ENS-CSC doctoral fellowship program: the 2026 call for applications is now open!
The program between the ENS group and the China Scholarship Council (CSC) recruits excellent doctoral students from all Chinese universities, or provides financial support for a Chinese doctoral student to carry out a research stay in a laboratory affiliated to one of the 3 ENS (Lyon, PSL, Rennes). This program can recruit up to 15 doctoral students per year in the ENS group (i.e. around 5 candidates per ENS and per year).
There are two kinds of CSC financial support, depending on the status of the candidate:
- Full PhD, thesis grant from 36 to 48 months:
- thesis with delivery of a single French diploma
- thesis in international joint-PhD
- Visiting PhD, research fellowship from 6 to 24 months: thesis with delivery of a single Chinese diploma in China, with an invitation to carry out a research stay in France.
Phase 1: Call for thesis proposals
From October 15 to November 14, 2025
Thesis topics will be collected until 14 November 2025.
Phase 2: Call for PhD applications
From December 15 to February 13, 2026
- Potential Chinese candidates contact the scientific team directly.
- The scientific teams contact the International Relations Office for the identified candidate. More information is available for the scientific teams on the intranet.
- An inter-ENS committee sends the final list of candidates to CSC by March 2026.
List of the subjects open for PhD applications:
- Understanding the role of lipid droplets in regulated cell death
- Molecular Modeling of Alpha-Synuclein Interactions at the Lipid Droplet–Mitochondria Interface in Parkinson’s Disease
- Investigation of the TCTP pathway controlling cell proliferation and organ growth
- Correlation functions in the 1 + 1 dimensional Sine-Gordon field theory
Phase 3: Final selection of candidates by CSC in China
March 2026
Selected candidates apply on the CSC website
Applicants must specify that they are applying through the specific ENS-CSC program (合作渠道：与法国高师集团合作奖学金).
Phase 4: CSC results and Arrival in France
June 2026
- Announcement of the results by CSC to ENS group at the end of June.
- CSC results will be communicated to scientific teams by the International Relations Office at the end of June.
- The host laboratory prepares to welcome the doctoral student for his arrival in France.
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 de Lyon, and in the existing cooperations with the home university candidates.