Under this scheme, up to five PhD students per year are pre-selected and sponsored by China's Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) to spend two years at Warwick followed by a further two years at SUSTech with co-supervision throughout, graduating with a Warwick PhD upon successful completion.

The five-year scheme, launched in August 2016 when a ‘Collaborative PhD Mobility Agreement’ was signed, was renewed for a further five years in 2021 and is intended to broaden and strengthen the research links which already exist between Warwick and SUSTech in areas such as Chemistry, Engineering and Computer Science.

SUSTech pays the students’ tuition fees and a stipend aligned to UKRI levels, for the two years which the students will spend at Warwick. Students pay local tuition fees (currently 10,000RMB per year) to SUSTech for the third and fourth years of the programme. SUSTech provides a local-rate PhD stipend for the final two years. For full terms and conditions of the scholarship scheme, please see SUSTech's website.

The PhD students will spend the first two years of their training at Warwick, followed by another two years at SUSTech, with joint supervision at each partner University throughout. As SUSTech teaches entirely in English, candidates do not need prior knowledge of Mandarin Chinese (though SUSTech offers supplementary courses in Chinese language during the two years of residence there to help with day-to-day language needs outside the campus).

Acceptance onto any Warwick course under this scheme is subject to the standard admissions requirements, screening procedures and offer process.

SUSTech is a public university founded in 2011 in Shenzhen, one of the most prosperous and dynamic cities in China. Despite its relatively short history, SUSTech has rapidly climbed through both the ranks of both Chinese and global universities. In the 2021 QS World University Ranking, SUSTech was ranked 38th out of 118 universities in mainland China and 137th out of 557 universities in Asia. The 2019 Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities placed SUSTech 1st in China for its quality of research (Field Weighted Citation Impact). While initially focussed on STEMM disciplines, SUSTech has recently added a School of Humanities and Social Sciences and a College of Business, which includes a Department of Finance and a Division of Information Systems and Management Engineering.

Scholarship applications should be made to SUSTech by the end of October of the preceding year. If subsequently nominated by SUSTech for a scholarship, candidates should then apply through Warwick's standard postgraduate admissions system, clearly indicating within their application that they are applying for the Warwick-SUSTech collaborative PhD mobility programme.

For more information about the scheme, please contact

Scholarships Guidance

N.B. Though the first round of applications for entry in 2022 to this scheme closed on 1 November 2021, a further round may be held in April 2022, subject to availability of scholarships.

Full details of the scholarship application process for 2022 entry are available at SUSTech's website.

Prospective PhD students can identify a potential supervisor from this webpage and download the application form, together with templates for a personal statement and supporting letter of recommendation, from this page (scroll to the table at the bottom of the Chinese-language page and download the form labelled in English ‘Application form-Collaborative PhD Programs (En)’). This should be submitted by email to the administrator of the relevant SUSTech academic department by 1 November.

N.B. Scholarship applications for entry in October of the next academic year should be submitted to SUSTech no later than 1 November of the preceding year.