记录关于留学基金委CSC申请的心得

CSC每年都还有在申请，申请的规则和截止日期都要以当年留基委的通知为准，那个是最重要的，学校也会有一些特别的要求，这些材料满足要求即可。

转载补记： 关于回国的流程。

回国的时间最好在留学基金委要求的前后一周内回来，省事，也不会出岔子。其他的情况可能要跟当地的大使馆打报告或者甚至要打报告回北京和学校，不管怎么都是一件费时又费事的事情。

所以最后权衡再三，我放弃了可能去参加夏令营和暑期学校的机会，在海外待到了八月底。回来之后，要办的事情很简单，带着留学归国证明（记得离开前，找大使馆开好，留学结束前一定要做的事，没有之一，还有就是找学校开好各种证明包括成绩单），和护照（护照要看的是你的签证是不是已经过期了，其实就是检查你会不会再出国，虽然这种方式其实并没有啥用），和填好的表格，到学校的管理留学服务的部门盖章。然后寄过去就可了。

对了，值得一提的是，现在回国之后的手续都变成了线上，所以没有这么复杂，我刚好赶到了线下线上交替的时候了，所以耽误了好久，不过最后一切都是非常顺利。
真的到了一年的申请季节，帮老师写完了自科申请（希望可以中），也准备确定了下一步念书的学校，大概只有这一段闲暇，有机会来更一更关于phd申请的那些事吧。
-- 下面这段内容后来看，还有一些不完善的地方，请大家包含。

关于留学基金委申请的一些心得

写这段文字的时候已经距离申请快一年的光景，在老师的建议下，我准备把这个申请大致的过程和一些可能需要注意的地方写下来，希望可以帮到师弟师妹们。
首先写一些基本情况好了。

为什么要走CSC的项目，其实这个问题也类似于CSC到底能够为你的留学做什么，其实我的体验是，就完全是一个fund，类似资金的支持，所以如果童鞋有其他的资金资助，就没有必要走CSC了，CSC也有规定，凡是拿奖学金到一定数额的也没有办法申请。CSC的资助的话，会有小小限制，包括回国时间和回国服务期等等，但是总体上来看，如果没有其他资金资助，还是很值的申请。

公派留学的名头，似乎总让人想到一百多年前中国第一批留美幼童詹天佑他们的状况，让人自豪不已的情感吧。
留学基金委的资助项目有挺多的，各类国外的学校和中国的奖学金资助出国项目都是通过留学基金委这个渠道申请的（csc.edu.cn/），所以希望通过这种类似政府奖学金申请留学的建议多关注一下上面的项目，其中包括比较有名的与美国政府部门合作的著名“中美富布赖特”项目。

其中可能与我们最相关的项目是赴国外攻读博士学位研究生（36-48个月）。注意一下，一般申请的时间都是三月下旬开始，到四月第一周结束(一般是3月20日-4月5日申请，5月公布录取结果，具体时间以每年的“国家留学基金资助出国留学人员选派简章”为准--小助手补充一下：2019年报名时间已经改为3月10日至31日)，申请的大多数资料需要在留学基金委的网站上填写，我们学校会在学校的研究生部和国际事务处的网站上放出我们学校自己的截止时间（一般比正式的截止时间早一周的样子，但是可以之后补交材料）和材料要求。

首先是在小木虫论坛的“公派留学”板块可以找到申请志同道合的网友，这个地方也是寻找PETS-5考试资料的地方，里面有很多帖子关于申请的经验，遇到需要准备的材料不明白的，可以上去找找看有没有类似的帖子，一般多多少少可以找到一些前辈的经验、模板和攻略。

下面我就开始写一下整个正常的申请流程，我觉得可以首先联系外导和参加英语考试，这两部分我强烈建议同时进行。因为申请的第一材料是外国学校的邀请信，所以邀请信提早要到。

很多同学说，想先考出英语成绩再要邀请信，我觉得这个理解是不太对的，英语考试对于多数英语不太好的同学，可能是申请过程中占时间最多的一项了，而英语成绩其实对CSC申请来说是软性的约束，身边有很多同学，最后也没有托福雅思甚至我考的那个PETS的成绩，还是走了CSC，因为CSC提供一个北京的英语培训，这个很容易过的。

