• There are two windows for applications: March and May

• • The deadline for the first round of applications is March 20; CSC will evaluate these applicants’ materials in April.
  • The deadline for the second round of applications is May 20; CSC will evaluate these applicants’ materials in June.

• The “5000 Scholarship Programme” makes 2500 PhD scholarships and 2500 Joint-PhD scholarships available per year. 

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  • These scholarships are divided up into allocations for 60 universities: the list is attached. All “985” and some “211”project Universities are included.

• If an allocation (quota) is used up by one university, that allocation can be increased the next year for the university:

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  • For example, if Peking University was allocated 200 this year but did not use this quota up, they would not have an increase in the number of scholarships allocated
  • If Peking University used up all their 200 allocated scholarships, the number could be increased to 300 next year

• Each school will announce the allocation for their school so that students can contact foreign universities to make their applications
• The CSC also has the “1000 Scholarship Programme”, which makes scholarships available to 1000 students per year for PhD studies abroad.

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  • For this programme, applicants from universities must be 4th year undergraduates or in their 1st year of their PhD or current graduate students in a Master program from Universities which are not/not on the top 60 list
  • For this program, applications are also accepted from individuals who are in government or  business organizations.

• For both programs, The CSC pays for flight, accomodation, and living expenses. The current rate is approximately 1200 CAD per month; this rate may be raised in January 2010.
• Universities typically identify one point person at their institution to liaise with the CSC
• A list with names of the scholarship recipients (in English) can be made available each June

• Only students at the 60 universities with CSC agreements can apply for these scholarships
• Students must be either 4th year undergraduates or in their 1st year of their PhD or current graduate students in a Master program
• NB: There are no Master scholarships. However, a letter of offer to a 4th year undergrad from a foreign university can indicate that the offer will lead to a PhD degree.

• A contract is signed with each student regarding their responsibilities:

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  • The student must return to China upon completion of their PhD
  • If they do not return, they must pay the scholarship fees back with a 30% fine to the Consulate or Embassy -- in one lump sum
  • If this fee is not paid in Canada, a guarantor in China, identified prior to departure, will be responsible for paying. According to the CSC, this fee is ordinarily paid back with few defaulting.

• Funding is available up to a maximum of 48 months
• Students can stay on if they have not finished their PhD, but there would be no funding after the 48 month threshold [i.e. post-doc]
• The student must apply for an extension and provide justification for an extension

• The advantage of signing an agreement with the CSC is that the foreign universities have access to a pool of 60 top schools
• For Chinese universities, the contract with the CSC is a source of prestige; for the student, this national-level CSC scholarship is a source of prestige as well
• The local Chinese Consulate/ Embassy can provide additional services to the students [i.e. welcome events, support]

• A conditional letter of acceptance should be prepared.
• The conditional letter of acceptance should indicate that if the student receives the CSC Scholarship, the tuition will be waived.
• If a professor has research funding that is equivalent to or more than the cost of tuition which can be made available to the student, this can be considered in lieu of a tuition waiver. The information should be provided to the CSC as part of the conditional letter of acceptance.

• These students may attend one of the 60 schools with agreements
• The student may have been "promised" a scholarship. However, all students must apply for the scholarships with a letter of offer from a foreign school.

• A PhD student will undertake the entire PhD program at the foreign university
• A Joint PhD student would be a current PhD student in a Chinese university in their 1st or 2nd year

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  • The student would do some research in Canada, and then return back to China.
  • Usually the student's advisor in China would have made the connection with an advisor at the foreign institution.
  • This arrangement enables the advisors also to collaborate internationally
  • If the universities have a partnership or other type of agreement, the student may be eligible for a dual diploma

• Visiting Scholars: if they have a PhD, then it would be a post-doc. A visiting scholar is defined by the study not/not being a PhD program

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  • If they do not, then they would be classified as a Visiting Scholar
  • The Scholar could be a faculty member, or government / other organization employee
  • The duration of this program would be one year only.

• Mr. Liu Shaohua, liushaohua@buildlink.com,

• Mr. Zhang Baojun, torontojyz3@rogers.com

Education Section of Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Vancouver, http://www.chinaconsulatevan.org/ .