EIFFEL PROGRAM

2020 GUIDELINES

(Vade-mecum applies of all previous years of

selection)

The Eiffel Excellence Scholarship Program (Eiffel Program) has two

components:

 The master’s component offers 12 to 36 months of funding to enable

scholarship holders to earn a master-level degree.
 The doctoral component supports up to 12 months of doctoral research in
France as part of a joint doctoral program. The 12 months may be divided
into 2 or 3 separate periods.

PRESENTATION OF THE PROGRAM

1. Objectives

The Eiffel Program was established by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign
Affairs to help French institutions of higher education in their efforts to attract top
foreign students to their master’s and doctoral programs.

Its purposes are (i) to train future foreign decision-makers in the private and public
spheres in priority areas of study and (ii) to attract to French institutions applicants
from developing countries at the master’s level and from developing and
industrialized countries at the doctoral level.

2. Fields of study

Eiffel scholarships are available in four broad fields:

 Law
  Economics and management
 Engineering at the master’s level and the sciences more broadly at the
doctoral level (engineering as well as mathematics, physics, chemistry, the
life sciences, nano- and biotechnology, earth sciences, space sciences,
environmental sciences, and information and communication sciences and
technologies)
 Political science

3. Levels of study

French institutions nominating candidates for the Eiffel Program commit to admit
them to:

 a master’s degree program

 an engineering program
 a joint doctoral program (joint supervision of dissertation and/or dual
degree), in partnership with a partner institution abroad.

4. Duration of the scholarship

For both components of the program, the scholarship is awarded for the academic
year corresponding to the call for applications.

The funded study period must begin between September 1 and December 31 of the
year in which the scholarship is awarded. Deferments of the start date are not
permitted.

The scholarship may be used solely for academic work performed in France. For
information on internships and exchange periods, see section 4.1.a.

4.1. Master’s component

The scholarship is awarded for:

 a maximum of 12 months for awardees entering the second year of a

master’s program (M2)
 a maximum of 24 months for awardees entering the first year of a master’s
program (M1)
 a maximum of 36 months for awardees entering an engineering program.
Each period of the scholarship is contingent upon the awardee meeting the
academic requirements of the previous period.

Should the awardee wish to take an intensive language course before beginning
academic work, the duration of the Eiffel scholarship may be extended by a
maximum of two months, provided the need for the extension is clearly indicated in
the application.
The Eiffel scholarship does not cover the cost of such language courses.

4.1.a. Internships and exchanges

For purposes of these guidelines, “Internship” designates a temporary placement in

a professional setting, in the course of which awardees acquire professional
competencies and apply what they have learned in their funded academic studies.
Interns are assigned one or more missions consistent with the academic project set
by their educational institution and endorsed by the entity hosting the internship. All
awardees wishing to complete an internship shall enter into an internship agreement
with their educational institution.

Mandatory internship or exchange: Awardees may continue to enjoy their

scholarship benefits during periods of internship and exchange that together amount
to no more than 25% of the total duration of their master study (cf., “duration of the
scholarship,” on page 4 of the application form). To qualify for funding, the internship
and exchange periods must be mandatory—that is, they must be specified as
required components of the program. Any period of internship or exchange in excess
of the 25% limit shall not be covered by the scholarship.

Internship. The internship must be an integral part of the curriculum leading to the
degree. Completing it must be a degree requirement. How the internship is assessed
for purposes of being counted toward the degree must be spelled out in the
description of the degree program. Awardees must obtain permission from their
academic adviser to enter the internship, which must be covered by an internship
agreement. For purposes of the Eiffel Program scholarship, the agreement must be
submitted to Campus France at least one week prior to the start date of the
internship.

Exchange. For purposes of maintaining benefits under the scholarship, an academic

exchange involving travel to another campus, in France or abroad, must be strictly
required for receiving the degree, as specified in the degree description. Awardees
must inform Campus France of the dates of their exchange period.

Optional internship or exchange: Optional internships or exchanges are defined

as being undertaken at the discretion of the awardee even though not required for
the degree. Scholarship payments are suspended during any such period. The rules
that apply in this case are the same as those applicable to gap years (see 4.1.b).

4.1.b. Gap year

For purposes of the Eiffel Scholarship program, a gap year is understood to be a

period during which the awardee suspends his or her studies while remaining
enrolled. Students may wish to take this break for various reasons. They may elect
to pursue a different academic program, complete an internship with a company or
civic organization, work for a firm or other organization, or take the first steps toward
starting a business.

A single gap of exactly one year (no more, no less) may be granted during the
scholarship period. During the gap year, scholarship benefits are suspended.
Requests for a gap year shall be sent to Campus France no later than two months
prior to the start of the proposed gap. Requests shall specify the start and end dates
and explain how the gap fits within the awardee’s overall study plan.

