Dezeen promotion: Beijing architecture studio MAD is calling for students to apply for its travel fellowships, allowing them to research architecture in countries all around the world.

MAD founder Ma Yansong launched the MAD Architecture Travel Fellowship programme in 2009.

For 2017, it offers five international architecture students the chance to visit China, and sponsors five Chinese students to travel abroad.

The aim is to broaden the experience and education of talented future architects, giving them a deeper insight into how architectural practice differs across different countries. They are then invited to share their findings.

"Architecture is a special kind of career that showcases the accumulations of culture, time and history," said MAD founder Ma Yansong. "The world itself is already a great textbook."

Now in its eighth year, the scheme has so far sponsored 35 students, who have travelled to destinations in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.

Ma will select this year's entrants. Applications must include a 500-words-or-less letter describing the student's interest in architecture, a CV and a portfolio.

All materials should be submitted as an A4 PDF to [email protected]. The deadline for applications is 14 May 2017 and the winners will be announced on 22 May 2017.

Ma founded MAD in 2004. The firm's best-known projects include the sinuous Harbin Opera House in China and the curvaceous Absolute Towers in Canada.

The practice ranked at number 32 among architects in the inaugural Dezeen Hot List, a guide to the most newsworthy and searched-for players in the design world.

The firm recently released a monograph overviewing past, present and future work. It is currently working on the new George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which will be built in Los Angeles.