关于邀请信的问题。我没有联系因为我走的是校级交换的项目，其实这种校级交换项目我觉得并没有多好（含金量较低），首先就是学校的限制，并不能真正的选一个自己有兴趣的学校，然后也没有真正意义上的导师，反而在国外的生活更像是授课研究生和本科的课程学习，与真正的研究生活相去甚远。

具体怎么联系外导，我没有这方面经历就没有发言权，不过在北京遇到几个申请到基金委的师兄师姐讲，其实没有很难，现在留学基金委在美国欧洲的学术圈有知名度，你在给教授写信的时候说明你未来希望可以申请CSC的奖学金（可以告知教授最后要是万一没有申请到奖学金，可能就没有办法去交流），然后介绍自己的基本情况和研究兴趣（可以海投，也可以重点陶瓷一个自己最想去合作的教授）。

据说很多海外老师还是愿意接受这种申请的，因为对于他们来讲不用为你支付任何费用，反而多一个免费的帮手，对于缺少研究生的老师答应的概率应该不低的，对于我们申请者来说一般也都是海发邮件去寻找合适的外导。

具体的操作可以看我后面附的陶瓷信的模板，陶瓷的目的是获得海外的邀请信（邀请信要包含的内容，CSC的网站有详细说明，我附在后面的一个模板，仅供参考）。我的情况有些不同，因为是参加的我们学校自己的校级交换项目，没有外导所以就直接拿了校级的合作协议作为邀请信。

寻找外导的同时，建议参加英语的相关考试，可以注意下CSC（留学基金委）对于外语的基本要求，成绩的话只要达标就行，我参加的是一年两次在武汉大学举办的PETS-5考试（考试报名方法可以查武汉大学考试中心，需要现场报名），参加考试的原因其实当时也没有想着申请什么，只是那个考试价格相对TOEFL和IELTS便宜很多（报名费只有两百块），所以就参加了，没想到后面就用到了。

不过对于希望以后进一步出国学习的师弟师妹们，还是直接参加TOEFL考试熟悉一下题型为好，托福考试的一年的次数也多很多，留学基金委的托福要求是95+，我后来在海外考了三四次，都在95分上下，其实95没有想象的难，所以保持信心一定可以达到的。

申请完外导之后，就是准备推荐信和研究（学习）计划。这个是需要中英双语的，但是没有必要严格翻译。其中中文主要是后期在申请系统里面填写的，有严格的格式要求和字数限制，英文的学习计划更像是申请学校时的PS + Research Proposal，主要是写出研究计划，和项目的标书类似（是否要介绍自己的情况，我也不确定，我当时写的英文学习计划的第一段就类似PS，写了一些动机和个人教育经历在里面）。

这个研究计划，大概需要有研究背景、设计和参考文献之类的，我当时用的是和老师一起写的一个论文作为研究计划。我当时详细写了，研究背景，目标，假设提出，文献回顾，甚至研究设计和预期的结果，类似一个博士申请时的研究计划。

成绩单等就相对很容易。本科成绩单和学历学位证书这些可以联系本科学校档案馆出具中英双语的，研究生阶段找学院的研工办就可以解决，研究生阶段的成绩单英文要自己翻译。

最后是在留学基金的申请系统开放之后，按照要求填写申请就可以了。唯一要注意的点，在资助时间的月份上面一定要算好，不要像我一样草草的填写12个月，这个资助时间是按照天算的很严格而且提前超过一周回国按规定也要按天把发放的奖学金退还给大使馆。即使因为项目结束，最终如果提前超过一个月回国的话手续相对麻烦，我至今还没有办理妥当这件事情。（后来证明，其实在国外续签签证远远比留基委同意提前回国简单多了，所以我就续了三个月的申根签证，待了整整一年完成了留基委的回国任务。）

系统填完后，上传相应的扫描件，最终会生成pdf文档，需要打印出来找相应的老师签字，这个地方需要注意的是，每一次修改申请系统都需要撤销重新提交，即使是重新上传附件。而每次重新提交后，生成的pdf文档的代码都会更新，这就意味着最好是最终确定了，再去找相应老师签字，我当时因为中间材料改了几次，所以找老师签了挺多次字的。

