The Eiffel Excellence Scholarship Program 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 PhD programs.

It gives opportunity to the future foreign decision-makers of the private and public sectors, in priority areas of study, and encourages applicants from foreign countries up to 27 years old at master’s level, and applicants up to 32 years old at PhD level.

ELIGIBILITY:

This prestigious program funds international students nominated by a French institution. Eiffel scholarships are competitive. Recipients can be proud of being recognized for excellence by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

The Eiffel Scholarship Program has two components:

The master’s component offers 12, 24, or 36 months of funding to enable
scholarship recipients to earn a master’s-level degree.

The doctoral component supports mobility periods of 12, 18, or 36 months, as explained in section 4 below (Length of Scholarship Period).

Master level:

Eiffel scholarships are granted for a number of months sufficient to complete the academic program specified in their application. Recipients must meet the academic requirements of each successive year of the curriculum if they are to continue to receive scholarship benefits.

The scholarship period (excluding language training) may not exceed 24 months for enrollments in a Master 1 program, 12 months for enrollments in a Master 2, and 36 months for enrollments in an engineering program.

In exceptional cases involving 24-month scholarships, the ministry may allow recipients to use their gap year to repeat an unsuccessfully completed year at their own expense. If the recipient is successful on the second attempt, the scholarship will be reinstated for the following year.

Students undergoing language training before commencing their academic program are eligible to receive scholarship benefits for a maximum of one month, from August 2024. However, the language training must be mentioned in the application file; it cannot be requested after the fact. The cost of the language training is the student’s own responsibility and is not included in the scholarship.

Eiffel scholarships are awarded for a period of 12, 18, or 36 months extending from September 1 of the award year. The duration of the scholarship is determined in accordance with the following terms:

A 36-month scholarship is open only to new candidates enrolling in the first year of a doctoral program. The candidate’s program may not be converted to a dual-degree program. “New candidates” are those not already studying in France and not enrolled in a French institution of higher education. The purpose of these restrictions is to attract new students by offering them support from the French government for the entire period of their doctoral study.

A scholarship of 12 or 18 months (depending on the year of enrollment) is open to all candidates, notably those already enrolled in a doctoral program (joint supervision of dissertation or dual degree): o A maximum of 12 months for recipients entering the second or third year of a doctorate program o A maximum of 18 months for recipients entering the first or second year of a doctorate program

BENEFIT: