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China Scholarship Council (CSC)

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 will offer a number of scholarships to Chinese students who wish to pursue a PhD at Trinity in academic year 2026/2027.

Award

Each scholarship will include a full tuition fee-waiver for a four-year PhD programme at Trinity, plus living costs and airfare provided by the CSC (bench fees, conference travel costs and other research expenses are not included).

Eligibility / Selection Criteria

Student applicants should review the CSC website for the latest updates on eligibility criteria and application process: www.csc.edu.cn

  1. Applicants 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.
  2. Applicants must be under 35 years of age at the time of application.
  3. At the time of application, applicants must meet one of the following conditions:
    • Be a current Master's student, final-year Master's student, or final-year undergraduate student at a Chinese university;
    • Be a working professional in China holding a bachelor’s degree or higher, with employer consent for application;
    • Be a final year Master’s student at an overseas university (graduating after March 2025 or expected to graduate in 2026);
    • Be a self-funded first-year doctoral student at Trinity College Dublin.
  4. Applicants must not have already obtained a doctoral degree.
  5. Applicants must hold an unconditional offer letter 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.
  6. Applicants should satisfy the full selection criteria set out by the CSC. This policy is subject to change and is at the discretion of the CSC.

Scholarship Application Process

Step 1 - Student applicants apply for a PhD in Trinity

Student applicants should contact a potential academic supervisor with a brief research proposal or idea. If the academic staff member is willing to support the application for a PhD position, they should support the applicant through Trinity’s application process.

Student applicants need to be in possession of an unconditional offer (conditional offers are accepted by CSC if they are based on academic requirement). Please note that conditional offers based on English are not allowed by CSC. Students must fulfil Trinity's English Language Requirements.

Step 2 - Academic Supervisor / Principal Investigator applies to Trinity for the CSC - TCD Joint Scholarship

Once student applicants are in possession of an unconditional offer, academic supervisors can then apply to Trinity (via the form linked below) for shortlisting for the CSC - TCD Joint Scholarship.

Apply Here - Supervisors Only

Download the Guidance Document for Schools

Step 3 – Student applicants inform home institution or Embassy

Once an application has been submitted to Trinity by the academic supervisor, student applicants 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, seek recommendation and follow any additional application procedures.

Step 4 – Shortlisted applicants apply directly to the CSC for the CSC - TCD Joint Scholarship

The results of the Trinity shortlisting process will be issued in March 2026. Student applicants who have been shortlisted by Trinity will then be issued with a letter that can be submitted to the CSC as part of the scholarship application. Successfully shortlisted students will be notified by their supervisor in mid-March. Shortlisted students then apply directly to the CSC for the scholarship. Full details and specific dates of application should be available on the CSC website. The CSC will evaluate the candidates according to CSC requirements and priorities. Trinity Global will inform the supervisors of the outcome of the process in June.

Contact

Contact the Trinity Global scholarships unit with any questions or queries: global.scholarships@tcd.ie