这个系统和自科的申请系统真是相似啊，果然都是国家的钱，申请的流程如此类似，希望自科能中吧。提交之后，就可以默默祈祷，然后可以把这个抛到脑后了，不用刷论坛了，小道消息往往没多靠谱（可以加一个公派的群，这样的话出结果的时候可以第一时间知道），不过一般学院的领导会在正式通知之前两周左右知道结果，因为这个录取需要单位同意和批准，他们会提前签字，所以如果哪个分管科研的领导告诉你这件事了，你一定要感谢他。

到五月份（一般是五月底，有时候六月初），会非常正式公布录取结果，如果是一个红色的“喜报”的界面，那就要恭喜你了，表明你已经被录取了。此时，申请部分已经结束了，最最需要自己努力的阶段已经走完了，下一步就都是事务性的了，虽然要做的事情也很多，但是心情肯定是不一样的。（这个阶段，学校会统一组织一个CSC的电视会议，其实没有啥必要听，但是学校要签到，所以没啥事就去，有事就找个同学代替一下，主要讲的内容都是国外注意安全，和留基委秘书长的一些祝贺和勉励大家的话；具体办理的手续不会讲什么，这个真的需要大家认真阅读留基委的办理）。

首先是等国际交流处的老师给你发邮件让你去领取留学基金委的相应文件材料了，最终办完派出阶段的一些手续，这部分只要按照规则慢慢来，不要急一定没有问题的。领取基金委材料的时间可能在录取结果出来后的两周甚至更久，不过这段时间你可以开始准备去办理国际健康证、护照和签证的一些材料、并注册留学服务中心的账号（留学服务中国留学网新版 > 首页是办理放发奖学金和购买机票的一个机构，就是负责你具体出国安排的，有三个城市可以选择，在北上广中，我选择的是北京，也应该是最大的留服中心）。学校最后会给你的是六本“协议书”（需要和担保人在公正处公证）和“公派资助证明的中英文信”（多复印几份，很重要的文件）。

之后大概需要做的事情是去留服中心的网站查询关于如何办理签证的要求，不过根据所在国家不同可能要求不一样，要自己看清楚。我去的国家是需要自己办理的签证并走的是反签程序，准备诸如财产证明（可以用留学基金委的资助证明）、无犯罪证明的公正和签证申请、护照复印件和照片等等。

然后公证留学协议和交保证金，这些留学基金委的系统上会有明确的指导，照着要求做，就没有问题。这个地方唯一要注意的是，签证可以早点办理，不用等所有的东西都齐了再去办理，因为外国驻华大使馆也不会考虑你留学基金委的手续是否已经办完了。所以安排签证的时间，包括是否去北京面签等等，都要根据自己的情况计划好，我当时办理签证的时间比较晚，所以也耽误了一些事情，不过最后还好一切都平安解决了，希望第师妹们一旦确定之后，尽早开始办理签证手续。

最后所有都办完了，就是购买机票的手续了（此时签证已经下来了），按照要求发送邮件给留服中心，他们会帮你选择航班购买机票，出发前两个工作日去北京的留服中心（北京的留服中心距离清北很近）领取前三个月的奖学金（奖学金的领取，是在附近的中国银行，当天就可以领取，所以注意银行的营业时间），“报到证”和机票确认单，那个时候如果是自己签证的话，可以带着大使馆给你的签证的收据是可以报销签证费用的（如果是暑假的话，留服中心可能人较多，建议早去排队）。关于资助的标准，网上有相应的文件，大概是1000欧元或者美金/月，硕士和博士研究生是一样的，还包括一次往返机票。

然后就是踏上出国的行程，记得到了国外要拿着“报到证”到相应的使领馆报道，并按照他们的要求提交材料就可以了，最后就可开始公派联合培养的学习了，真正的对你们的考验和挑战也就开始了。

到此为止，关于申请和派出阶段的流程就基本写完了，这个过程我写了两千多字，看起来十分复杂，但是自己经历过后其实也还好，毕竟申请这个过程到后来出发大概经历了小半年的时间，需要做的事情就那么些，安排好去做，就一定没问题。联合培养本身也不是什么大事，对于我们来讲只是生活中的一段插曲，更多的是丰富自己研究生的经历，增加自己积累和拓宽自己的见识。联合培养是没有学历的，所以也有很多申请的同学建议，直接申请学位生，如果可以申请到名额的话，留学基金委对于学费也会全部承担的，也绝对是更好的机会。

