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China Scholarship Council doctoral scholarship campaign : Call for projets 2026
ENS Rennes - China Scholarship Council (CSC)
Call for thesis projects 2026 open until December 10th 2025
The selection criteria will take into account the quality of the application, the interest in the topic of research by the host laboratory in ENS Rennes, and in the existing cooperations – formal or informal - with the home university candidates (for example the PROSFER-JoRISS programmes with East China Normal University, Westlake University, Shenzhen University, Jiaotang University, Beihang University and internationally associated laboratories...).Outline for proposal submission 2026
Step 1: Call for proposals open until December 10, 2025.
- The scientific teams send their thesis proposals to the International Relations Department (SRI) at the following address: international@ens-rennes.fr.
Step 2: Publication of thesis proposals and call for applications from December 15, 2025 – February 13, 2026.
- The collected thesis topic proposals will be forwarded to the CSC (and Chinese partners) for Chinese students to apply.
- They will be posted jointly on the CSC and ENS Rennes websites.
- The Chinese student will contact directly the thesis director to establish his/her application file.
- Response to the potential candidates and constitution of the files by the scientific teams.
- The scientific teams are invited to disseminate, in parallel, the thesis proposals via the laboratory websites and networks.
Step 3: Pre-selection of candidates in France
- The scientific leader sends the complete application to the International Relations Office of the ENS Rennes before February 20, 2026.
- The ENS will establish a common list of applications that they will send to the CSC.
- The final list of applications is sent to the CSC on February 29, 2026.
- Candidates pre-selected by the ENS jury apply on the CSC application platform: http://apply.csc.edu.cn in March 2026.
- Candidates must specify that they are applying under the specific ENS-CSC agreement.
Step 4: final selection of the candidates by the CSC in China from the middle of March to the end of March 2026.
Attention: the platform will be open only during a very defined period. The dates are still to be specified for 2026.
* In July, the International Office at ENS Rennes will contact each successful candidate in order to prepare his/her arrival for September 2026.
Mise à jour le 27 novembre 2025
Background information
ENS Group - China Scholarship Council (CSC)
The framework agreement between the ENS France group (Ulm, Paris-Saclay, Lyon, Rennes) and the China Scholarship Council allows for the funding of up to 20 thesis scholarships per year. The objective of this program is to encourage the best Chinese students to come and do a thesis or a research stay in one of the laboratories of the ENS group.
All fields in correlation with the teaching and research departments at the Ecole normale supérieure de Rennes.
There are two scholarship schemes:
- Thesis grant (36 to 48 months): single degree in France or co-directed joint thesis.
- Research residency grant (6 to 24 months): single degree in China with an international component (co-direction for example) and an invitation to carry out a research residency in a French institution.
Application file should consist of :
- Detailed CV of the candidate (with level of English and/or French),
- Letter of motivation from the candidate in English or French,
- Copy of the candidate's passport,
- CV of the French thesis director signed,
- Thesis proposal signed by the thesis director (form),
- Letter of acceptance signed by the thesis director with a description of the proposed thesis topic and the context of the cooperation. This letter must be approved by the Director of the laboratory and the Director of the Graduate School.
- Letter of motivation from the candidate in English or French,
- Copy of the candidate's passport,
- CV of the French thesis director signed,
- Thesis proposal signed by the thesis director (form),
- Letter of acceptance signed by the thesis director with a description of the proposed thesis topic and the context of the cooperation. This letter must be approved by the Director of the laboratory and the Director of the Graduate School.
Applicant Eligibility Requirements
- The scholarship is for a maximum of 4 years. Its amount is 1350 €/month.
- Co-supervision and co-direction of a thesis are preferred. In the case of a cotutelle, the scholarship is paid for the periods when the Chinese doctoral student is in France.
- Applicants must be of Chinese nationality, reside in China and not have a job outside China at the time of application.
- Candidates who have been awarded the CSC scholarship are committed to return to China after the defense of the thesis or after a post-doctoral stay abroad (after agreement from the CSC).
- Candidates must meet the admission and selection requirements of ENS Rennes and of the relevant doctoral school; they must demonstrate a very good level of English and, for candidates in the humanities and social sciences, a very good level of French (B2 minimum, C1 recommended).
- Candidates must be hosted in a doctoral school attached to ENS Rennes.
- Co-supervision and co-direction of a thesis are preferred. In the case of a cotutelle, the scholarship is paid for the periods when the Chinese doctoral student is in France.
- Applicants must be of Chinese nationality, reside in China and not have a job outside China at the time of application.
- Candidates who have been awarded the CSC scholarship are committed to return to China after the defense of the thesis or after a post-doctoral stay abroad (after agreement from the CSC).
- Candidates must meet the admission and selection requirements of ENS Rennes and of the relevant doctoral school; they must demonstrate a very good level of English and, for candidates in the humanities and social sciences, a very good level of French (B2 minimum, C1 recommended).
- Candidates must be hosted in a doctoral school attached to ENS Rennes.