Who can apply (PhD at VUB)?
Who can apply for a full PhD (3-4 years)?
- You must have the Chinese nationality, and meet the eligibility requirements of CSC.
- You are a last-year Master students from a Chinese university (for 4-year scholarship)
- Or a last-year Master student from a university outside of China (for 4-year scholarship)
- Or a student who already obtained a Master degree (for 4-year scholarship)
- Or a first-year PhD student currently enrolled in a university outside of China (for 3-year scholarship)
Who can apply for a jointly supervised PhD (6-24 months)?
- You must have the Chinese nationality, and meet the eligibility requirements of CSC.
- You are a current PhD student enrolled in a Chinese university
What does the scholarship cover?
Based on the agreement between VUB and CSC, the scholarship include
- A monthly allowance for the allocated period & international flight offered by CSC
- Tuition fee and health insurance offered by VUB relevant research group or department/faculty (Note: the insurance is only provided for full PhD or jointly-supervised PhD students).
Type of PhD scholarships
- Full PhD candidates (3 to 4 years for a PhD degree at VUB)
- Jointly supervised PhD - only for PhD students currently enrolled in a Chinese university (6 to 24 months for exchange or double-degree based on a mutual agreement for each student)
The VUB-CSC scholarship programme offers two kinds of jointly supervised PhD programmes:
- Jointly supervised PhD without a PhD degree from VUB (equivalent to the PhD exchange or guest student at VUB).
- Jointly supervised PhD for a student who wishes to obtain double PhD degrees from both VUB and the home university in China based on the agreement between two universities and two supervisors. In this case, an agreement will be signed between the promoter (or supervisor) at VUB and the promoter at the Chinese university for a specific PhD student. The application follows the same procedure as a PhD candidate mentioned above. Please feel free to contact us for more information.
*Note: According to the policy of CSC, the Chinese supervisor of a jointly supervised PhD student could apply for one-month scholarship to visit the supervisor at VUB in Belgium.
PhD Application procedure and timeline 2026
FOR CSC-VUB JOINT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME (CSC与荷语布鲁塞尔自由大学合作奖学金): FULL PHD & JOINTLY SUPERVISED PHD (TO START YOUR PHD IN SEPTEMBER 2026)
*IMPORTANT: You need to contact supervisors/professors before starting the online pre-application. The contact details can be found in the topics list mentioned below.
17 Oct 2025 - 31 Jan 2026
- Please check if you meet the requirement for this scholarship according to the CSC regulation "国家建设高水平大学公派研究生项目选派办法" (only in Chinese).
- Please read carefully all information about doing a PhD at VUB by clicking here.
- A reference to find a PhD topic and contact a professor/supervisor by downloading the list from here (updated on 16th October 2025 for the intake in September 2026).
-
Start your online per-application by clicking here.
*Important Note: please make sure that you have already started contacting professors while you are proceeding the per-application online. If you do not get reply from professors within 2 weeks, please send an email to csc@vub.be for help (mentioning the name of the professor and your full name).
31 January 2026
Deadline for VUB online per-applications.
Please note that for some of the topics, the relevant professors who would like to accept applicants will need to go through VUB internal review before 17th February 2026 (not by applicants). If the professors are not aware of this procedure, please contact us by sending an email to csc@vub.be
February & March 2026
VUB (International Relations office) provides offer letters to the pre-accepted candidates for their scholarship applications before the CSC deadline, and sends the list of pre-accepted candidates to CSC.
10-31 March 2026
The candidates who are pre-accepted by VUB apply for CSC scholarship before the CSC deadline on 31 March 2026.
April-May 2026
CSC selection process for the final candidates for obtaining the CSC scholarship.
May-June 2026
Upon confirmation of final candidates sent by CSC, VUB informs the final candidates to start the VUB PhD application procedure and provides the official admission letters. The final candidates will be informed by CSC individually for the arrangement for the scholarship.
September 2026
Enroll at VUB, and participate in the info session especially organized for CSC students. We strongly suggest students arrive VUB at least one week before the official start of the academic year. Please refer to the VUB academic calendar by clicking here. Please take the original documents ("gong zheng jian" or "gong zheng shu") of your authorized/translated Graduation Certificate, Degree Certificate, and Transcript of your Master programme from your home university.
If you have any questions concerning this procedure, please feel free to contact us by sending an email to csc@vub.be Please mention 'CSC PhD Application' in the subject of your email.
