Over the last four years the University of Limerick in collaboration with the China Scholarship Council (CSC) has hosted 12 Chinese PhDstudents as part of the CSC International PhD Scholarship programme.  These students have joined the Materials and Surface Science Institute, the Carbolea Research Group, the Interactive Design Centre, the Department of Politics and Public Administration and the Centre for Applied Languages Studies.

The China Scholarship Council (CSC), a non-profit institution affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education, provides scholarships for Chinese students studying abroad and for international students studying in China.  UL offers five 48-month scholarships and three 1 year scholarships annually.  The PhD students currently at UL completed their undergraduate or masters programmes at 211 prestigious Chinese universities including Tianjin University, Xidian University, Jilin University, Northwest University of Agriculture and Forestry and Hefei University of Technology.