Chinese Government Scholarship 2025 to 2026

The Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC) of the People’s Republic of China is offering full academic scholarship for one Irish student to study in China for the academic year 2025 - 2026. The student can be pursuing an undergraduate, postgraduate or advanced course.

To be eligible, applicants must:

• be a citizen of a country other than the People’s Republic of China, and be in good health both mentally and physically
• be a secondary school graduate under the age of 25 when applying for undergraduate programmes
• be a bachelor’s degree holder under the age of 35 when applying for master’s programmes
• be a master’s degree holder under the age of 40 when applying for doctoral programmes
• be a secondary school graduate (at least) under the age of 45 when applying for general scholar programmes
• be a master’s degree holder or an associate professor (or above) under the age of 50 when applying for senior scholar programmes
• have acquired the Chinese proficiency of HSK Level 3 when applying for Chinese-taught undergraduate or general scholar programmes (studying Chinese language are exempted)
• have acquired the Chinese proficiency of HSK Level 3 when applying for Chinese-taught senior scholar programmes
• have acquired the Chinese proficiency of HSK Level 4 when applying for Chinese-taught master’s or doctoral programmes
• meet the admission requirements of the applied universities in terms of academic ability, language proficiency and other relevant criteria

Applicants must apply online in the first instance (select the ‘Application Online for International Students’ option). Before beginning the online application, please read the online instructions for the CSC information system.

Information on the Chinese higher education institutions admitting international students can be found on:

• Chinese Government Scholarship Information System
• Campus China

Once you have completed your online application, please email the below documents to scholarships@dfheris.gov.ieby 5.00pm on Friday, 14 February 2025:

• a copy of the submitted online application form in English
• all other supporting documentation

Any documentation submitted to the Department in Chinese is required to be accompanied by an official English translation. Following receipt of your submission by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research Innovation and Science a confirmation email will issue to you. If you do not receive a confirmation email within two working days, please contact scholarships@dfheris.gov.ie.

Any applicants or application documents not conforming to the regulations of the CSC will be considered null and void and will not be accepted. Late or incomplete application papers will not be accepted for consideration.

All eligible application documents will be assessed by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and a nominee put forward as Ireland’s candidate for the CSC scholarship award. To note – the final decision on whether a candidate is successful or not rests with the CSC. Its decision will issue in mid-July.

When your application is received, the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research Innovation and Science create a record in your name, which contains much of the personal information you have supplied. This personal record is used solely in processing your candidature. Such information held is subject to the rights and obligations set out in the Data Protections Acts 1988 and 2003. You are entitled under this Act to obtain, at any time, a copy of information held about you.

By lodging your application, you consent to any processing of your personal data, including sensitive personal data, by the Department. The personal data provided may be exchanged with the relevant country’s embassy for the purpose of assessing your suitability.

Full details of the Department's data protection policy setting out how we will use your personal data as well as information regarding your rights as a data subject are available at department's data protection notice. Details of this policy are available in hard copy from the address above upon request.

Find more information on the Chinese Government’s Scholarship Programme:

If you have any questions about the Scholarship, please contact scholarships@dfheris.gov.ie.