General information

• Evaluation responsibility: The primary responsibility for the evaluation of the prospective PhD candidates lies with the supervisor(s). Academic skills and proficiency in English are extremely important for a successful PhD trajectory. Official proof of proficiency in English is required (see the "Letter of Acceptance" section below). Additionally, Supervisors must confirm that language skills have been thoroughly checked via (online) interviews in the "Supervisor Statement."
• Supervisor Participation: A UMCG supervisor may only participate in the CSC scholarship application of a single CSC candidate per year (both as promotor and co-promotor).
• Knowledge Security Assessment: As of the academic year 2023-2024, UMCG supervisors must perform a "Knowledge Security Assessment" of the candidate if they agree to supervise a (prospective) PhD candidate who has/intends to be supported by an international scholarship agency. (See the “Knowledge Security” below)
• Letter of Acceptance requests: Letters of Acceptance for Chinese CSC candidates can only be requested after the internal GSMS pre-selection procedure is completed (deadline pre-selection: 17 February 2025, see the “Internal GSMS Pre-selection procedure” section below).
  1. Only the forty CSC candidates pre-selected by the GSMS will receive a Letter of Acceptance guaranteeing a GSMS-funded Top-up following acceptance by the CSC.
  2. Non-selected candidates may  receive a Letter of Acceptance if they meet the  general admission criteria and the department agrees to self-fund the Top-up and bench fee (see the  “Letter of Commitment” section below).
• Documentation Submission: Letters of Acceptance can be requested by submitting the necessary documentation to Mathilde Pekelaer at the Graduate School of Medical Sciences (see the “Letter of Acceptance” section below).
  1. Important: Incomplete requests may not be considered. The deadline to obtain a Letter of Acceptance for the 2025 CSC round is to be confirmed (likely March 2025). 
• Research Proposal commitment: By requesting a Letter of Acceptance, you commit to submitting a Research Proposal to the Graduate School within one month of the candidate having been awarded the CSC scholarship (see the "After award" section below). It is strongly recommended to start the process of drafting a Research Proposal at an earlier stage so that you may assess the candidate’s qualifications. The GSMS only accepts research proposals that follow the provided template (see the "Templates" section below).
• Questions about Chinese Higher Education: In case of questions about the Chinese Higher Education system, please contact Ms. Jing Zheng in the department for International Strategy and Relations at the University of Groningen
• Application period: The official application period for Chinese candidates to apply to CSC is usually between 10-31 March (dates to be confirmed). Most Chinese universities conduct a pre-selection of the candidates for CSC. These deadlines vary per university, but may sometimes be as early as December. Therefore, consult with your candidate about internal university deadlines.
• Result timelines: The results of the CSC application round are generally published in June. Due to practicalities such as visa applications, a realistic first possible start date of the PhD project in Groningen is October/November of the same year, or later. Note that a December start date is not possible due to internal administrative processes.

Funding Information

In accordance with the agreement between CSC and the University of Groningen:

• The CSC scholarship covers a maximum of 48 months of individual student costs.
• The University of Groningen waives all institutional fees to both pre-selected and non pre-selected candidates.
• A GSMS-funded bench fee is only available to UMCG supervisors of pre-selected candidates. This concerns the  standard bench fee for externally financed PhD candidates from the GSMS for the period of research at Groningen(maximum of 4 years).

IMPORTANT:

• Authority of the GSMS: The GSMS is the only authoritative body responsible for admitting CSC scholarship candidates to its PhD program. As of the academic year 2023-2024, applicants who have not followed the specified procedure outlined on these webpages will not be admitted. This means that any candidate who has received a Letter of Acceptance that was not issued by the GSMS, will not be admitted to the PhD program even if they have been selected by CSC to receive a PhD scholarship. This is regardless the chosen CSC submission channel.
• Conditional Letter of Acceptance: It is possible to request a conditional Letter of Acceptance from the GSMS for candidates who have not yet fulfilled the official language requirements before the deadline for obtaining a Letter of Acceptance. However, proof of English proficiency must be provided at a later stage; otherwise, the candidate will not be accepted into the GSMS PhD program.

Internal GSMS Pre-selection procedure: deadline 17 February 2025

For the general 2025 CSC Full PhD scholarship call, the GSMS will award a total of forty Letters of Acceptance offering a GSMS-funded top-up after selection by the CSC and final admission to the Graduate School. As the GSMS expects that the number of requests for such Letter of Acceptance will exceed forty, an internal pre-selection procedure has been established. Sandwich PhD applications (up to 24 months) are not subject to the pre-selection procedure, please follow this process for sandwich PhD applications

Note: if an application is not pre-selected by the GSMS, the supervisor/department has the option to self-fund the top-up. For more information, see section “Letter of Commitment” below. 

1. Eligibility criteria

• The candidate meet the general GSMS admission criteria preferably including proof of English language proficiency.
• The candidate has obtained a relevant MSc degree from a Chinese university or is currently enrolled as an MSc student.
• Each (co-)promotor only participates in the CSC scholarship application of a single CSC candidate in the current CSC PhD scholarship call.

2. Application procedure

To apply for pre-selection, please follow the steps outlined below

• Submit a completed Pre-selection form* together with the two requested appendices by Monday 17 February 2025.
• Provide a certified copy of the Chinese MSc degree, or official proof of enrollment at a Master degree program (appendix 1).
• Provide a completed Supervisor statement* (appendix 2).

