CSC-UoW Guidance Notes

Award Details

The University of Warwick and the China Scholarship Council (CSC) hold an agreement to jointly fund up to 30 Chinese students to pursue research degrees (PhDs) at the University of Warwick.China Scholarship Council- University of Warwick Joint Awards for October 2025 entry will include the following:

The full payment of tuition fees
China Scholarships Council will provide a maintenance stipend and return international airfare between the UK and China for successful applicants.
The University will cover the full payment of overseas tuition fees for the duration of the CSC funding period and will top up the CSC stipend to the maintenance stipend paid at the prevailing UKRI rate

Deadlines

16th October 2024	China Scholarship Council- University of Warwick Joint Award Applications Open
13th January 2025 (23:59 GMT)	Course Application Deadline
16th January 2025 (23:59 GMT)	Scholarship Application Deadline
24th January 2025 (23:59 GMT)	Unconditional Offer Deadline
7th March 2025	All applicants Notified of Scholarship Results
30th March 2025	Latest date nominated candidates can apply to China Scholarship Council

Scholarship Eligibility

To be eligible to APPLY for China Scholarship Council-University of Warwick awards applicants must:

Be assessed as 'overseas' for fees purposes;
Applicants may be from any discipline at Warwick;
Hold a Peoples Republic of China Passport (applicants from Hong Kong or Taiwan are not eligible) and either be permanently resident in China or studying overseas. Those working overseas are not eligible.

Applicants should make three separate applications:

An online application for a place on a Warwick PhD Programme starting in Autumn 2025 OR be currently enrolled in the first year of a PhD or MPhil/PhD at the University*;
A CSC-UoW Scholarship Application.
An application to the China Scholarship Council via the CSC-University of Warwick Channel.

*First year PhD’s must be within the first 12 months of their enrolment of a PhD or MPhil/PhD at the University in October 2025.

To be AWARDED a scholarship applicants must:

Be currently enrolled in the first year of a PhD or MPhil/PhD at the University and be within the first 12 months of their enrolment of a PhD or MPhil/PhD at the University in October 2025 OR
Hold an Unconditional offer letter from the University of Warwick. Therefore, all relevant academic entry requirements, including a high level of English language proficiency should be fulfilled OR
Hold a Conditional offer if the outstanding condition is obtaining ATAS and/or on the successful completion of a current Master's degree, to the minimum level of attainment set by the relevant academic department, and the candidate is in their final year of master study. Candidates with offers that are conditional on other requirements such as English language are not eligible to be nominated to CSC.

In addition to the eligibility criteria set out by the University of Warwick, candidates must meet all eligibility criteria set out by the CSC, this includes:

Acknowledge that they should return to China upon completion of their studies through the programme.
Be aged 35 years or younger at the point of application (as required by the China Scholarship Council).
Where students have prior experience of studying overseas (including the UK) it is important to check eligibility rules on the China Scholarship Council website, this includes Current 1st year PhD students and those in year '1' of a 1+3.
Satisfy any other application criteria set out by the China Scholarship Council
Please note that CSC application rules differ slightly for domestic applicants (students applying from China) and overseas applicants (students applying from overseas) –please see the CSC website for further guidance, More information can be found in CSC’s Q&A document (for reference only. The 2025 version will be published late 2024

Applications from all research areas at the University of Warwick are eligible to apply, and applications from the following research areas are particularly desirable:

Applied Linguistics
Biotechnology
Business and Management
Computer Sciences
Crop Science
Engineering
Environmental Science
Finance and Econometrics
Foreign Languages and Literature
Global History
Mathematics
Political Science and International Relations

Stage 1. Course Application

First year PGR’s, please go straight to Stage 2- Scholarship Application.

Course applications are submitted via the Universal Admissions System.
You will not be able to access the scholarship application system until you have submitted your admissions application; we strongly encourage you to submit your course application as early as possible to allow sufficient time to submit a strong scholarship application.
When completing your course application, you will be asked for contact details for your scholarship/funder, please use Doctoral College (Doctoralcollege@warwick.ac.uk)
Once you have submitted your admissions application you will then receive an automated e-mail giving you your 7-digit student ID number and instructions on registering your ITS applicant account, which you must complete. The automated email with your 7-digit student number can take up to 48 hours after submitting your course application to come through. The username and password provided by IT can then be used to apply for the scholarship.
The Doctoral College are not involved with the process of registering ITS accounts and cannot help with this process.

Stage 2. Scholarship Application

Apply Here.

