CSC Students from China

The Confucius Institute (CI) at UQ invites suitably qualified candidates for CSC (China Scholarship Council) scholarships from its Chinese partner university, Tianjin University (TU), to apply for admission to PhD degree programs at The University of Queensland. Preference will be given to students in the fields of Engineering and Science. Other research areas will be considered at a later date.

Applicants will be assessed in accordance with UQ admission criteria in terms of language proficiency, academic excellence and other requirements related to the PhD programs.

Successful candidates will be offered a scholarship from UQ that covers international student tuition fee and other fees related to the PhD programs.

The Confucius Institute at UQ will serve as the coordinating body for applications from TU students, facilitating the liaison between TU students and potential UQ supervisors, and assisting and streamlining TU students’ application process at UQ. The following questions (with answers given below) will lead you through the application process - please click on them.

(1) Why UQ?

(2) How do you find your supervisor and a PhD research project?

(3) What should you do next? Whom should you contact and how?

(4) What should you include in your application?

(5) What are the deadlines for the applications?

(6) What other information do you need to know?

(1) Why UQ?

The University of Queensland has supported almost 13,000 students in their academic pursuit to attain research higher degrees and has the prestige, scope, support and intensity of research to help you realise your academic potential. UQ prides itself on a culture of research excellence and students will benefit from the UQ Advantage:

• World-wide recognition as an elite research university – among the top 50 universities in the World University Rankings and the top 3 in Australia.
• Founding member of the Group of Eight (Go8) – a leading group of Australian universities that conduct 70 percent of all university research in Australia.
• Over 1000 experts available in a broad range of fields across 7 faculties and 8 institutes.
• Annual research income in excess of $303 million (2009).
• First-class research facilities including a new Thesis Hub and dedicated office space for research higher degree students.
• Year-round skills training, professional development opportunities and first-class research commercialisation workshops.
• Leader in industry collaboration.
• One of Australia’s largest academic libraries with over 2.5 million volumes and over 75,000 distinct electronic/print journal titles.

At UQ you can start your Research Higher Degree on any day of the year. We want you to start researching as soon as possible: UQ gives you the opportunity to maximise your research potential.

Traditionally, universities do two things – teaching and research. At UQ we do three: teaching, research, and commercialization. UQ has the highest concentration of Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) and industry funding of any Australian university. UQ’s industry links provide significant opportunities for collaboration and commercialisation to our RHD candidates. Find out about research commercialisation opportunities, including free workshops, at:

www.uq.edu.au/grad-school/commercialisation  

Make The University of Queensland your research base in Australia because:

• UQ is one of the top three research universities in Australia.
• UQ has one of the largest numbers of international PhD candidates of any university in Australia.
• The University leads industry collaboration and research funding in Australia.
• PhD and MPhil candidates have the opportunity to work with researchers with international reputations.
• UQ is ranked 41st in the World University Rankings (Times Higher Education Supplement, October 2008).
• In 2004, the UQ Graduate School model for Harnessing Support for Research Students’ Learning was given an Australian teaching award for Best Practice.
• UQ is a founding member of the Group of Eight (Go8) – a leading group of Australian universities, which conducts 70 percent of all university research in Australia.
• Our campuses at St Lucia, Ipswich and Gatton are some of the most beautiful and well-equipped in Australia. Take a virtual tour at:

www.uq.edu.au/study/index.html?page=16125

Find out more about UQ’s research strengths at www.uq.edu.au/grad-school/uq-research

(2) How do you find your supervisor and a PhD research project?

The best way of finding your potential PhD supervisor and project is to navigate through UQ’s website, in particular, the web pages of the Faculty, Schools, and Research Institutes and Centres in the fields of your research interests. These pages contain information about academic staff research interests, projects and sometimes positions available for PhD students. On the web page below, you can find potential supervisors and projects in the areas of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology:

www.eait.uq.edu.au/index.html?page=139713

(3) What should you do next? Whom should you contact and how?

Once you find your potential supervisor (with or without a project already selected), you should start the CSC application by doing the following:

• Contact the potential supervisor with your CV to express your interest in pursuing PhD research under his/her supervision.
•  If the supervisor decides to support you, you should complete an Expression of Interest (EOI) Form and submit it to the postgraduate coordinator of the enrolling school.
• After confirmation from your supervisor, the postgraduate coordinator will invite you to prepare the admission form, which includes a research proposal (you can develop the research proposal with your supervisor).
• Submit your admission package to the postgraduate coordinator of the enrolling school before 1st December 2010.

(4) What should you include in your application?

An Application for Admission and Scholarship form with the following documents:

• Recommendation from your university
• Proof of English: IELTS minimum score 6.5 overall, 6.0 in writing, or IBTOEFL minimum score 90 overall, 21 in writing
• Original transcripts and degree certificates in English
• Your CV, including publications
• Two referee letters (you should send official form to the referees and ask them to fill in the form and send it directly to the supervisor)

(5) What are the deadlines for the applications?

• Before 1 December (current year, e.g., 2010): Admission application package should be lodged to the postgraduate coordinator of the enrolling school
• Early December (current year), all applications will be rigorously screened by the research committee of the enrolling school. Unsuccessful applicants will be notified in mid/late December
• In mid January (next year, e.g., 2011): UQ conditional or final offers (admission and fee waiving) will be sent to success candidates
• 20 February – 20 March (next year): CSC applications start

(6) What other information do you need to know?

For general information for international students at UQ, please visit

http://www.uq.edu.au/international

UQ documents needed by CSC

• UQ admission offer letter (can be conditional)
• UQ fee-waiving scholarship offer letter
• Research proposal
• Supervisor’s CV

CSC selection timelines

• April/May (next year): CSC assessment starts
• May/June (next year): Successful candidates announced
• June, September/October (next year): top- up rounds
• September (next year) onwards – come to UQ

For more information about a Research Higher Degree at UQ contact:

www.uq.edu.au/grad-school

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