*available for download in the "Templates" section below

3. Selection: ranking list

The position of the MSc degree program University/Institute on the Shanghai Ranking list 2024 determines the candidate’s position on the internal ranking list, from which the top 1-40 will be selected for a Letter of Acceptance offering a GSMS-funded top-up.

In the event of a tie (ex aequo), the total amount of first stream (1e geldstroom) funding received by the (co-)promotors for PhD students over the past two years will be used as a tiebreaker, with higher amounts leading to a lower ranking.

4. Results and follow-up

 Approximately one week after the pre-selection deadline, the (co-)promotors will be notified if their application is pre-selected for a Letter of Acceptance offering a GSMS-funded top-up. At this point, the Letter of Acceptance may be requested following the existing procedure, after which the candidate can complete their CSC application.

Supervisors of non-selected candidates may also request a Letter of Acceptance, provided the supervisor/department agrees to self-fund the Top-up and bench fee (see the “Letter of Commitment” section below).

Please note that only Letters of Acceptance issued by the GSMS will be accepted at the final admission stage. Letters of Acceptance made by the department or any other source will lead to rejection at the admission stage, regardless of whether the top-up/bench fee is funded by the GSMS or the department.

At the time of admission, all CSC awardees must meet the GSMS admission requirements, including proof of English language sufficiency, a research proposal, and a certified copy of the MSc degree. Failure to comply will result into rejection from the admission procedure.

Knowledge Security

As of October 2023, all PhD supervisors of prospective externally funded PhD students will also need to carry out a "Knowledge Security Assessment". 

Please note  the following:

• Obligation: The self-assessment carried out by the UMCG supervisor is obligatory
• Confidentiality: The self-assessment is primarily a confidential process that is intended to raise awareness of knowledge security issues and the responsibility of supervising staff in this matter. 
• Consultation Requirement: If the outcome of this assessment indicates a need for further consultation, the supervisor must reach out to the University of Groningen’s Advisory Team Knowledge Security. UMCG supervisors are required to inform the GSMS about the results of the consultation process. Failure to comply with the requirements of this process may result to the GSMS refusing to issue a Letter of Acceptance in support of the student’s scholarship application. In extreme cases, this could result in the  rejection of the PhD candidate’s admission to the GSMS PhD program. The Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences has authorized  the Director of the Graduate School of Medical Sciences to  enforce these measures. More information, including the self-assessment form, is available on the UG intranet.

Letter of Acceptance for CSC candidate

After completion of the pre-selection procedure, Letters of Acceptance may be requested for both eligible pre-selected and non-selected candidates (in the latter case, a Letter of Commitment must also be provided). In order to prepare the Letter of Acceptance for CSC applicants, UMCG supervisors should provide the Graduate School of Medical Sciences with:

• CV of the candidate
• Proof of proficiency in English of the candidate: TOEFL iBT 92 (minimum skill score 20; TOEFL iBT Home Edition test scores are acceptable) or IELTS 6.5 (with a minimum band score of 6.0 on each individual part); any candidate should submit either a TOEFL or an IELTS test. In case the candidate is not yet able to meet the minimum requirements before the deadline for obtaining a Letter of Acceptance, the GSMS may issue a conditional Letter of Acceptance. However, a valid proof of English proficiency is essential to finalize the admission of the candidate and allow them to start the PhD program, otherwise the candidate will not be admitted to the GSMS
• A fully completed Letter of Acceptance Request Form*
• Supervisor Statement*
• Letter of Commitment* in case of a non-selected candidate

*documents available for download in the "Templates" section below.

The above documentation should be submitted to the Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Mathilde Pekelaer by (date to be confirmed) March 2024. Incomplete requests may not be taken into account.

Moreover, the Graduate School demands that a research proposal be submitted at the time of application (recommended), or, at the latest, within one month of scholarship award (see below).

Letter of Commitment

Non pre-selected candidates may also receive a Letter of Acceptance, provided they meet the general admission criteria and the department agrees to self-fund the Top-up and bench fee. In such case supervisors must enclose a Letter of Commitment from their department to their letter of Acceptance request. This letter confirms that resources are available within the department to fund the Top-Up should the scholarship be granted by the CSC. If you require a budget estimate, please contact Désirée Jansen at the GSMS.

After Award

In order to secure admission; the following documents must be submitted to the GSMS upon the Candidate being awarded the CSC scholarship.:

Within one month of the scholarship award:

• A PhD research proposal, as discussed and agreed upon between the candidate and their supervisor(s), in accordance with the template available in the template section below. Other formats will not be accepted.
• A certified copy of the diploma for the highest degree attained. 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 is required.
• If not submitted yet in the application phase, a proof of proficiency in English.

We strongly recommend that UMCG PhD supervisor(s) encourage the candidate to begin designing the PhD research proposal as early as possible, as part of assessing academic skills and competencies. Supervisors should also ensure that the candidate will be able to pass the English language test, if this has not been done at the pre-selection stage. Failure to meet the English language criteria will result in  exclusion from the admission procedure and must therefore be avoided.

Templates for download

• Pre-selection form
• Supervisor Statement
• Letter of Commitment
• Letter of Acceptance request form
• Research Proposal - Full PhD