It is an objective of the China Scholarship Council (CSC) to assist Ph.D. students at the best Chinese universities in spending a period of time conducting research abroad at top universities such as Freie Universität Berlin. Freie Universität has agreed to develop a structured information and application procedure for Ph.D. students at Chinese universities who are interested in completing part or all of their Ph.D. requirements at Freie Universität.

CSC is a non-profit institution affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education that allocates scholarships enabling Chinese citizens to study abroad. CSC's services are aimed, in particular, toward Ph.D. students. CSC also supports foreign students studying in China on government scholarships. This year CSC will support over 20,000 individuals, half of them Chinese and half from other countries.