CSC-Tübingen PhD Program

The China Scholarship Council (CSC) and the University of Tübingen have established a PhD Program which supports Chinese nationals inside and outside of China wishing to carry out all or part of their PhD study in Tübingen.

The application system is open for applications.

Deadline: 15 January 2027

Aims

Providing high quality research training to qualified students from Chinese universities
Developing education and research collaborations between the University of Tübingen and Chinese universities and research institutions

Target group

Excellent postgraduate and doctoral students from the People's Republic of China.

Funding lines

Funding line A - Full time fellowship:

Postgraduate students who want to carry out their complete doctoral studies at the University of Tübingen
Up to 48 months
Degree conferred by the University of Tübingen
Annual living allowance as prescribed by the Chinese Government (which includes Overseas Student Health Cover)

Funding Line B - Part time fellowship (sandwich model):

Doctoral students who want to carry out their research and studies alternatively at their home universities and the University of Tübingen. They follow a schedule set in advance by both the Chinese supervisors and supervisors at the University of Tübingen
6-24 months in Tübingen,
Degree conferred by the Chinese home university
Annual living allowance as prescribed by the Chinese Government (which includes Overseas Student Health Cover) for 6-24 months

Available Positions

The application system is now open for applications.

List of available PhD Positions for the academic year 2027/28

Project Details (Download the project description)	Supervisor(s)	Full-time / Sandwich
Faculty of Science
Project 07: Phosphorus in the dark – revealing the biogeochemistry of phosphorus in cave ecosystems	Prof. Dr. Yvonne Oelmann, PD Dr. Harald Neidhardt	Full-time or Sandwich
Project 10: Vascular cell maturation potential during plant embryogenesis	Dr. Margot Smit	Full-time
Project 11: Listening or Identifying? How Sound Recognition Apps Reshape Birdwatchers’ Engagement with Natural Soundscapes	Prof. Dr. Christoph Randler	Full-time or Sandwich
Project 12: Interacting polaritons as a nonlinear photonic computing medium	Prof. Dr. Igor Lesanovsky	Full-time
Project 13: Development of Combined-Experiment Approaches for Mechanistic Modeling of the Skin Barrier	Dr. Moritz Reuter, Prof. Dr. Dominique Lunter	Full-time
Project 14: Studies of growth and characterization of radical assemblies by using soft X-ray techniques	Prof. Dr Maria Benedetta Casu	Full-time
Project 19: Changing Morphology in Dammed Rivers	Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Christiane Zarfl, Dr. rer. nat. Rebecca Mast	Full-time or Sandwich
Project 20: Powering Africa, Sealing Land (PASL) – Development of a geospatial modelling approach to assess how proposed renewable energy infrastructure will alter environmental systems	Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Christiane Zarfl, Dr. rer. nat. Rebecca Mast	Full-time or Sandwich
Project 22: Cut and Run: Protease-mediated bacterial colonization of plants	Dr. Jessica Lee Erickson	Full-time
Project 29: Functional variation shapes ecological role and contribution of species within communities	Prof. Dr. Katja Tielbörger; Dr. Andréa Davrinche	Full-time
Project 31: What keeps a stem cell a stem cell? Cell wall properties and mechanics in the plant shoot apical meristem	Prof. Dr. Sebastian Wolf	Full-time
Project 33: The Physics and Astrophysics of Galactic Black Holes in the era of simultaneous spectral-timing-polarimetry observations	Prof. Andrea Santangelo, Dr. Honghui Liu	Full-time
Project 34: Supernova remnant observations in the early phase of CTAO-South	Dr. Gerd Pühlhofer, Prof. Andrea Santangelo	Full-time
Faculty of Medicine
Project 01: Molecular pathomechanisms and treatment strategies for an inherited neurodegenerative disorder	PD Dr. Thorsten Schmidt, MME	Full-time
Project 08: Mobile contactless muscle diagnostics using Quantum sensors for patient bedside assessment	Prof. Dr. Justus Marquetand	Full-time
Project 09: MST Kinases in NF-κB Signaling and HIV Infection	Prof. Dr. Daniel Sauter	Full-time
Project 32: Investigation of the effects of pembrolizumab and cemiplimab on mitochondrial metabolic reprogramming in penile squamous cell carcinoma	PD Dr. rer. nat. Maria Luisa Barcena	Full-time
Faculty of Law
Project 04: Evidence-Based Criminal Law-Making: Epistemic Standards for Rational Criminalization	Jun.-Prof. Dr. Jennifer Grafe, LL.M.	Full-time
Faculty of Humanities and IZEW
Project 02: MANTRAMS – mantras in religion, media and society in global southern Asia	Prof. Dr. Carola Lorea	Full-time or Sandwich
Project 18: Travel and Adventure in the Post-Classical Sagas of Icelanders	Jun.Prof. Dr. Rebecca Merkelbach	Full-time
Project 21: A new language of trade? The Chinese-Russian (pre-)pidgin	Jun.-Prof. Dr. Florian Wandl (University of Tübingen), Prof. Dr. Dieter Stern (University of Ghent), Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Behr (University of Zürich)	Full-time
Project 30: Ethics and epistemology of generative Artificial Intelligence in designing architecture	Prof. Dr. phil. Dipl.-Ing. Sabine Ammon	Full-time or Sandwich
Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences
Project 03: An Economic Analysis of State Capacity and Welfare Development in China and Europe over the Very Long Run	Prof. Dr. Joerg Baten	Full-time

