The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Scholarships for Excellence Programme

Welcome to the Scholarships for Excellence Programme!

The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the China Scholarship Council (CSC) offer each year 20 CSC Scholarships to excellent Chinese students to do their PhD in the largest university of Flanders, Belgium.

The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is the oldest university in the Low Countries (Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg) and comprises 14 faculties, all of them involved in cutting edge research.

The university is ranked in the top 15 of European universities in the Times Higher Education Supplement of 2007 and is founding member of the League of European Research Universities (LERU) and the Coïmbra Group.

The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a multicultural university with almost 25 % of its graduate students coming from abroad. As such, it has a long-standing tradition of hospitality towards students and scholars from abroad and especially from China. At present, over 400 Chinese students (about 10% of the international students at K.U.Leuven) have found their home away from home in Leuven.

In China, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is involved in a close partnership with Beijing University, Fudan University, Zhejiang University and Tsinghua University.

Research fields

Priority Research Fields
Priority research fields for the CSC-K.U.Leuven Scholarships for Excellence are proposed by the three doctoral schools:

Humanities and Social Sciences
Science, Engineering and Technology (Arenberg doctoral school)
Biomedical Sciences
The mission of these doctoral schools is

• to organize the international recruitment and placement of doctoral students.
• to organize a doctoral training programme by which doctoral students develop their personal and academic skills, broaden their horizon and to interact with top-level scientists while discussing and conducting cutting edge research.

Applicants for the CSC-K.U.Leuven Scholarships for Excellence who do not yet have a particular research topic in mind may select a particular topic that interests them out of the priority research fields. Alternatively, you may also select a topic that is offered in general in the web pages of the doctoral schools. In either case, you will need to include a brief motivation explaining how the topic you chose can be approached and treated in a manner relevant to development co-operation.

The print-out of the research topic and your motivation need to be included in your application file.

Personal Research Proposal

Applicants for the CSC-K.U.Leuven Scholarships for Excellence who already have a specific research topic in mind may also submit their personal research proposal along with their application file.

Your first step should be to contact a professor at K.U.Leuven to discuss the opportunities for pursuing doctoral studies with your proposed personal research topic. By means of our research database you can find out which K.U.Leuven professors do research on which topics. Alternatively, you may also visit the web pages of the faculties or departments in order to get an idea of the faculty members’ research interests. The contact information for each professor is provided accordingly.

Your next step is then to fill out the following form (doc), indicating the name of the prospective professor-supervisor, the title, outline, tentative bibliography, provisional objectives, methodology and time-frame of your research. The form simply provides the basic structure of the proposal. The proposal itself may, of course, be longer than the two pages provided. Lastly, the prospective supervisor has to endorse your proposal by appending his or her signature.

What do CSC scholarships include?

CSC and K.U.Leuven have agreed that PhD studies in the framework of the present agreement take four years.Students are expected to finish their PhD within this period of time.

Each year of study will be followed by an evaluation in order to decide on the prolongation of the grant. After successfully completing the first three years of study in Leuven and having obtained excellent results, the scholars will continue their studies for a PhD degree with a K.U.Leuven scholarship in the fourth year of study.

C.S.C. and K.U.Leuven provide:

Requirements

K.U.Leuven and CSC offer 20 CSC scholarships per academic year to students who have studied at a Chinese university. Students should have:

1. a good portfolio of research publications
2. some research experience
3. an excellent performance in previous studies
4. a sound knowledge of English (a TOEFL score of 237 CBT or 92 IBT or a 7.0 overall band score on the IELTS test)
5. their domicile in China

Application procedure

CSC and K.U.Leuven offer 20 scholarships in 3 areas:

• Humanities and Social Sciences
• Science, Engineering and Technology
• Biomedical Sciences

Define your research theme and contact the corresponding research department at K.U.Leuven
If you are interested in one of the mentioned research themes, the first thing to do is to get in touch with the research department concerned at K.U.Leuven.
It is essential that your application includes a two pages proposal for a doctoral dissertation, approved and supported by a professor from K.U.Leuven who is prepared to act as your academic supervisor (“promotor”) should you be awarded a grant.

How To Apply
Once you have found a research topic and have contacted the research department concerned, you can start the online application procedure. Applicants must submit their applications both to K.U.Leuven and to CSC. Each candidate must complete both forms. The application deadline at K.U.Leuven is 15 February 2010 .

1. K.U.Leuven application

   K.U.Leuven application forms should first be completed electronically from December 7th 2009 onwards. You’ll have to upload the following documents to your electronic file:

   • A passport photograph and a copy of your passport
   • A curriculum vitae
   • Your proposal for a doctoral dissertation, approved and signed by a professor from K.U.Leuven
   • A letter of recommendation from the professor at K.U.Leuven who is prepared to act as your supervisor (promoter) for your doctoral dissertation
   • Two letters of recommendation from academic referees (in a sealed enveloppe)
   • A statement of purpose (motivation letter)

   Then you should send the following documents (in English) to Ms. Vicky Wandels:

   • A certified copy of your diplomas and transcripts of academic records
   • Translation of your diploma and official transcripts
   • A certificate proving your proficiency in English: for example, a TOEFL certificate sent by ETS with a minimum score of 237 CBT or 92 IBT, or an IELTS certificate with a 7.0 overall band score sent by The British Council. Only original score cards sent directly by either ETS or The British Council are accepted.
2. CSC application

   Please complete the online application form.

Selection procedure

• November-December 2009: CSC announces and promotes the joint scheme in the targeted Chinese
• Universities. Candidates submit their applications to the K.U.Leuven International Office.
• 7 December 2009: Opening of the call at K.U.Leuven
• December 2009 – January 2010: Candidates submit their applications to the K.U.Leuven International Office.
• 15 February 2010: application deadline at K.U.Leuven
• February – March 2010: applications are being evaluated by the faculties and departments concerned.
• Candidates who meet the scheme’s conditions of eligibility are considered for admission.
• 10 March 2010: the K.U.Leuven International Office sends the list of names of the recommended candidates to CSC. The selected candidates receive a set of admission letters.

20 March 2010: application deadline at CSC
April 2010: CSC makes a shortlist and selects the final candidates
Early May 2010: K.U.Leuven and CSC confirm the outcome of the final selection
September 2010: arrival in Belgium of the selected candidates

Contact

Ms Vicky Wandels (K.U.Leuven) co-ordinates the initiative in Leuven.
Mr Zhu Zhilong (CSC) is in charge of the co-ordination in China.
Ms Vicky Wandels