Skip to main content
School of Law
  1. School of Law
  2. Postgraduate
  3. Funding
  4. PhD China Scholarship Council

School of Law - China Scholarship Council (CSC) Studentships

The School of Law invites applications from outstanding Chinese students to undertake a three-year full-time postgraduate research (PhD) degree programme based in London, commencing in September 2025.

Since 2007, Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL) and the China Scholarship Council (CSC) have been offering joint scholarships to Chinese students from leading universities in the People's Republic of China for doctoral study at Queen Mary. The School of Law is pleased to announce the offer of Studentships for entry in September 2025.

In the latest Research Assessment Exercise (REF2021) the School of Law was ranked 15th in the UK, according to Times Higher Education, with 87 per cent of our School’s research outputs classed as world-leading (4* the highest score possible) or internationally excellent (3*).

Research Areas

The School of Law consists of the Centre for Commercial Law Studies and the Department of Law. 

CCLS is home to researchers in a broad range of commercial law subjects, and the Department of Law can offer supervision in most areas of non-commercial law. 

To see if the area of Law you wish to research is one which we are able to offer doctoral supervision in, please see our staff list to view areas of staff expertise. You can then type in the area of law you wish to research as a search term, and this will bring up the staff members we have in this area.  You can then click on the individual staff pages for more specific information about their research interests and thus what areas they can offer doctoral supervision in. Please be aware, only permanent staff members (not visiting scholars) can act as PhD supervisors. 

Read more about the research of both departments on the School of Law research pages.

Scholarship Benefits

  • Full tuition fee scholarship (in the form of fee waiver) for up to three years;
  • Living allowance as prescribed by the Chinese Government for the term of the scholarship;
  • One return air-fare between China and London by the most economical route.

Please note that the tuition fee scholarship will be provided by Queen Mary, while the other listed benefits will be provided by the China Scholarship Council. Neither the University nor the Council will be responsible for any other expenses.

Eligibility

Applicants must:

  • ordinarily be citizens and permanent residents of the People's Republic of China (excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan) at the time of the application, as well as Chinese students already residing in the UK.  
  • not have received any CSC scholarship within five years of the time of application;
  • be interested in pursuing original research in one of the key research areas of the School of Law at QMUL;
  • meet the Academic and English language entry requirements of the School of Law’s PhD Programme. The School of Law PhD Programme requires an IELTS score of 7.5 overall (and a score of 7.0 in the written element specifically as well). Applications submitted without an IELTS certificate will not be considered. Read more about the Law PhD entry requirements.
  • satisfy any other selection criteria as determined by the China Scholarship Council.
  • start their PhD in the 2025/26 academic year – the award cannot be deferred.

Deadline

To be considered for CSC funding, you must have submitted your application to the School of Law PhD programme, including all required supporting documentation by 29 January 2025.

Application Procedure

Application for the Queen Mary/China Scholarship Council Joint PhD Scholarship is a two-step process.

Step 1: Apply for Admission to the School of Law at QMUL

  • Apply to Queen Mary for admission as a postgraduate research student at the School of Law by completing the online application form, including all required documentation, by the deadline. Applicants must provide documentary evidence they have met our English language entry requirements by mid-March 2025 at the latest.
  • QMUL uses an on-line application system for its degree programmes, including for the School of Law PhD programme. For information on how to apply online, our entry requirements, and what application documentation is required, view our PhD in Law webpage.
  • Applicants are encouraged to contact an eligible academic staff member to secure supervision prior to submitting their application, and so prior to the funding deadline date. Whilst applications submitted without supervision agreed will also be considered, it will aid any application for funding if they can show they have already secured supervision by the time the funding selection process takes place.  Information and guidance for applicants on how to contact academic staff can be found on the main PhD webpage, specifically in the ‘Finding a Supervisor’ section.
  • CSC scholarship applicants must choose full-time study and PhD Law Semester 1 Start (September 2025).
  • To notify the School of Law that you wish to be considered for CSC funding, use the ‘Other Information’ section within the PhD online application form. To apply for our CSC award you will need to respond to the question within this section: ‘‘Are you applying for a specific named funding’ by selecting ‘Yes’ from the drop down menu, and then to the new question that appears – ‘Which specific named funding?’ choose ‘I am a  China Scholarship Council applicant’ option from the drop down list provided. Without this notification, you will not be considered as a funding applicant, you will be treated as an applicant to our PhD programme only.
  • If you wish to apply for other QMUL funding awards, you may do so. If you are unable to indicate this on the on-line application form, please e-mail g.skehan@qmul.ac.uk with notification by the time of the relevant funding deadline.
  • Find out more information about the CSC funding scheme.

Step 2: Apply for the China Scholarship Council Scholarship

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.

The CSC scheme itself will be open for applications from applicants who hold an offer of a PhD from a participating UK institution during March 2025. The outcome of the funding selection process will be confirmed by the CSC in June 2025.

Note:

  • As soon as the China Scholarship Council has confirmed your scholarship, you should inform Queen Mary and confirm that you are accepting the offer of admission.
  • The tuition fee scholarship from Queen Mary is awarded on the condition that you are successful in securing the CSC scholarship. If you are not successful in your CSC scholarship application, you can still continue to undertake the postgraduate research degree programme at the School of Law if you are able to secure alternative means of financing your tuition fees and living expenses.

Contact

For general enquiries about the application process, contact Mr Gareth Skehan, PhD Admissions Administrator: g.skehan@qmul.ac.uk.

For any questions about the Queen Mary/CSC partnership specifically, please contact Flora Mckay at f.mckay@qmul.ac.uk.

Back to top