The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched the Eiffel excellence scholarship program in January 1999 to support French centers of higher education in their international outreach initiatives, in a context of mounting competition among developed countries, to attract elite overseas students on master’s, engineering and PhD courses.
Study Subject:
The three major areas of study covered by the Eiffel program are: Engineering sciences at Master level, sciences in a broader sense for PhD level (engineering sciences, exact sciences: mathematics, physics, chemistry and life sciences, nano and bio-technology, earth and environmental sciences, information and communication sciences and technology), Economics and management and Law and political science.
Eligibility:
- Nationality: This program is for candidates of foreign nationality. Bi-national candidates, one of which nationality is French, are not eligible.
- Age: for programs leading to a master’s degree level, applicants must be at most 30 years old at the date of the selection committee, that is to say, born after 07/03/1983; for PhD applicants, candidates must be aged at most 35 years old on the date of the selection committee, that is to say, born after 03.07.1978.
- Origin of applications: Only applications sent by the French institutions are admissible. The latter undertake to enroll laureates in the training for which they were selected. Applications sent by other means are not receivable. In addition, a candidate nominated by more than one institution will see his application rejected.
- The training involved: Eligible candidates are likely to incorporate a training course of master level attested by a diploma, including engineering school, and PhD candidates. The French trainings relocated abroad are not affected, fellows, non doctoral, having to perform at least 75% of their studies in France.
- Concurrent scholarships: Foreign students already receiving a scholarship from the French government for another program at the time of filing the application are not eligible, even if it is a scholarship that supports social coverage.
- Eiffel doctoral Scholarship: an applicant who has already received an Eiffel scholarship under his PhD may not represent his candidacy again.
- Eiffel master Scholarship: a candidate whose folder was not selected may not represent its application in the following years, even if they change their field of study.
- Language level: institutions that screen non-francophone candidates must ensure that their language level is in line with the level required by the training course. Eventually, students currently studying abroad are given priority over those already residing in France
Scholarship Duration:
- For Master: The scholarship is attributed for a maximum duration of 12 months when registering for M2, a maximum of 24 months when registering for M1 and maximum duration of 36 months when registering for an engineering science diploma. It is awarded provided that the student fulfills the annual academic requirements of the curriculum.
- For PhD: The Eiffel scholarship is attributed for a maximum duration of 10 months.
Scholarship Value:
- Master course: Eiffel scholarship-holders receive a monthly allowance of 1,181€ (1,031€ of maintenance allowance and 150€ of monthly compensation), in addition to which are covered directly various expenses: An international return travel, Health insurance and Cultural activities. They can also benefit from an additional accommodation allowance under certain conditions.
- PhD course: Eiffel PhD scholarship-holders receive a monthly allowance of 1,400€, in addition to which are covered directly various expenses: An international return travel (only one return trip will be covered for law and political science students who would undertake several stays in France), Health insurance and Cultural activities. They can also benefit from an additional accommodation allowance under certain conditions.
Selection Criteria:
The selection is made by a committee composed of three colleges of experts (one for each field of study). The members of these colleges are not allowed to assess applications submitted by institutions to which they are linked institutionally. The selection criteria are:
- The excellence of the candidate, as reflected in his previous academic career and the innovative nature of the research topic (score out of 10, coefficient 3)
- The international policy of the establishment1 making the nomination, the actions it takes in the considered geographical area, the excellence of the host unit, The adequacy with the application submitted (note 5, coefficient 3 )
- Policy cooperation and partnership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, notably the priority given to some countries for this program (note 5, coefficient 1).
The Committee assigns scores to candidates based on these three criteria and calculates the sum (of 50). Determines a threshold for eligibility, and the number of scholarships available, attributes them as follows:
- A minimum of 70% of the scholarships are awarded on the basis of the best scores.
- The remaining percentage is divided between schools that did not receive scholarship from eligible files.
How to Apply? The mode of apply is online.
Applications Deadline: Deadline for receipt of applications by Campus France : January 8th, 2014
Announcement of results: Week of March 17th, 2014
For further information: Eiffel Scholarships