又是一年申请季，祝师弟师妹可以有机会可以试试看。有句话讲：故土依旧，常回家看看；世界很大，该出去走走。我希望师弟师妹们都可以申请到理想的学校能多去一个地方看看，去丰富自己的研究生生活。
下面都是在网上找的一些附件：
想与各位虫友分享一封一位外国教授给我写的推荐信（风格与国内教授不太一样）。
大概4月份初的时候，这位意大利教授告诉我他与他的同事准备在9月份申请一个博士职位，希望我能过去。因为我不想等那么久，所以就婉言谢绝了他，并告诉他我现在正在申请欧洲其他国家的机会，希望他能给我写一封推荐信。他给我回复到：It is always my pleasure to help you.......附件中就放着在他签名后扫描成PDF格式的推荐信，如下：
To Whom It May Concern,
This is to confirm that Mr. Wang worked in collaboration with me for a period of several months, during which time he carried out research work on problems of metal fatigue and non destructive tests. Specifically this included the applications of Lock-in Thermography and Quantitative Thermographic Methodology for rapid predictions of the fatigue limit and fatigue S-N curve of metals. Both theoretical and experimental works were carried out and the results of the developed methodology are very interesting.
I appreciated Mr. Wang’s work a lot, and we are looking forward to opportunities to continue the collaboration. This collaboration has already resulted in one paper presented by Mr. Wang at the ICEM 2008, the International Conference on Experimental Mechanics; I expect several more publications will occur later.
These activities have formed part of an ongoing relationship between the University of **** (Italy) and the University of *** (China), which we value very highly.
I hope this letter would be helpful for Mr. Wang’s admission to your PhD program.
Yours sincerely,
Vincenzo
最后，我告诉他我已经拿到了Offer。意大利教授回复到：
I knew that, as Prof. Xavier sent me an email asking more information about you and I confirmed everything written in my recommendation letter. I'm a little sorry for that, but I hope all the best for you. In my opinion, the human and work experiences in other countries are important and formative as it happened to me.

关于联系导师 途径一般有两个：

1、由文献中的通讯Email联系；

2、去大学的主页上找相关导师
找到合适的导师后就要给导师发Email了，这时候Email标题很重要，下面几个可供参考：visting student support by CSC；Asking for a visiting student；ask for Ph.D position等类似的即可

联系导师的Email内容模板可以参考如下：

Dear ×××,
My name is ×××, I'm a second year graduate student from ××× universiry ,majoring in ×××, and will graduate to get the Master's degree in June next year. I'm interested in research of ×××all the time, so I hope I can have a chance to go to study abroad to achieve my PhD degree.

At present, my government has paid more and more attention to overseas studying, and I'd like to tell you the policies of my government about sending students to study abroad. There is a special council called China Scholarship Council(CSC)which provides fund for excellent students to study abroad. The specific way is that students who want to study abroad through CSC should first apply for the certifications of tuition scholarship or tuition waiver from the universities they like and are yearning, then CSC will subsidize them with living expenses for about three to four years(PhD 4 years)during the period they study abroad. So I think this is really a precious chance for us, I hope I can grab it .

I have read the information about you and the Department of ×××, so I write this letter to consult that whether you'd like to enroll PhD students in 2010? If you do, please tell me the requirements of admission. Thank you very much.
Looking forword to your favorable reply.
Best wishes.

Dear Professor XX,
I am a potential graduate student from China. I am elated to find that your research matches my interest and my research experience perfectly, so I am writing to inquire the availability of combined master’s and PhD program in your group.
I got my Bachelor degree in Geological Engineering from XX University, one of the top universities in China, in June 2012, with GPA of 3.96 and rank the
3rd out of 71 students.

My research interest is in rock mechanics and underground engineering. My graduation thesis is to study the surrounding rock stability of tunnel by using Finite Element Method.

I built a FEM model of tunnel with the assistance of ANSYS software, and studied the surrounding rock stability when the tunnel is built in difference depths and constructed in the rock masses range from intact hard rock to fractured soft rock. Now this paper is under review in the Chinese Journal of Underground Space and Engineering. In the July 2012, I also did an internship in the XX Corps. I built a FEM model and used the finite strength reduction method to analyze the stability of slopes in XX Reservoir, which is situated is in XX Province. However, I still found that my knowledge and skills are limited. The desperately thirsty for knowledge makes me decide to pursue my further education.

