About the China Scholarship Council
The China Scholarship Council (CSC) is a Chinese governmental organization that grants scholarships for Chinese students that go abroad each year. This includes Chinese students who want to apply for a PhD at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
For successful applicants, Erasmus University will cover their full tuition fees and research fees. CSC will consider their application for a living allowance as prescribed from time to time by the Chinese Government (which include health insurance), a return international airfare to the Netherlands by the most economical route, and visa application fees.
- You have a letter of acceptance for a PhD programme at at Erasmus University Rotterdam;
- You must be (conditionally) admitted to the relevant graduate school at Erasmus University Rotterdam;
- Your obtained bachelor and master degrees are of the same field of study as your research project;
- Your bachelor and master results have been good and the quality should be reflected in the application;
- You are not older than 35 years at the start of the new academic year in the Netherlands;
- The study or research period of the scholarship must be at least 48 months;
- You meet the English language requirements
- You meet the China Scholarship Council selection criteria
Applicable to:
- Nationalities: Chinese
- Level of study: PhD
€ 2,000 per month, for a period of 48 months, covering health insurance, international airfare and living expenses.
Application - CSC-Scholarship for PhDs
- Find a PhD position and supervisor at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Visit the website of the relevant graduate school and our PhD at EUR website for more details.
- After you've got a PhD position and a supervisor, you can apply to join the graduate school's PhD program.
- After admission, ask your PhD supervisor (promotor) to write an acceptance letter in our format. The letter must be signed and written on Erasmus University Rotterdam or Erasmus MC letterhead stationery:
- The promotor can request the acceptance letter via csc@eur.nl
- The promotor can request the acceptance letter via csc@eur.nl
- Your PhD supervisor (promotor) must nominate you for the scholarship by sending a copy of your acceptance letter in 1 PDF file to the Scholarships Team (csc@eur.nl).
- For applications at Erasmus MC: look at the page of the Grad School, contact the relevant professor for the PhD scholarship vacancy. When having applied for the PhD position successfully, your future professor must request the Letter of Acceptance via dr Raoul Tan. Requests must come from your professor or supervisory team, not from you as PhD candidate. The Letter of Acceptance will be sent to your supervisory team, the Erasmus MC Grad School and EUR CSC support. The supervisory team will forward the letter to you.
After you have received a confirmation of your nomination, you can apply for the CSC Scholarship via the CSC online application portal during the application period (usually in March). You can find more information about the application procedure on the CSC website.
Selection process
- Our Scholarships Team will provide CSC with a list of nominated candidates for the scholarship in March.
- CSC will select the scholarship recipients from the list of nominated candidates and inform both the candidates and the Scholarships Team of the selection results in around June.
Specific information
- Contact the relevant graduate school for more information about obtaining a PhD position and admission to a PhD programme.
- Visit the CSC study abroad website for more information about the CSC Scholarship application process and access to the online application portal.
- For more information about practical matters that you need to arrange before and after your arrival in the Netherlands:
EMC candidates only: Ask your PhD supervisor to inform dr Tan and the Graduate School as soon as you know you get the CSC scholarship: then you will enroll in the preboarding and onboarding program (many candidates only contact the Grad School once they are in the Netherlands thus miss the preboarding program)
Candidates for all other faculties: Please refer to the website of incoming international staff at Erasmus University Rotterdam or contact your graduate school.
Deadline: Sunday 1 March 2026
Email: csc@eur.nl