Eligibility criteria

Chinese students applying for a PhD position through the China Scholarship Council must meet the following requirements:

• You are a Chinese student graduated from a Chinese or international university
• You are in the final year of your master's degree or in the first year of your PhD studies at the time of the application, or you are employed by a Chinese company, organization, governmental agency or research institute
• You would like to apply to CSC funding for a full PhD scholarship (max. 48 months) at the University of Groningen/UMCG.
• You meet the selection criteria set out by CSC by completing the CSC Application Form and the CSC Employer Reference Form which can be found on  the website of the China Scholarship Council
• You are able to submit official proof of proficiency in English: TOEFL iBT 92 (minimum skill score 20; or IELTS 6.5 (with a minimum band score of 6.0 on each individual part). Home Edition tests are acceptable. Note that only test certificates that meet the requirements for all band scores will be considered valid.
• Your supervisor at the University of Groningen/UMCG has accepted you and obtained a Letter of Acceptance from the Graduate School of Medical Sciences. Your supervisor has positively assessed important criteria for admission, such as your academic qualifications as well as proficiency in English
• You agree to return to China upon completion of your PhD project in case you are awarded the CSC scholarship

Admission to the GSMS PhD program

Locating a Supervisor: If you are interested in applying to the PhD program of the GSMS, the first prerequisite is to find a supervisor who is willing to accept you. We invite you to browse the websites of the three UMCG research institutes to identify a suitable supervisor. 

Once a supervisor affiliated with the UMCG has accepted you, you must obtain a Letter of Acceptance (see next section) from the GSMS to include with your application to the CSC.

Please note: You will not be admitted if you do not follow the specified process outlined on this webpage. If you receive a Letter of Acceptance from an individual supervisor rather than from the GSMS, you will not be admitted to the GSMS PhD program, even if you have been selected by the CSC to receive a PhD scholarship.

Conditional Admission: If you are unable to provide valid proof of English proficiency before the deadline for obtaining your Letter of Acceptance, the GSMS may issue a conditional Letter of Acceptance, provided that you have the support of your supervisor. However, please note that proof of English proficiency must be submitted at a later stage, otherwise, your admission to the UG/UMCG PhD program will not be finalized.

Documentation

You and your supervisor will need to gather the following information for your Letter of Acceptance, which your supervisor must submit to the GSMS by [Date to be confirmed]:

• Your English-language CV
• Proof of proficiency in English (see above for minimum requirements)
• A certified copy of your diploma for the highest degree attained
• A fully completed Request Form*
• Supervisor Statement* 

*Templates are available on the dedicated CSC: For UMCG Supervisor Information page.

Top-Up of your CSC scholarship

If you are selected for the full CSC scholarship, you will be eligible to receive a Top-Up of your CSC scholarship in accordance with the standards established by UG.

The GSMS will issue a maximum of forty (40) Letters of Acceptance to students who are guaranteed a GSMS-funded Top-Up, should they be awarded the CSC scholarship. For all other students receiving a Letter of Acceptance from the GSMS, the UMCG hosting department will provide a Letter of Commitment to fund the Top-Up. As a result, all new CSC-funded students will receive the same benefits.

Please note that the GSMS pre-selection deadline is set for [Date to be confirmed]. More information can be found on the CSC: For UMCG Supervisor Information page. 

CSC channel

The agreement between UG and CSC is currently being renewed. If the renewal is finalized, all CSC applicants for a full PhD should apply through the UG-CSC "cooperation channel".

Information for current UG students

The maximum duration of funding provided by the CSC for a full PhD trajectory is 48 months. For students who have already begun their PhD at Groningen and wish to (re-)apply to the CSC, it is important to note the following:

• In line with CSC policies, the months you have already spent on your PhD research at Groningen will be subtracted from the maximum scholarship duration.
• The earliest possible start date for the CSC scholarship for students already conducting research in Groningen is September 1, 2025. This is due to: (1) the time required for the actual implementation of the CSC scholarships, which takes a few weeks; and (2) the official start date of the academic year in the Netherlands, which is the first week of September.
• In addition to a Letter of Acceptance, the GSMS will issue an "Education Certificate" that states your registration date as a doctoral researcher to include with your application to the CSC.
• If your supervisor wants to request GSMS support to fund the Top-Up, they should also in this case adhere to the same pre-selection process outlined on the CSC: For UMCG Supervisor Information page.

Important Deadlines

The deadlines for full PhD applicants (36-48 months) for 2025 have not yet been confirmed by the CSC, but are expected to be similar to those for 2024:

• Online application for a full CSC PhD scholarship by the student: between March 10 and March 31, 2024.
• [GSMS deadlines to be added here soon]

Please note that the Graduate School will under no circumstances communicate about selection results prior to their official publication by the CSC.

After Award

The following documents must be submitted to the GSMS upon being awarded the CSC scholarship in order to secure admission:

Within one month of the scholarship award:

• A PhD research proposal, as discussed and agreed upon between you and your supervisor(s), in accordance with the template available here. Other formats will not be accepted.
• A certified copy of the diploma for the highest degree attained (or, if the degree certificate has not yet been issued, a declaration from the home university confirming that the requirements for the degree award have been fulfilled).
• If the minimum requirements of the GSMS have not yet been met, proof of proficiency in English.