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The Eiffel Scholarship Program of Excellence is a tool developed by the ministry in charge of foreign affairs in order to allow French educational establishments a higher level of attracting the best foreign students to degree courses at the master and doctoral levels.
It makes it possible to train future foreign decision-makers, from the private and public sectors, in priority areas of study, and to stimulate applications from students from emerging countries for master’s level and emerging and industrialized countries for Ph.D. level.
If you’re currently looking for a scholarship to further your higher education, Eiffel Scholarship Program might be the best option for you. Check out what the eligibility requirements you have to fulfill and the closing dates below to ensure your chance of winning it.
Overview
The Eiffel Scholarship Program of Excellence was established by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs to enable French higher education institutions to attract top foreign students to enroll in their masters and Ph.D. programs.
It gives an opportunity to the future foreign decision-makers of the private and public sectors, in priority areas of study, and encourages applicants up to 25 years old from developing countries at the master’s level, and applicants up to 30 years old from developing and industrialized countries at the Ph.D. level.
The major fields of study concerned by the Eiffel scholarships are:
- Economy and management
- Engineering sciences for master’s level, sciences in the broad sense for doctorate level (engineering sciences, mathematics, physics, chemistry and life sciences, nanotechnologies and biotechnologies, earth sciences of the universe and the environment, information and communication sciences, and technologies communication)
- Political sciences
French higher education institutions that present candidates for the Eiffel program, undertake to register them:
- either in training leading to a master’s degree;
- either in an engineering degree;
- either as a doctorate within the framework of joint supervision or co-supervision of a thesis with a partner foreign higher education institution.
For both parts of the Eiffel program, the scholarship is awarded for the year university corresponding to the call for applications. The start of the stay must be between September 1 and December 31 of the year award of the scholarship. For a master’s degree, the scholarship is awarded for a period of:
- 12 months maximum when registering for M2
- 24 months maximum for enrollment in M1
- 36 months maximum for the preparation of an engineering degree
For the Ph.D. level, however, the Eiffel Scholarship is awarded for a period of 12 months in France.
Eligibility Requirements
This program is reserved for applicants of foreign nationality. The binational candidates, one of whom is French, are not eligible.
For the master’s level, the candidate must be 25 years of age at the most when the 2020 application campaign; i.e. born after March 1995. For the doctorate level, however, the candidate must be at most 30 years old during the 2020 application; i.e. born after March 1990.
Only the applications sent by the establishments French are admissible. The latter undertakes to register the winners in the training for which they were selected. Applications sent by other avenues are not admissible. In addition, a candidate presented by more than one institution will see its application rejected.
Candidates are likely to integrate training leading to a master’s level diploma, including in-school engineers, and doctoral candidates. Only training courses accredited by the French State are eligible. French training courses relocated abroad are not affected. Training within the framework of an apprenticeship or professionalization contracture not eligible for the Eiffel scholarships.
Foreign students already benefiting from a grant from the French government under another program, at the time of filing application, are not eligible, even if it is a scholarship that does not support charge as social coverage.
The application of a student whose file has not been retained during a previous selection is not admissible, even if this application is submitted by a different institution or in other field studies. The application of a student who has already received an Eiffel Scholarship from the master level is not admissible for this same level.
Institutions can present for a doctoral scholarship a candidate who has already benefited from an Eiffel Scholarship at the master level. A candidate who has already benefited from an Eiffel Scholarship as part of his doctorate is not eligible again for an Eiffel Scholarship. The candidacy of a student whose file was not selected during a previous selection for this level is not admissible, even if this application is presented by a different institution or in another field of study.
Institutions that preselect candidates who are not Francophones must ensure that their language level is adequate with the level required by the training. Students studying abroad have priority over those residing already in France.
How to Apply
French higher education institutions preselect the candidates they present to the Eiffel program among the best students foreigners whom they wish to welcome in training.
Complete the establishments and then submit the online application (the application files are specific to each of the shutters). They must ensure that they present files that meet the criteria defined for this program. The total duration of the training, the internships mandatory in France or abroad, must be clearly indicated in the application file. Each establishment cannot present more than 40 applications per field for the master’s section. Incomplete application files will be rejected.
Until January 8, 2021, the latest deadline, the establishments communicate to Campus France list of applications submitted online. This document must bear the stamp of the establishment as well as the signature of the head of school (university president or school director), or his representative. It will be scanned and sent by email to the address: candidatures.eiffel@campusfrance.org.
The selection is made by a commission made up of four colleges of experts (one by field of study). Members of these colleges cannot assess files presented by establishments to which they are institutionally linked.
The selection criteria are:
- The excellence of the candidate, as shown by his previous university achievement and for the doctorate, the innovative nature of its research subject;
- The correspondence of the profile with the international policy of the establishments;
- The cooperation and partnership policy of the ministry in charge of business foreign countries, in particular, the priority is given to certain countries for this program.
The list of winners is posted on the Campus France website at www.campusfrance.org/fr/eiffel. Each establishment receives all the results for the files it has submitted.
Closing Dates
All registration-related matters will close on January 8, 2021. Make sure you (or your students) have submitted the application and required documents by the deadline. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.
Contact Details
If you have any questions regarding the Eiffel Scholarship or should you encounter any technical difficulties during the application, mail your inquiries by post through the address stated below.
Campus France – Programme Eiffel
28 rue de la Grange-aux-Belles
75010 Paris
Alternatively, you can send an email via this link.
Official Website
Visit Campus France’s official website at www.campusfrance.org to get the latest update about Eiffel Excellence Scholarship Program.