APS certificate
The final candidates who obtained the VUB-CSC scholarship do not need an APS certificate anymore since 2018. CSC grant holders are fully exempted from the APS procedure, but only based on the exemption name list provided by the International Relations office at VUB to the relevant Belgian authority. If the candidates applied through this website, the names will be added to the list automatically. If the candidates applied through other channels, please notify the International Relations office by sending an email to csc@vub.be
More information about APS on VUB website can be found here, or the official APS website here.
Dear applicants,
Thank you for your interest in VUB. Please note that you are using the valuable time of the supervisors (or say promoters) for your PhD application. If you are accepted by a VUB supervisor but later decide to use the offer from another university (instead of VUB) to apply for a CSC scholarship, please respectfully inform the supervisor and the VUB International Relations office immediately. You may otherwise offend the supervisor and might be reported to CSC.
Thank you for your cooperation!
Postdoctoral candidates and visiting scholars
Please contact professors or research group by yourself by referring to the PhD topics mentioned above or visit our research portal: https://researchportal.vub.be/
Please note that after accepted by VUB, postdoc and visiting scholar need to apply for Single Permit before applying for Belgian visa.
If you have questions concerning the procedure, please send an e-mail to csc@vub.be, mentioning 'CSC Postdoc Application' or 'CSC Visiting Scholars Application'. If you already have a VUB supervisor, please inform us the name of the professor, research topic, and duration via email.
Please note that the information above may be subject to change under certain circumstances.
Outgoing VUB students to study in China
Application through VLUHR-i
CSC offers mobility grants available for students (Bachelor, Master and PhD) from all Flemish higher education institutions and from all fields of study for the academic year 2025-2026. A total of 9 candidates and 1 reserve candidate will be selected for VLUHR-i. If more applications are submitted than there are scholarships available, a selection will be made based on the quality of the applications (Transcripts of Records, study plan/research proposal and letter of recommendation).
The application procedure is largely the same. Students must register online via www.campuschina.org and click through to 'Scholarship Application for Students'. This way they get to https://studyinchina.csc.edu.cn/#/login and an account can be created. When registering, it is important that the student enters the following information:
• Program Category: Type A
• Agency number: 0561
After the online registration, a file must be compiled for each candidate with all the documents listed in Annex '2. General requirements'. A 'Non-criminal record report' (point m) must also be added. This is an 'Extract from the criminal record', which used to be called 'certificate of good conduct'. More information can be found on https://www.vlaanderen.be/uittreksel-uit-het-strafregister. All documents listed in the annex must also be uploaded digitally when filling in the online registration form.
You will find all guidelines in separate documents below (click the titles to download files):
- Instructions for Chinese Government Scholarship for applicants (scroll to page 3 for English version)
- General Requirements of 2026-2027 Chinese Government Scholarship Application (scroll to page 4 for English version)
- FOREIGNER PHYSICAL EXAMINATION FORM
- Application Brochure issued by Embassy of China in Belgium
- CSCA SCORE REPORT-exemple for students
Application though China Link Scholarship Program
1. Program Introduction
In order to deepen the academic friendship and mutual understanding between Chinese and foreign young generation, and to build a platform for the exchange of scientific research young talents in the world, China Scholarship Council (CSC) continues to carry out China Link Short-term Scientific Exchange Scholarship Program (referred to as China Link Scholarship) in 2025.
2. Program Scheme
① Funding Categories
General scholar: applicable to current undergraduates or graduates.
Senior scholar: applicable to current Ph. D candidates or faculties
② Duration: 1-12 months
Start study in China no later than August 31, 2026.
③Working Language: English or Chinese, depending on the program provided by the Chinese host universities.
④ Study/Research Fields: All disciplines other than Chinese language study.
3. Funding: Successful applicants will receive a full scholarship from CSC during their stay in China, including tuition waiver, free on-campus accommodation, comprehensive medical insurance and monthly stipend (CNY 3,000 for general scholars; CNY 3,500 for senior scholars).
For more information about eligibility and application process, please click here to the official website.
Contact
Should you have further questions, do not hesitate to contact us by sending an e-mail to csc@vub.be. Please mention 'CSC PhD Application' or 'CSC Postdoctoral Application' in the subject of your e-mail for Chinese applicants.
For the VUB students who would like to apply for studying in China as an exchange student, please mention "CSC scholarship outgoing mobility" in the subject of your e-mail.