The program is founded on the basis of good cooperation between Soochow University (SU) and Western University (WU). The eligible students from SU may be accepted into a PhD program at WU and a certificate program at SU and upon successful completion of the Program be awarded a doctorate degree from WU and a certificate from SU. Normally, participating students will spend 4 years (2 years at Western, 2 years at Soochow) to complete the program, for which they will be funded by both universities.

1. Degree

• Ph.D. from Western

• Certificate from Soochow

2. Participating programs

• Faculty of Science
  

        Biology; Chemistry; Earth Sciences; Physics & Astronomy
 

• Faculty of Engineering
  

        Mechanical & Materials Engineering; Chemical & Biochemical Engineering

3.    Supervision
At least one supervisor from

• Soochow (FUNSOM)

• Western (Participating programs)
  

4.  Eligibility and requirement 
(1) Education background (Students in Science & Engineering)

• M.Sc. holders from  Soochow; OR

• Year one M.Sc. student who is eligible to transfer to Ph.D.; OR
  

• International students with an admission of doctoral program in WU

 
(2) Academic 

• A minimum of 80% academic standing

• At least a 70% average in the Master’s degree
  

• Overall average of 75% (B+) or higher in the last two years

 
(3) English proficiency 

• TOEFL: 86 minimum (90 for Chemistry), with no individual score below 20; OR

• IELTS: minimum of 6 out 9 (7 out of 9 for Chemistry)

5.  Finance (Maximum of 4 years for funding)   

Register and login, choose 'Soochow 2+2 PhD Program'(see below).

7. Contact information
Miss Danting Xiang
Tel: (+86)0512-65880032
E-mail: dtxiang@suda.edu.cn
   
8. FAQ

(a) Is this program only related to the research direction of Synchrotron Radiation? Can they apply for one of the Centre member’s Ph.D. with other research directions?
Yes, SR component is an essential part of the 2+2 PhD program. Your research project is supposed to be related to Synchrotron Radiation, at least, it must be built on the basis of synchrotron radiation technology.

(b) What’s the procedure of application? When is the deadline? Can they apply without a master degree?
The application procedure is showed in above. For students enrolled in September, Mar 1st is the deadline for application online. Actually, it has not strict time limit for students in Soochow University.

(c) Can a biology student apply for other department’s professors like chemistry?
For 2+2 program, there is no strict limit on your original major. But you have to meet all the requirements from the department you apply for. It is not doubt that different departments have set different requirements for the candidates.

(d) How is Soochow University?
Soochow University is located in the ancient town of Suzhou, also called 'Paradise on Earth'. The university is part of the national '211 Project' and is a '2011 Plan' university. It is also one of the Jiangsu provincial key comprehensive universities. It has grown from the former Soochow University founded in 1900. It now has three major campuses: main campus, Dushu Lake Campus, and the Yangcheng Lake Campus, covering an area of 2,705,000 square meters with a total building area more than 182 million square meters. The university facilitates strong research with materials in almost every area including nearly 4 million books, over 30 million Chinese and foreign periodicals, and more than 1.1 million Chinese and foreign e-books, and 82 Chinese and foreign language databases. Soochow University currently has 26 post-doctoral programs, 24 main discipline doctoral programs, including 167 doctoral programs with different areas of emphasis, one professional doctoral program, 47 main discipline master’s programs, including 244 master’s degrees with different areas of emphasis, 21 professional master’s programs, and 124 undergraduate programs. Today, Soochow University has developed into a comprehensive university with 12 major disciplines: philosophy, economics, law, education, literature, history, science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, management science, and art. It has a variety of programs and a strong foundation for students to get the education they need in almost any area. Soochow University has achieved clear results and has received a very positive reputation both at home and abroad.

(e) Which major is the best in Soochow?
SU is a kind of comprehensive university with a wide range of majors, in which law, arts, science, medicine are the most famous. For those in science, physics, chemistry, nanotechnology and materials are all the best. Since it was started, nanotechnology has been the emerging professional displine with the fastest developing speed.

(f) How is the living condition? What’s the teaching language in Soochow?
2+2 PhD students will be assigned into a double room on the campus, which takes about 1500 yuan per year. By the way, 1000 yuan/month will be enough for the food expense in the campus canteen. In FUNSOM of Soochow,

(g) For diploma, will the content be the same as other students or has “2+2 program”?
It will be the same one for other PhD students.