I am elated to find that you have performed so many brilliant researches in the rock mechanics and tunnel engineering in the past decades. I am also strongly attracted by these fields, so it would be a really desirable thing if I can advance my study under your supervision. I believe that the education and training in your group would prepare me a bright academic future, and significantly transform my life. So I am writing to inquire the availability of combined master’s and PhD position in your group.

[Currently, Chinese government has dedicated special funding and encouraged its graduate students to pursue Doctoral degrees in the top foreign universities. So if the combined M.Sc./PhD position is available in your group and my tuition fees can be waved or covered by scholarship, I can apply my living expense from China Scholar Council (CSC). (If you want to apply CSC Scholarship···)]

If I am fortunate enough to join your group, I would pursue the research with great passion and perseverance. Likewise, I am confident that my sound academic background, my research experience, and my strong resolve to pursue further education would make me an ideal candidate for your group.
My Curriculum Vitae is enclosed/attached, I would appreciate if you can read it. I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely
XXX
Email: XXX
Phone: XXX

将此信发出去，就等待导师的回信即可。看导师的回复接着往下走就可以了。有的导师不太了解CSC所以有需要给导师解释清楚。
关于CV
好的CV会给导师一个好的印象，所以CV要精心制作。
关于推荐信
联系中的导师有的会要求发推荐信。

Dear Sir/Madam,
It is my great pleasure to recommend Miss **** as a worthy candidate for admission to your Ph.D. program and application for related financial aid.

I began to know Miss **** about two years ago on my Modern Casting class. During that semester, nearly thirty students took the course, but only after a few classes I began to pay special attention to her, because every class she took the front seat in the classroom and listened to me carefully. Each time I saw her eyes I could felt what a teacher desires most from a student: enthusiasm, concentration and positive communication. This enabled her to perform better than most of her fellow students and could put forward ingenious and well-thought ideas in free discussions. Also, of course, she was the top student in my class.

Furthermore, I would like to particularly point out what impressed me deeply about Miss ****. She has such a good sense of sincerity and responsibility that she helped me clean up the blackboard in almost every class break. It was easy to do others a favor for one time, but it was very difficult to maintain doing it time and time again. Afterwards, I have asked other teachers about this kind of thing and found the same case in other classes, which moved me strongly.

Through further contact with her, I find Miss **** takes an active attitude towards her major, and she has the habit of doing things carefully, which can be seen just from the schoolwork she presented in every class. Moreover, she also loves her life very much, and is often full of energy and vigor. Almost every person who has communicated with her can feel her zealousness.

Therefore, I would like to support Miss **** and strongly recommend her to your department for the reason that I believe if admitted, she will also excel herself in your program and make her contributions to your university.
Sincerely,
Professor of **** University
联合培养邀请函要求的英文表述及模版参照

邀请函的具体要求（2008）

1．使用留学院校专用信纸
2．申请人的基本信息（包括姓名、出生日期、国内院校）
3．标明留学身份（联合培养博士生，美国学校提供的身份应能申请J-1签证，学生应向美方学校索取DS2019表）
4．留学的起止时间和留学期限
5．明确指导教师，留学专业或受邀人在国外要从事的研究课题
6．费用情况（是否免学费或提供学费，是否收取注册费或提供其他工作机会等。如收取学费，又提供资助或工作职位，则应标明具体额度。）
7．注明申请人的外语水平符合国外院校的要求
8．外方负责人的联系方式及发邀请人的签字
9．如申请专项奖学金项目，需要对方在邀请信中明确推荐意见。
我当时给导师写的邀请请说明：