Scholarship payments and the status of French government scholarship recipient (as
well as benefits derived from that status) shall be suspended during the gap. When
scholarship payments are suspended, so are all related services. Thus, if the
awardee has been living in student housing provided by Campus France, he or she
must surrender the lodging as of the day that scholarship payments cease.

Awardees taking a gap year shall notify Campus France at least one month before
returning from said period, and, in any event, no later than July 31 of the year of
return. Resumption of scholarship payments cannot be guaranteed if the required
notice is not provided.

Execution by the awardee of an apprenticeship or professional training agreement

shall result automatically in the cessation of scholarship payments and benefits.

4.2. Doctoral component

The Eiffel scholarship is awarded for a maximum of 12 months.

With the approval of the Eiffel Program’s selection committee, the scholarship may
be split into 2–3 periods of 3–4 months each, to be spent entirely in France. The
scholarship may be spread over a maximum of 3 calendar years.

Splitting of the scholarship. A timetable of scholarship periods shall be drawn up and

submitted to Campus France at the start of the first period. If this timetable is
modified after the first period, the awardee shall notify Campus France of the new
dates at least two months prior to the start of the next period. Resumption of
scholarship payments cannot be guaranteed unless the required notice is provided.

Only awardees in law may undergo French language training in parallel with their
academic work. Permission to do so must be explicitly requested in the application. If
permission is not clearly requested in the application, it will not be granted
subsequently.

5. Benefits

5.1. Master’s component

The Eiffel scholarship consists of a monthly allowance of €1,181 (a maintenance

allowance of €1,031 plus a stipend of €150). In addition, the following benefits are
provided:

 International air travel. Round-trip international air travel between the

awardee’s home country and France. The awardee has one year from the
end of the scholarship to take advantage of the return trip benefit. Campus
France will purchase the return ticket or reimburse the awardee for the
purchase, provided the price of the ticket purchased by the awardee falls
with the average range, which varies by region.
  Train travel within France. Campus France will provide a train ticket to the
awardee’s first study location and a second ticket from the last study
location to the airport from which the awardee will return to his or her
home country.
 Local transportation. Reimbursement of up to €50 of the cost of travel via
taxi or public transportation from the airport or train station to the first study
location.
 Health insurance. For awardees from outside of the European Economic
Area, Campus France will provide health insurance coverage until the
effective date of the awardee’s enrollment in the French Social Security
system. Awardees are expected to register promptly with the Social
Security system.
 Supplemental health insurance (“mutuelle”).
 Cultural activities.
 Housing assistance. Under certain conditions, awardees may also benefit
from public housing assistance within the three months following signature
of their lease.
5.2. Doctoral component

The Eiffel scholarship includes a monthly allowance of €1,400. In addition, it

provides the benefits described in section 5.1.

5.3. For both components

To receive the first installment of their scholarship, students must have begun their
academic program at the host institution in France.

Any suspension of the scholarship payments entails a suspension of all benefits.

Tuition charges are not covered by the Eiffel Program. But, as recipients of French
government scholarships, awardees admitted to Frenchuniversities and other public
institutions are exempt from tuition charges.

The French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs expects participating educational
institutions, whose international visibility is enhanced by the Eiffel program, to
provide awardees with the best possible financial support.

Awardees will be covered by Campus France’s health insurance pending their

registration with the French Social Security system, which should be done promptly.
Awardees should use the following website to register: https://etudiant-
etranger.ameli.fr/#/. The website is available in French and English.

European awardees holding a European health insurance card need not take any
further steps. They have access to healthcare in France, and their medical expenses
are partially reimbursed just as if they were in their home country.

Awardees must claim their return-trip benefit within 12 months of the end of their
scholarship. Campus France will purchase the ticket for them, or they may purchase
the ticket and be reimbursed by Campus France on the basis of the average cost of
airfare between France and the region in which they live.

SELECTION PROCESS
6. Eligibility

Nationality. The Eiffel Program is reserved for non-French nationals. Candidates with
two nationalities, one of which is French, are not eligible.

Age. Candidates for the master’s component must be 30 or under at the time of the
2020 competition—that is, they must have been born after March 1989. Candidates for
the doctoral component must be 35 or under at the time of the 2020 competition; they
must have been born after March 1984.

Source of applications. Only applications submitted by French educational

institutions will be accepted. These institutions commit to admitting awardees to the
academic program specified in the application. Applications from any other source
shall not be considered. Any candidate nominated by more than one institution shall
be disqualified.

Academic levels targeted. Eiffel Program scholarships are intended for students
seeking to enroll in a master's-level program in France (including at a school of
engineering) and to doctoral students wishing to do research in France as part of a
joint doctoral program. The Eiffel Program cannot be used at French-run master’s
programs abroad or in connection with apprenticeship contracts or professional
training contracts.

