East China Normal University and Macquarie University Global PhD Program
Overview
East China Normal University (ECNU) and Macquarie University (Macquarie), Australia, are important strategic partners and engaged in a variety of collaborative programs.
The universities have established a global (cotutelle) PhD program to enable outstanding students to conduct a doctoral research program with each institution. This strategic program promotes research collaboration, academic engagement, and excellent research training across both institutions. Students will enrol and work with supervisors at both Institutions, and on successful completion of the program receive a doctoral certificate from each institution.
The program is specialised and encompasses disciplines within various Schools at ECNU and the Macquarie Business School. To ensure high-quality supervision and program delivery, student intake is highly selective and limited in number.
Call for Expressions of Interest
ECNU and Macquarie are pleased to announce a call for Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from ECNU students who wish to be considered for commencement in the program in October 2027 (successful CSC co-funding applicants) or February 2028 (successful ECNU co-funding applicants and standard Cotutelle scholarship applicants).
The call is open to students enrolled in a PhD program at ECNU and working on projects broadly associated with any of the following research areas:
·Actuarial Studies & Business Analytics
·Applied Finance
·Economics
·Management
·Marketing
·Accounting & Corporate Governance
EOIs are open now until Monday, 12 October 2026. EOI outcomes will be announced in early November 2026.
The program structure, funding support, student eligibility criteria, and recruitment process are outlined below.
Global PhD program structure
The duration of the Macquarie PhD program is 3 years (additional two 6-month extensions are subject to Macquarie policy and incur international out of time fees – see Macquarie information about Requesting an extension).To keep the expected thesis submission dates aligned at both universities, the target enrolment date in the global PhD program will be approximately 1 to 2 years after the student’s commencement in the PhD program at ECNU once the student has completed all coursework requirements and the qualifying examination.
The typical timelines of candidature for new students who are admitted to the program are outlined in the graphs below in accordance with the expected coursework and qualifying examination completion dates.
Graph 1. Four-year trajectory
Graph 2. Five-year trajectory
Supervisory framework
Every cotutelle student benefits from an integrated, cross-institutional advisory infrastructure established at entry. Throughout the program, each student will be jointly supervised by academic staff from both ECNU and Macquarie. The supervisory team must include at least one Principal Supervisor from each institution for the entire duration of the cotutelle candidature. In addition, students will have an Associate Supervisor at Macquarie.
Funding support
Funding for students is available through three different scholarship schemes. Students are required to apply to the different funding schemes in the order in which they are listed.
1. Macquarie-China Scholarship Council (CSC) cotutelle scholarships
·Stipend valued at AUD $40,900 (2027 rate, tax exempt) per annum paid pro-rata for a 12 to 24-month Macquarie on-campus period – consists of CSC stipend and Macquarie top-up
·Tuition fee scholarship to cover Macquarie fees for the agreed duration of joint enrolment up to 36 months
·Macquarie airfare allowance up to AUD $4,000 for flights between China and Sydney
·One CSC return airfare
2.Macquarie-ECNU co-funded cotutelle scholarships
·Stipend valued at AUD $40,900 (2027 rate, tax exempt) per annum paid pro-rata for a 12-month Macquarie on-campus period – consists of ECNU stipend at a rate of 80% of the CSC stipend rate and Macquarie top-up
·Tuition fee scholarship to cover Macquarie fees for the agreed duration of joint enrolment up to 36 months
·Macquarie airfare allowance up to AUD $4,000 for flights between China and Sydney
·One ECNU return airfare
3. Macquarie standard cotutelle scholarships
·Stipend valued at AUD $40,900 (2027 rate, tax exempt) per annum paid pro-rata for a 12 to 24-month Macquarie on-campus period
·Tuition fee scholarship to cover Macquarie fees for the agreed duration of joint enrolment up to 36 months
·Macquarie airfare allowance up to AUD $4,000 for flights between China and Sydney
Students will also have access to AUD $10,000 in research funding provided by the Macquarie Business School and may access additional research funding from Macquarie through the competitive Postgraduate Research Fund.