Please apply via this online portal: https://www.antraege-zv.uni-tuebingen.de/main.php.

For further details on submission of applications, please see "How to apply".

Application deadline: January 15, 2027

Funding and Benefits

Funding for both Funding lines includes:

Return airfare to Germany
Visa application fees.
Support for the attendance of international conferences during the second and third year (up to 1000€ granted to successful applicants)

Benefits for both funding lines:

Tuition waiver
Option to take German language classes provided by the University of Tübingen during the first year
Accommodation offered in Tübingen student dormitories depending on availability
Opportunities to gain additional teaching and research experience as well as economic benefits from the University of Tübingen from the second year onward (depending on the ability of the applicant and the situation of the respective institute)

Application Process

Jan 15: Application deadline. Applications must be handed in through the online application system of the University of Tübingen (https://www.antraege-zv.uni-tuebingen.de/)
by Mar 10: Successful applicants will be officially informed
until Mar 31: Invited applicants have to register with the CSC to the regulations of the CSC. More information on these regulations can be seen on the CSC Website.
until May 31: Final decisions about the allocation of scholarships will be made by the CSC
Oct 1: Program participants arrive in Tübingen
Successful candidates must return to China upon completion of their studies.

How to Apply

Please apply via this online portal: https://www.antraege-zv.uni-tuebingen.de/main.php (portal is open from Oct.15th)
In order to apply you need to upload the following documents combined in 1 PDF (max. 4 MB)

Cover/Motivation letter
CV
Research proposal (3-5 pages)
Academic transcripts* (if you have not yet completed your Master's studies, please submit a confirmation of studies and an up-to-date transcript of records)
Proof of proficient English language skills (i.e. comprehension of a wide range of demanding, longer texts as well as fluent and spontaneous expression allowing a flexible and effective language use for social, academic and professional purposes.) - TOEFL iBT 95 or IELTS 6.5 or equivalent
Note: <style> a { text-decoration: none; color: #464feb; } tr th, tr td { border: 1px solid #e6e6e6; } tr th { background-color: #f5f5f5; } </style>The Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences require an IELTS score of 7.0 (CEFR level C1).

*List of required Academic transcripts (including official translation into German or English for documents issued in Chinese)
1) Bachelor’s Degree Award Certificate / Bachelor Gradverleihungsurkunde (学士学位证书 xueshi xuewei zhengshu)
2) Bachelor's Degree Certificate/ Abschlusszeugnis (毕业证书 biye zhengshu) für das Bachelorstudium (本科 benke)
3) Transcript of the subjects and marks / Fächer- und Notenübersicht (成绩表 chengjibiao) for your Bachelor’s degree/ für das Bachelorstudium (本科 benke)
4) Master’s Degree Award Certificate / Master-Gradverleihungsurkunde (硕士学位证书 shuoshi xuewei zhengshu)
5) Master’s Degree Certificate/ Abschlusszeugnis für das Masterstudium (硕士研究生毕业证书 shuoshi yanjiusheng biye zhengshu)
6) Transcript of the subjects and marks for your Master’s Degree / Fächer- und Notenübersicht für das Masterstudium (硕士研究生成绩表 shuoshi yanjiusheng chengjibiao)