The Newton Fund (known in China as the UK-China Joint Research and Innovation Partnership Fund) PhD placement programme is delivered by the British Council China and the China Scholarship Council on behalf of the UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and China’s Ministry of Education. The PhD placement programme aims to cultivate highly trained researchers with international experience who are able to contribute to innovative research and participate in international networks. This will encourage and support cultural understanding and foster long-term sustainable research collaborations between the UK and China.

The programme will sponsor UK and Chinese PhD students and their supervisors to spend a period of study (three to 12 months for PhD students and up to four weeks for UK supervisors) at higher education institutions in China or the UK. The focus is on research areas that reflect the common interests and demands of both countries, including:

• health and life sciences
• food and water security
• environmental technologies
• energy
• urbanisation
• education and creative economy for economic development and social welfare.

Applications are now open for UK and Chinese nationals who are currently enrolled as PhD students at accredited higher education institutions or research institutions in their own country. UK students studying for their PhDs at institutions in China and Chinese students studying for their PhDs at institutions in the UK are not eligible.

Please note, applicants are responsible for finding a host institution in their target country and placements must start between January and December 2018. Applicants must have found a place at a host institution before applying to this PhD placement programme.