Students are solely responsible for all personal expenses associated with their participation in the program, including but not limited to:
·visa application fees
·transportation and travel expenses, including travel required for examinations or program-related activities where not otherwise funded
·accommodation and living expenses
·health and travel insurance, including any mandatory insurance required by either institution
·expenses incurred by accompanying spouses, dependents, or family members
·any other personal expenses not specifically covered under the relevant funding scheme or scholarship.
Eligibility criteria
Students must:
·Be enrolled as a full-time PhD student at ECNU
·Have commenced the PhD program at ECNU in the 2025 or 2026 PhD intake
·Have completed all coursework components and the qualifying examination that form part of the PhD program at ECNU by the target commencement date of the cotutelle program
·Meet Macquarie’s formal PhD entry requirements including English language requirements and scholarship criteria at the formal application stage (once the EOI is accepted)
Students may:
·Identify up to two Macquarie researchers who may be suited to supervising the student’s PhD project (Note that Macquarie will manage supervisor-to-student matching internally once the EOIs are received from ECNU. Students may suggest names, but the Macquarie faculty panel makes final assignments.)
Expression of interest guidelines and process
Step 1. Expression of Interest and Formal Application
Expressions of Interest should be submitted to the ECNU Graduate School, email address: gongpai@yjsy.ecnu.edu.cn and include the following documents/information:
·Curriculum Vitae (CV)
·Research proposal (1000 words)
·Evidence of completion of coursework and qualifying examination - to be provided at the time of application (2025 PhD cohort) or prior to the cotutelle program commencement date (2026 PhD cohort)
·Academic transcripts for all prior studies and evidence of current program enrolment, if applicable
·Degree certificates for all prior studies, if completed
·Proof of English language proficiency
·Evidence of journal publication(s) if any
·Other supporting documents
·申请表（附件1）
·汇总表（附件2）
Selection process
EOIs will be screened by ECNU and ECNU will provide a shortlist of students to Macquarie.
Shortlisted EOIs will be reviewed by a Macquarie Faculty panel and the Faculty panel will advise ECNU of the successful students.
Students who are successful during the EOI stage, will be invited to apply formally for the PhD program and the cotutelle scholarship through Macquarie’s online application portal. Formal applications must be submitted to Macquarie by Monday, 9 November 2026 to ensure conditional offers can be issued to successful applicants by January/February 2027.
Step 2. CSC and ECNU funding application
Upon receipt of a conditional cotutelle PhD offer from Macquarie, students should apply for co-funding in accordance with the application deadlines of each scheme. Calls for applications and deadlines for each scheme are announced on the Graduate School website at ECNU. Students should check the Graduate School website for information. Tentative deadlines are indicated below.
Students should apply for CSC co-funding first. A call for CSC applications is typically announced each January/February by ECNU, and outcomes are released in late May by the CSC. Successful applicants may commence enrolment in the cotutelle program in October 2027.
Students who are not successful in obtaining CSC funding should apply for ECNU co-funding. A call for applications is expected to open in September 2027, and outcomes released in November 2027. Successful applicants may commence enrolment in the cotutelle program in February 2028.
Once all Macquarie-ECNU co-funded cotutelle scholarships have been awarded, ECNU and Macquarie may invite additional students who were successful during the EOI process to apply for a Macquarie standard cotutelle scholarship.
Macquarie Global Programs Team and ECNU International Cooperation & Exchange Division will draft and finalise a legal agreement in respect to each student’s candidature. Enrolment is subject to formal offer, acceptance and agreement finalisation at Macquarie.
联系方式：
华东师范大学研究生院张老师：86-21-54345032, gongpai@yjsy.ecnu.edu.cn
华东师范大学国际合作与交流处许老师：86-21-52127914, cxu@ied.ecnu.edu.cn
澳大利亚麦考瑞大学：Dr Rahel Cramer, https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/persons/rahel-cramer/
附件：
附件2：ECNU_Nomination List_2026.xlsx
研究生培养办公室
2026年9月16日