Dear Prof.*** :
************

Applicant should also be demanded to submit invitation letter to China Scholarship Council (CSC). If possible, I sincerely want to obtain invitation letter from you and I’ll be very appreciate about it. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any question. According to the proposition of CSC, the invitation letter should contain following items.
a. Use special letter paper of host institution
b. b. Contain basic information of applicant, such as name, birth date and domestic institution
c. Indicate the station of applicant in host institution. Applicant could apply for J-1 with the station (I am visiting scholar?)
d. Indicate duration of study abroad
e. Indicate study topic and host supervisor of applicant
f. Indicate tuition of study (Exchanging student should be free of tuition)
g. Indicate intellectual rights of applicant’s work. (For the convention of my school, the intellectual rights should be shared by domestic institution and host institution. The applicant should be the first author of his/her work, the domestic institution should be the first unit and host supervisor should be corresponding author.)
h. Indicate English level of applicant meeting demands of Ph.D. study
i. Corresponding address and signature of the host supervisor
I’m sorry to disturb you so much and thank you again for your kindness.
Best wishes,
Sincerely yours, 研究计划模板： AA大学“国家建设高水平大学

公派研究生项目”研修计划
研究课题名称

Research Title:
Minimization of energy requirement for producing solid fuel from sewage sludge employing hydrothermal treatment

科研课题背景介绍

Research Background:
In China, over 1.58×107 tons of dewatered sewage sludge, with 80% water content, was generated from wastewater treatment plant in 2008. About 60% of the organic substances, removed during the wastewater treatment process, become concentrated as sludge.

Traditional disposal methods used by municipal solid waste treatment facilities, including landfills, composting, and incineration, are unsuitable for sludge disposal because of its high moisture content. Few proper sludge treatments or disposal methods are currently applied in China. The treatment and disposal of sewage sludge are significant environmental problems and have therefore become a major focus of current environmental protection policies.

Sludge incineration has received worldwide attention as an effective approach to reduce the quantity and toxicity of sludge.

In Japan, most of burnable wastes are incinerated. However, direct sludge incineration is not cost-efficient and creates unstable burning which generates large amounts of gaseous pollutants. Currently, bio-energy is an excellent energy recycling technology with bright prospect, given its ability to turn refuse into energy. As such, in recent years refuse-derived fuel (RDF) technology has become a refuse processing technology adopted by advanced nations in Europe, America, and Japan etc.

In China, sewage sludge was mixed with auxiliary fuels, sulfur-fixating agents, and preservatives. The blends were granulated generating sludge-derived fuel (traditional SDF, T-SDF). Most researchers focused mainly on the T-SDF technology and have made important contribution to understand the combustion characteristics of T-SDF.

However, all these technologies relied mainly on adding a large number of coals (about 50%) to improve the heat value and lower the moisture content of fuels. The heat value of T-SDF depends merely on the quantity and proportion of auxiliary fuels, not the reduction of water content of sludge. In some extent, this process realizes sludge recycling and harmless treatment.

However, the volume and weight of T-SDF are also increased, resulting in increase of operating cost.
Moreover, the small proportion (about ~40%) of sludge in the T-SDF leads to a lower capacity that cannot meet the needs of sludge treatment. Therefore, it is urgent for us to find a cost-effective and energy-saving way to realize sludge recycling, harmless treatment and reduction.

The core issue to produce solid fuel from sewage sludge is how to efficiently remove the water from sludge. The object of this project is to minimize the energy requirements for producing cost-effective and applicable solid fuel from sewage sludge.
Hydrothermal treatment (or thermal hydrolysis) is a process in which the sludge is heated as an aqueous phase to temperatures (normally) varying between 120 and about 400°C.

The hydrothermal treatment process aims to disintegrate the sludge and result in a formation and accumulation of dissolved products. This makes it possible to recover and recycle useful resources from the sludge, such as volatile fatty acids, phosphorous compounds, organic compounds for enhanced anaerobic biogas production, and coagulants. After hydrothermal treatment, the sludge and other waste biomass can be dehydrated by mechanical methods and dried under natural circumstances easily, used as substituted fuel which we called it novel sludge-derived fuel (N-SDF) in this research.

His research will study the influence of hydrothermal conditions on natural drying characteristics of sewage sludge and other waste biomass, the drying mechanisms of hydrothermal treatment sludge and waste biomass. This research will not only drive the development of sludge treatment technologies but also lend a hand to other waste biomass treatment.

In previous studies, we found that the N-SDF produced from sewage sludge by employing the hydrothermal treatment is easier when drying under natural circumstances. After 24h natural drying, about 50% water was removed. Comparing with raw sludge, the drying is faster. Obviously, the heat value of N-SDF can be improved further, which increase the stability of combustion. However, some factors are still unclear and needed to be studied further, limiting its popularization and applications. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct this research.