Scholarship conflicts. Applications nominating students who, at the time of

application, have already been awarded another French government scholarship will
not be accepted, even if the other scholarship covered only health insurance.

Master’s component. An application nominating a student rejected in a previous

competition will not be accepted, even if the application was submitted by a different
institution or in another field of study. Students who have previously received an
Eiffel master’s scholarship are not eligible to receive another at the master’s level.

Doctoral component. Institutions may nominate for a doctoral scholarship a

candidate previously awarded a scholarship at the master’s level. Candidates
previously awarded a doctoral scholarship are not eligible to receive another. An
applications nominating a candidate rejected in a previous competition will not be
accepted, even if the application was submitted by a different institution or in another
field of study.

Language proficiency. When preselecting non-French-speaking candidates,

institutions shall ensure that the candidates’ language skills meet the requirements
of the academic program.

Students enrolled in academic programs abroad have priority over students already
in France.
7. Calendar

 Submission of online applications: week of October 21, 2019.

 Deadline for receipt of applications by Campus France: January 9, 2020.
 Interested students should contact the institution that is to submit their
application to determine that institution’s deadline for submission of
students’ application materials.
 Publication of results: week of March 23, 2020.
Results are announced in March so as to allow students applying to other
scholarship programs to learn early on whether they have been selected for an Eiffel
scholarship.

The Eiffel scholarship cannot be held concurrently with another French government
scholarship, Erasmus+ scholarship, or scholarship from the Agence Universitaire de
la Francophonie. In such cases, selected candidates must give up one of their
scholarships. If they decide to give up the Eiffel scholarship, they shall immediately
inform Campus France, in its capacity as administrator of the Eiffel program for the
French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

8. Nomination of candidates

French higher education institutions shall preselect candidates for Eiffel scholarships
from among the best foreign applicants to their academic programs.

Institutions shall complete and submit applications online on behalf of their

candidates, using the form appropriate for each level of study. They shall ensure that
applications meet the criteria of the Eiffel Program.

The duration of the academic program, including mandatory internships in France or

abroad, must be clearly stated in the application. Each institution may nominate a
maximum of 40 candidates per field of study for a master’s scholarship.

Incomplete applications will be rejected.

To facilitate the evaluation of applications, the submission must contain no more

than two files: the main application file and a file containing all attachments.

No later than January 9, 2020, institutions must send to Campus France, by

registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt, a list of the applications they
previously submitted online. This document must bear the institution’s seal and the
signature of the head of the institution (university president or director), or his or her
representative.

9. Selection of candidates

For the master’s component, the aid and cultural relations offices at France’s
embassies will provide an assessment of candidates from their respective countries.
The selection process will be carried out by a committee composed of four panels of
experts, one for each field of study. The members of these panels will not evaluate
applications from institutions with which they are affiliated.

The evaluation of applications takes into account the assessment provided by the
embassy.

The selection criteria are as follows:

 The candidate’s qualifications, as demonstrated by his or her academic

achievements, and, for doctoral students, the originality of his or her
research topic
 The international policy of the institution nominating the candidate1; its
activities in the geographical area in question; the suitability of the host
department and the fit with the candidacy presented; the department’s
efforts to promote and enhance the Eiffel Program; and its efforts to
maintain contact with scholarship holders, notably in cooperation with
France Alumni (https://www.francealumni.fr/en)
 The cooperation and partnership policy of the French Ministry for Europe
and Foreign Affairs, particularly the priority it assigns to certain countries
with respect to this program.
The committee ranks each candidate in light of these three criteria. It then sets a
minimum threshold of admissibility and allocates the scholarships as follows,
depending on the number of scholarships available:

 At least 70% of the scholarships are awarded to the highest-scoring

candidates.
 The remaining scholarships are awarded to admissible candidates at
institutions that have not yet received a scholarship.
The applications thus selected constitute the definitive list of awardees.

10. Publication of results

The list of awardees is published on the Campus France website:

http://www.campusfrance.org/en/eiffel

Each institution receives a report of the results of the applications it has submitted.

The deliberations of the selection committee are not made public. Its decisions are
final.

11. Participation of French embassies

Institutions may ask the embassies to help them identify and preselect candidates
from their respective countries.

1 The international policy of the institution as a whole, not of the individual department.
For the master degree, the aid and cultural offices offer their opinion on the merits of
candidates from the country in which the embassy is located.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION
The French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs has assigned the management
of the Eiffel Program to Campus France.

For more information, please go to: http://www.campusfrance.org/en/eiffel

Questions about practical matters may be addressed to:

[email protected]