit on two streams. Recognition — Honorary Fellow and Fellow — is earned through nomination and peer review, not application. Participation — Member and Affiliate — is open to individuals and organizations actively engaged in the corridor.
Four tiers, plainly stated.
Fees, cohort sizes, and detailed terms become public once the Board ratifies a published policy. This page describes structure and entry path — the minimum we will publicly commit to today.
| Tier | Stream | For | Term | How to enter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Honorary Fellow
名誉会士
|
Recognition | Statesmen, ministers, university heads, academy heads, decade-scale contributors | Lifetime |
Unanimous Founders’ Council resolution · invited only
fellowship@casta.ae
|
|
Fellow
会士
|
Recognition | Researchers and institution-builders with sustained excellence in the China–Silk Road corridor | Lifetime |
Peer nomination · committee election
fellowship@casta.ae
|
|
Member
会员
|
Participation | Active researchers, engineers, scholars, and operators across the corridor | Annual, renewable |
Self-application + 1 sponsor
membership@casta.ae
|
|
Affiliate
机构合作伙伴
|
Institutional | Companies, universities, government bodies, non-profits | Annual, renewable |
Board approval
partners@casta.ae
|
Fellow & Honorary Fellow
Peer-elected · lifetime · recorded.
Fellows are nominated by existing Fellows, decided by an elections committee, and confirmed by the Founders' Council. Honorary Fellows recognise statesmen, university heads, academy heads, and decade-scale CASTA contributors — invited only, by unanimous resolution of the Founders' Council. Both seats are lifetime.
"To be a Fellow of CASTA is not a title — it is a commitment to the next decade of cooperation."
Election cycle
Nominations open in spring · committee review in summer · Founders' Council confirms in autumn · conferral the following spring. Every nominee needs either two existing Fellows or one founder as sponsor (the inaugural cohort is founder-nominated), plus an independent elections-committee review.
Inaugural cohort
— Inaugural cohort · 5 Fellows · selected by the Founders’ Council · names held until the formal 2026 conferral.
- R.01Right to nominate the next cohort
- R.02Seat at the annual Fellows' dinner
- R.03Speaking slot at any CASTA co-organized event
- R.04Voice on annual agenda and program direction
- O.01Attend at least one annual gathering per three-year cycle
- O.02Uphold CASTA's reputation within professional ethics
- O.03Sponsor at least one early-career corresponding scholar
Member · Affiliate.
Member is the personal tier — researchers, engineers, scholars, operators — open by application with one sponsor. Affiliate is the organizational tier — corporates, universities, government bodies, non-profits — open by Board approval. Both are annual, renewable.
Member
For individuals actively engaged in China–Silk Road cooperation — researchers, engineers, scholars, operators. Membership keeps us in durable, trusted contact with the people walking the corridor.
- — Sponsored by an existing Fellow or Member
- — Membership Committee, quarterly review
- — Public listing is opt-in
Affiliate
For companies, universities, government bodies, and non-profits operating across the corridor. Affiliates anchor the institutional layer of CASTA — co-organized events, joint calls, cross-nominations.
- — Approved by Founders' Council
- — Co-branded events and white papers
- — Right to nominate Members and Fellows