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  offer annual scholarships to Chinese students who wish to pursue a PhD at Trinity. 

The scholarship includes a full tuition fee-waiver provided by Trinity College Dublin, plus a stipend for living costs, airfare and health insurance provided by the CSC. Please note that bench fees, conference travel costs and other research expenses are not included. .

Applications for 2025/2026 will open in December 2024.

For questions, please contact global.scholarships@tcd.ie  

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

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Timeline and Important Notes

• Candidates must hold a full offer for admission to a PhD at Trinity in order to apply for the scholarship. 
• Academic supervisors apply for the scholarship on behalf of the student for the initial stage of the application. 
• Applications open in December each year and close in February. 
• The academic panel reviews all applications and shortlists the pre-selected candidates in March. 
• Shortlisted candidates apply to CSC directly for the second stage of the scholarship application between mid- March and early April on this website http://apply.csc.edu.cn. 
• Results are shared with academic supervisors in June. 

Application process

1. Student applicants apply for a PhD

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. 

2. Academic Supervisor / PI applies to Trinity for the CSC - Trinity College Dublin Joint Scholarship

Once applicants 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 applicants. .

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 23rd February. 

Applications should include the following documentation: 

• Cover form (click here to dowload the cover document).
• Project proposal (max two pages).
• Brief biography of the supervisor (max one page).
• A statement linking the proposed research to a Sustainable Development Goal and explaining clearly how the research will inform this goal OR link to the research strategy of the School in which the student will be registered.

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. Student applies directly to the CSC for the CSC - Trinity College Dublin Joint Scholarship

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

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. 

Eligibility

Student applicants should review the CSC website for the latest updates 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 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-Doctrate combined programme can also apply if they have an unconditional offer letter/ letter of invitation combining master and doctoral study. 
3. For overseas Chinese students applying for full PhD study, only those who are in their last year of the Master's 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. 
4. Those who work as an employee at higher education institutions/scientific research institutions/administrative organisations/enterprises in China and have earned a Master’s-level degree are eligible. 
5. Successful students must return to China upon completion of their studies or research. 
6. Applicants 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. 
7. Applicants 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.