Vietnamese scholar secures full PhD scholarship at prestigious Tsinghua University

Tran Thi Van Anh, 27, from Ha Tinh Province in central Vietnam, has secured admission to the Applied Linguistics doctoral program at Tsinghua University, China's most prestigious institution, with a full scholarship. Tsinghua is widely regarded as Asia's top university and ranks highly globally. Anh's passion for languages began in high school, sparked by Chinese television dramas. Her fascination with Chinese not only captivated her but also deepened her understanding of Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary origins. After majoring in Chinese Language at the University of Languages and International Studies under Vietnam National University, Hanoi, she spent a year at Zhejiang University in China for language immersion and cultural experience. Upon returning to Vietnam, she pursued a second bachelor's degree in English and graduated from both programs in 2023. She later received the Confucius Institute Scholarship (CIS), a full scholarship for Chinese language and culture studies, enabling her to pursue a master's degree in International Chinese Language Education at Zhejiang University. During her master's studies, Anh observed that while many learners quickly developed listening and speaking skills, they often struggled with Chinese characters and cultural elements like parallel couplets and inscriptions. This disconnect between younger generations and the Chinese character tradition became the focus of her master's thesis. After graduating with distinction in early 2025, she initially planned to apply for doctoral programs at both Tsinghua and Peking University. However, she missed the deadline for the CSC scholarship and failed to secure another scholarship, forcing her to reluctantly withdraw her enrollment due to financial constraints. She also failed to secure a scholarship at Peking University. Undeterred, she continued teaching Chinese and assisting Vietnamese students studying abroad while meticulously preparing for a stronger application. This year, she reapplied to Tsinghua and for the CSC scholarship with an enhanced academic profile, including an HSK Level 8/9 Chinese proficiency certificate, an IELTS score of 7.5, professional work experience, a well-defined research proposal, and recommendation letters from four associate professors. Drawing on her interview experiences, Anh noted that Tsinghua seeks well-rounded candidates with deep expertise, strong language skills, and meaningful extracurricular involvement. She advises applicants to prepare their materials early and build a solid academic foundation. Anh is scheduled to begin her doctoral studies at Tsinghua University this August, specializing in Chinese grammar research, with the goal of returning to Vietnam to work as a university lecturer and translator.