China Scholarship Council (CSC) – Trinity College Dublin Joint Scholarship Programme

Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin and the China Scholarship Council affiliated with the Ministry of Education in China are offering a number of scholarships to Chinese students who wish to pursue a PhD at Trinity.

Trinity is now inviting applications for the CSC-Trinity College Dublin Joint Scholarship Programme for 2022.

The Global Relations Office are happy to support interested students and academic supervisors with their application.

Each scholarship will include a full fee-waiver from Trinity, and a stipend for living costs, airfare and health insurance, provided by the CSC (bench fees are not included). 

If you are a visiting scholar or interested in hosting a visiting scholar, please see the bottom of the page for relevant information. 

For questions, please contact Dominique Luthringer, Regional Manager – Eastern Europe, Central and East Asia at Dominique.Luthringer@tcd.ie

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Timeline and Important Notes

  • Students must hold an offer to study at Trinity in order to apply for the scholarship (please see How to apply – For Students below) 
  • Academic supervisors apply for the scholarship on behalf of the student for the initial stage of the application before Friday 22nd February 2022 (download Guidelines for Schools here
  • The academic panel reviews all applications and shortlists the pre-selected candidates before 11th March 2022.
  • Shortlisted students apply to CSC directly for the second stage of the scholarship application between the 20th March and 5th April on this website http://apply.csc.edu.cn
  • Results are shared with academic supervisors in June.

How to Apply

1. Apply for a PhD - for students

First, you should explore Trinity’s research areas and determine your subject area of interest.

The next step is to identify a potential supervisor. The Trinity website is comprehensive and features all relevant information about our research activities, as well as full research profiles of our staff.

Contact your potential academic supervisor with a brief research proposal or idea – remember that this is a competitive process so your email should demonstrate your interest in the research area and any relevant experience that you have to date. It is recommended that you identify a small number of staff with interests that relate to your own. 

If the academic staff member is willing to support your application for a PhD position, he/she will direct you to the School’s online application page.

2. Apply for the Trinity – CSC Scholarship – Part 1 (application to Trinity, managed by the Academic Supervisor)

Once students are in possession of an unconditional offer (conditional offers are accepted by CSC if they are based on academic requirement), the supervisor can apply for the scholarship on behalf of the students.

Please note that conditional offers based on English are not allowed by CSC. Students must fulfil Trinity’s English language requirement of 6.5 IELTS overall or equivalent before 25th February 2022. 

Closing date is Friday 25th February 2022 and applications should be sent by the Academic Supervisor to Dominique.Luthringer@tcd.ie and include the following documentation: 

  • Cover – Staff can click here to download the document. You can also email Dominique.Luthringer@tcd.ie to request the document. 
  • Project proposal (max 2 pages) 
  • Brief biography of the supervisor (max 1 page) 
  • Statement of how this project aligns with the Global Relations strategy for the School, and how this student’s application would be of benefit to the University.

At this stage, students should contact their home institution's international office (or local embassy in the event they are not in China) to advise of their intention to apply for the CSC Scholarship and follow any application procedures.

Students who have been shortlisted by Trinity will then be issued a letter that can be submitted for the CSC part of the application. Successfully shortlisted students will be notified by their supervisor mid-March. 

3. Apply for the Trinity – CSC Scholarship – Part 2 (application to CSC, to be done by the student)

Between mid-March and early April students must apply for the scholarship online to the CSC http://apply.csc.edu.cnStudents should check actual dates on the CSC website in Chinese as these can vary.

CSC will evaluate the candidates according to CSC requirements and priorities. The Global Relations Office will inform the supervisors of the outcome of the process in June.

Eligibility

Please make sure to review the CSC website for the latest updateswww.csc.edu.cn/

  • Candidates must be citizens and permanent residents of the People’s Republic of China at the time of application (excluding Macau, Hong Kong, and Taiwan). Chinese students studying overseas may be eligible for application subject to the CSC policy at the time.
  • Applicants must be enrolled in a full-time master’s degree at a university in China. Bachelor's degree students who are in their last year wishing to pursue master-doctor combined programme can also apply if they have an unconditional offer letter/ letter of invitation combining master and doctoral study.
  • For overseas Chinese students applying for full PhD study, only those who are in their last year of the Master studies, recent graduates (less than one year) and those who are in the first year of their PhD studies are eligible to apply for joint scholarship program. Overseas Chinese students are required to be nominated by the Education Section of the Chinese Embassy in Ireland after they have completed their Trinity application.
  • Those who work as an employee at higher education institutions/scientific research institutions/administrative organizations/enterprises in China and have earned a Master’s-level degree are eligible.
  • Successful students must return to China upon completion of their studies or research.
  • Candidates must hold an unconditional offer letter (for full PhD candidates) or invitation letter (for joint PhD candidates) from Trinity College Dublin. They must therefore fulfil the relevant academic entry requirement set by Trinity, including a high level of English language proficiency; Conditional offer letters may be accepted in certain circumstances, but these offers may not be conditional on English language scores.
  • Candidates should satisfy the selection criteria set out the CSC. This policy is subject to change and is at the discretion of the CSC.

Visiting PhD Students/Scholars:

Individuals who intend to apply for the Chinese Scholarship Council as a visiting scholar are encouraged to:

  • Visit the webpage of the school in which you wish to conduct your research and identify an area of research in which you are interested.
  • Contact a potential Academic Supervisor outlining your research proposal – remember that this is a competitive process, so your email should demonstrate your interest in the research area and any relevant experience that you have to date.
  • If the academic staff member is willing to support your visiting scholar position (6-24 months) he/she will provide you with a letter of support for your application to the CSC.

Please note that you must be registered as a PhD student or staff in a Chinese university and completing a relevant research project to be considered by the CSC for visiting scholar funding.

Academics who intend to support visiting scholar applications are encouraged to contact Dominique.Luthringer@tcd.ie.