You will be taken to the ‘Select Scholarship’ page where you can review your details and qualifications. The information here has been taken from your course application/student details so that you do not need to enter it again.

You will need to select the course your scholarship application will be linked to. It is very important that you select the correct course, if you select a course which you later withdraw from or decline the course offer, this will also withdraw your scholarship application.

Note: If you are applying for more than one course you will need to complete a scholarship application for each course application, noting that scholarship applications are sent directly to each prospective department for assessment.

Ranking Criteria

Departments and Faculty Assessors responsible for the assessment of your application will follow the Postgraduate Research Ranking Criteria in their evaluation.

The Ranking Criteria consists of two descriptors:

Person and Preparedness
Project and Place

Scholarships are awarded on academic merit and the basis of CSC priorities. Applications will be assessed against the Postgraduate Research Ranking Criteria.

Scholarship Application Questions

There are three mandatory questions you will need to complete before submitting your application. Question one and two respond to the Postgraduate Research Ranking Criteria.

In 300 words or less, describe how best you meet the person and preparedness descriptors. You may wish to consider your academic history, skills and expertise, professional experience, and awards or publications.
In 500 words or less, describe how best you meet the project and place descriptors. You may wish to consider the significance of your project, engagement with relevant literature, and the project’s fit with your proposed supervisor and department. How will you and/or your project contribute to Warwick’s commitment to excellence in research and education through advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion?
In 500 words or less, provide a summary of your research proposal as appropriate to your discipline and your ability to complete it. For very technical disciplines where advanced detailed might be beyond the current research of an undergraduate or postgraduate taught degree, candidates are encouraged to describe the general area and fundamental open problems that motivate you to pursue the topic, as well as commenting on your academic background and suitability to conduct the research. You are not required to provide a full bibliography.

Note: Your department may access your full research proposal from your course application, however the Faculty Assessors will only view the 500-word summary from your scholarship application. Faculty Assessors will not have access to your full research proposal.

Submitting your scholarship application

You will be able to review your application before submitting. The system will prevent you from submitting your application if you have not completed your application properly and will notify you of any issues.

Please be aware that you will not be able to amend your application once it has been submitted.

You will be sent a confirmation of submission email containing a URL which will take you directly to your application. We would recommend that you bookmark this page so you can visit it directly.

Stage 3. Supporting Documents

New Applicants

Applicants are not required to upload any supporting documents directly to the scholarship application, we will have access to the supporting documents uploaded with your course application.

Please ensure that transcripts and two references are uploaded in support of your course application. Any additional documents (i.e. extended research proposal or CV) uploaded as part of your course application will not be viewed by assessors.

Changes cannot be made to references that have been uploaded in support of your course application, nor can additional references be requested in support of your scholarship application for new applicants.

Please note that the Doctoral College will not upload documents on your behalf.

Current PGR’s

For students applying in their first year, you will see the Supporting Documents step in your progress bar.

We will have access to the supporting documents uploaded when you applied for your course (Transcripts and References).

You can choose to upload up to two new referees as part of your scholarship application.

Stage 4. Assessment

Warwick operates transparent ranking criteria that enables candidates to understand how their application will be assessed. Refer to the PGR Scholarship Ranking Criteria. Competition for awards is very high and scholarship offers will be made to those who are able to demonstrate academic excellence and the potential to be an outstanding research student, up to the specified number of awards available.

Once the scholarship deadline has passed, your application will be assessed in the following way:

Departments are asked to nominate their strongest applications and provide a nomination statement. The nomination statement will contextualise your application and references and will outline your strengths and fit within the department. Due to the limited number of awards available, departments are allocated a specific number of nominations
The CSC-UoW Committee will discuss all nominated applications. Applications will be assessed against the published funding criteria. It is the CSC-UoW Committee responsibility to ensure that university processes and policies are free, fair, and transparent.

Stage 5. Outcomes

The Doctoral College will contact all applicants by 7 March 2025. Please do not contact the Doctoral College in advance of this date to enquire about the result.

If you are nominated, you will then need to apply to the CSC for scholarship funding under China Scholarship Council-University of Warwick Channel. If your application for partnership funding through the CSC is successful and you accept their terms and conditions, we will arrange for you to receive the scholarship funding.The University will not support scholars who are unsuccessful via the partnership funding competition.

The timeline for this scholarship may differ from that used for other scholarships run by the China Scholarship Council (CSC); the guidance on this page only relates to the CSC’s partnership scholarships with the University of Warwick.