Special Research Fund - Cofunding for Chinese PhD candidates holding a CSC-preference grant 2023

Ghent University has signed a cooperation agreement with the China Scholarship Council (CSC) to stimulate Ghent University as host institution for Chinese PhD students. This cooperation agreement will last for 5 years from 1 August 2018 until 31 July 2023.

In the framework of this cooperation agreement Ghent University exempts all admitted CSC PhD students  (CSC personal & preference scholarship) from paying tuition & bench fees and offers an extra research allowance towards 10 CSC preference scholarship students.

Ghent University Preference programme for Chinese PhD CSC candidates

  1. Every year before the deadline of CSC, Ghent University will preselect 15 future CSC applicants who choose Ghent University as host institution.  These 15 students will be invited to apply for a CSC preference scholarship. 
  2. CSC will select out of this group of students (approximately) 10 students for a CSC preference scholarship. These students will dispose, by means of their Ghent University supervisor, of an extra research allowance of €310/month on top of their CSC-scholarship. 

Who can apply for this call

 This call is highly competitive. To be eligible candidates must prove to:

  • A weighted bachelor study result translated into a score/100 (with a minimum of 85/100)
Students will be ranked on the basis of their bachelor study result. Therefore students must include a transcript of records (or other official document) that attests their weighted bachelor study result translated into a score/100.
Students who only have a GPA must always indicate the maximum score that can be obtained (e.g. …/3, …/4,…/5) and must add an official attestation of the used grading/credit system + conversion scale into a 100 percentage scale. If needed, students are advised to contact the student administration of their respective universities to attest their study result into a score/100. Without this information the application will not be considered eligible.
  • have a master degree/be in the final year of their master studies/have been enrolled as PhD student. 
  • plan to apply for a CSC PhD scholarship  in 2023

(!)Candidates who  already have obtained a CSC scholarship are not eligible.

(!) (Exchange) CSC students who intend to obtain a PhD degree at their Chinese home university only, are not eligible . 

Ghent University preselection

  • Ghent University ranks the candidates based on their bachelor's results.
  • subsequently, candidates are further ranked on the basis of the institutions they studied at (bachelor and/or master/PhD)
  • Priority is given to candidates who have studied at a Chinese university/institution mentioned in the list of Double First Class University Project.
  • In addition, priority is given to candidates from Ghent University's partner universities on this list.
  • Please note (!) that Ghent University will preselect a maximum of 2 candidates from the same university.
  • Ghent University partner universities listed on the Double First Class University project 

How to apply for this call

  • Application forms must be submitted (in English) electronically via e-mail to BOFapplication@ugent.be
  • alongside the application form, the Ghent University supervisor must send a separate questionnaire on the ethical & biosafety context of the proposed PhD research (also available on this website) .

Application for the Ghent University CSC preference programme & admission as a PhD student

  1. Chinese students who are eligible to apply for a CSC scholarship to study at Ghent University must have secured the personal invitation of a Ghent University professor. Ghent University professors can decide autonomously who they will accept as a future PhD student. Candidates can look for a Ghent University supervisor in their domain of interest by browsing the list of faculties and research topics. 
  2. An application for the Ghent University CSC preference programme does not guarantee that a student is admitted as a future PhD student. Students that are accepted by a Ghent University professor must ask their future supervisor to start the online admission procedure to become admitted as a PhD student before the Ghent University CSC preference deadline. 
  3. The admission procedure does not have to be completed at the time of the deadline in Ghent, but it will need to be finished at the time of the CSC scholarship deadline in China.

Personal or preference CSC scholarship?

  • All eligible  CSC applicants who have the support of a Ghent University supervisor and are admitted as future PhD student can apply for a  CSC personal scholarship in China.
  • Only future CSC applicants who have secured a preselection for the Ghent University CSC preference scholarship can apply for the CSC preference scholarship in China. These applicants must also have the support of a Ghent University professor and must be admitted a future PhD student at Ghent University.
  • CSC applicants need to choose between the different available CSC scholarships. Students who were nominated by the UGent in the framework of the CSC preference programme but who ultimately do not obtain a CSC preference scholarship, can no longer apply for another CSC scholarship (e.g. personnel) in the same year.

Deadline

  • Deadline Ghent University preselection : 17 January 2023
  • Deadline CSC preference programme: spring 2023, check the CSC website.

Starting date

  • The co-financing is available from 1 October 2023 and amounts to the number of months CSC grant x € 310

Contact

For questions on the Ghent University Preference programme at CSC please contact: BOF@UGent.be

Call and application forms

Scientific report

Final report : within three months following upon the end of the grant a final scientific/scholarly report has to be sent electronically to . The promoter and co-promoter (if applicable) are included in this e-mail (either as sender, or in CC).