StudyChina GraduateResearch plan for a PhD in China: what the scholarship guide asks and a workable structure
Sources checked
The requirement is one line. Under section VI, item 8 of the Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship, applicants must submit a study or research plan written in Chinese or in English, of no less than 1,000 words or characters for postgraduates — the category a doctoral applicant falls into. The guide sets no structure for it. The outline given further down this page is this site's suggestion, not a rule.
This page covers the doctoral research plan only. The wider document set, including recommendation letters, is covered on the site's page on study plans and recommendation letters.
What the scholarship guide asks for
Section VI, item 8 of the Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship requires: "A study or research plan written in Chinese or in English (no less than 200 words/characters for undergraduates; no less than 500 words/characters for scholars; no less than 1000 words/characters for postgraduates)."
| Applicant category in the guide | Minimum length of the plan |
|---|---|
| Undergraduates | No less than 200 words or characters |
| Scholars | No less than 500 words or characters |
| Postgraduates | No less than 1,000 words or characters |
Two things follow directly from that wording. The plan may be in Chinese or in English; the guide does not require Chinese. And the length is a floor, not a target to write towards.
The plan is one item among others. Under section VI, item 7, all applicants must provide a pre-admission document issued by the universities they are applying to; pre-admission documents include a pre-admission notice issued by the international students' admission department or an invitation letter from the schools or professors, and so on.
These are conditions of the Chinese Government Scholarship. They are not general admission rules for self-funded students. What a university asks a self-funded applicant to submit, and by when, is the university's decision, published in its own admissions brochure. The guide page carries no publication date and no academic year, and the provisions quoted on this page do not cover application deadlines.
What the Degree Law says a doctorate has to show
The Degree Law of the People's Republic of China is the legal frame behind the degree itself, and it is the most useful official text for deciding what a doctoral plan should demonstrate. The English wording below is this site's translation of the Chinese text.
Under Article 21, a doctoral degree is awarded where the applicant, having received doctoral education, has passed the prescribed course assessments or completed the corresponding credits, completed academic research training or professional practice training, and passed the dissertation defence or the defence of the prescribed practice results, and has shown that he or she has reached the following levels:
- Mastery of firm and broad foundational theory and systematic, in-depth specialised knowledge in the discipline or professional field.
- For an academic degree applicant, the ability to engage in academic research independently; for a professional degree applicant, the ability to undertake professional practice independently.
- For an academic degree applicant, innovative results in the field of academic research; for a professional degree applicant, innovative results in the field of professional practice.
Article 33 adds the doctoral student's own duty: doctoral students should study and practise diligently and prepare the dissertation or practice results carefully, ensuring that they meet academic norms and innovation requirements. The same article places duties on doctoral degree-awarding institutions to strengthen the development of doctoral degree-awarding points and increase the cultivation, management and support of doctoral students, and on supervisors to perform their training duties, to be strict at key stages of training, and to give guidance throughout.
Under Article 22, each degree-awarding institution publishes its own detailed standards. Those institutional standards are the institution's to publish; the provisions quoted on this page do not give them. The Law was adopted on 26 April 2024 by the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress and came into force on 1 January 2025, when the Regulations on Academic Degrees were repealed (Article 45).
A workable structure (this site's suggestion, not a requirement)
Nothing below is prescribed by the guide or by the Law. It is a suggested outline, built by reading each section as the answer to one of the levels in Article 21 or to the duty in Article 33.
| Section of the plan | What it answers | Grounding in the official text |
|---|---|---|
| The question | What exactly you want to find out, and why it is not settled | The starting point for any research training |
| What is already known | The theory and specialised knowledge you will build on | Article 21(1): firm and broad foundational theory, systematic in-depth specialised knowledge |
| How you will work | Method, sources, materials, and why the work is feasible | Article 21(1) and (2): the basis for working independently |
| What you will do yourself | Which parts of the work you will carry out, and how | Article 21(2): ability to do academic research, or to undertake professional practice, independently |
| Where innovation is expected | The result you aim at, and how you would know you had it | Article 21(3): innovative results in academic research or professional practice |
| Norms and honesty | Citation practice, data handling, ethics approvals where relevant | Article 33: the dissertation must meet academic norms and innovation requirements |
| Stages of the work | The order in which you expect to do things | Article 33: careful preparation of the dissertation |
Two cautions come with that outline. Write the stages you actually expect, rather than a picture of how doctoral study usually runs; the provisions quoted on this page do not cover the length of doctoral study. And keep the plan consistent with any pre-admission document you have: if an invitation letter from a school or professor already names a topic, the plan should describe that topic.
Questions people ask
Does the guide set a minimum length for a doctoral research plan?
Yes. Section VI, item 8 of the Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship sets no less than 1,000 words or characters for postgraduates, 500 for scholars and 200 for undergraduates.
Does the plan have to be written in Chinese?
No. Section VI, item 8 allows the plan to be written in Chinese or in English.
Does the guide say how the plan should be structured?
The guide's requirement is a language and a minimum length; it prescribes no structure for the plan. The outline on this page is this site's suggestion.
What does the Degree Law require for a doctorate?
Under Article 21, a doctoral degree is awarded where the applicant has completed the training and passed the defence and has shown firm and broad foundational theory and systematic in-depth specialised knowledge (item 1), the ability to do the work independently (item 2), and innovative results, in academic research for an academic degree or in professional practice for a professional degree (item 3).
Does this requirement apply to self-funded applicants too?
Section VI, item 8 is a condition of the Chinese Government Scholarship. What a university requires from a self-funded applicant is the university's decision, published in its own admissions brochure.
Sources
- Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship — China Scholarship Council (Campus China, campuschina.org)
- Degree Law of the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国学位法) — Ministry of Education of the PRC (moe.gov.cn), text sourced from the National People's Congress website
Checked 11 October 2026
This page is an unofficial summary, is not published by or affiliated with the Ministry of Education, the China Scholarship Council, CHSI or any university, and is not legal advice; if the official text, or the current notice of the university or authority handling your case, differs from what is written here, that official text and notice prevail.