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 a number of scholarships to Chinese students who wish to pursue a PhD at Trinity.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2025 CSC-Trinity College Dublin Joint Scholarship Programme. The deadline for applications is 14 February 2025.

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, conference travel costs and other research expenses are not included).

Detailed information for Schools and PIs is available here: Guidance for Schools and PIs.

Detailed information for student applicants is available here: Guidance for Student Applicants.

Please contact the Trinity Global Scholarships Team with any questions at: global.scholarships@tcd.ie

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根据中国国家留学基金管理委员会与爱尔兰都柏林圣三一大学签署的合作备忘录，双方共同设立了中国国家留学基金管理委员会与爱尔兰都柏林圣三一大学合作奖学金，拟共同资助中国优秀人员赴爱尔兰都柏林圣三一大学攻读博士学位或进行博士学位联合培养。

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. The deadline for applications is 14 February 2025.
• 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 students.

Please note that conditional offers based on English are not allowed by CSC. Students must fulfil Trinity's English Language Requirements

Applications should be sent by the Academic Supervisor to global.scholarships@tcd.ie. Applications should include the following documentation:

• Cover Sheet (provided in the appendix in the Guidelines for Schools document)
• Project proposal (max 2 pages)
• Brief biography of the supervisor (max 1 page)
• A statement linking the proposed research to the research strategy of the School in which the student will be registered (max 1 page).

At this stage, students should also 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. Student applies directly to the CSC for the CSC - Trinity College Dublin Joint Scholarship

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

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.

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-doctor 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 the last year of their 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.
4. Those who work as an employee at a higher education institution, scientific research institution, or an administrative organisation or enterprise in China, and have earned a masters-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 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 by the CSC. This policy is subject to change and is at the discretion of the CSC.