Eiffel Excellence Scholarship 2027 in France: Funded Master’s and PhD

The Eiffel Excellence Scholarship 2027 is the French government’s flagship award for international master’s and PhD students. It pays €1,200 a month at master’s level and €2,000 a month at doctoral level, and adds travel, insurance, and housing support on top.

You cannot apply for it directly. A French university or grande école must nominate you, and institutions send their files to Campus France by 6 January 2027. Your real deadline comes earlier: each institution sets its own cutoff, often in November or December 2026.

This guide uses the official 2027 rules published by Campus France. It covers the money, the eligibility rules, the documents, and how to get nominated.

Key facts at a glance

Program	France Excellence Eiffel 2027
Funded by	French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, managed by Campus France
Levels	Master’s, engineering degrees, PhD
Monthly allowance	€1,200 (master’s), €2,000 (PhD)
Duration	12 to 36 months, depending on the program
Tuition fees	Not covered
Age limit	29 or younger (master’s), 35 or younger (PhD) at selection
Application route	Nomination by a French institution only
Institution deadline	6 January 2027
Results	Week of 12 April 2027

What the scholarship pays

Eiffel scholars get a monthly allowance for the full length of their award. Master’s students receive €1,200 a month. Doctoral students receive €2,000 a month under the official 2027 regulations. One note: Campus France’s student information page lists €2,100 a month at PhD level. Confirm the current figure with your nominating institution before you budget.

The award lasts up to 12 months for a second-year master’s (M2), up to 24 months for a first-year master’s (M1), and up to 36 months for an engineering degree. PhD awards run 12, 18, or 36 months. The 36-month PhD award is reserved for students enrolling in their first year who are newly arriving in France. Shorter PhD awards can be split into stays of at least 6 months each, spread over a maximum of 3 years.

Campus France also pays for several services directly:

• Return international flight in the most economical class.
• Domestic travel to your host city, such as a second-class train or bus ticket.
• Health cover: temporary protection on arrival, then French social security plus a free complementary health insurance.
• Help finding housing, including CROUS student residences and private options.
• Cultural activities: weekend trips and events at student prices.

The funded stay must begin between 1 September and 30 November 2027. You cannot defer the award to a later year.

What the scholarship does not pay

The Eiffel program does not pay tuition or training fees. This is the point most guides skip, so budget for these costs separately.

There is one partial exception. Students enrolled in French public institutions are exempt from registration fees for national diplomas and engineering degrees, under article R719-49 of the French Education Code. Training fees charged by the institution are a separate matter and stay with you. Ask the institution for the exact amounts before you accept a nomination.

Who can apply

The program is open to foreign nationals only. If you hold French citizenship alongside another nationality, you cannot apply.

At master’s level, you must be 29 or younger at the time of selection, and you must not already be studying in France. Only state-accredited programs qualify. Master of Science programs count only if they carry the Conférence des grandes écoles label. Distance learning, offshore programs, and apprenticeship contracts are excluded, and at least half of the program must take place in France.

At PhD level, you must be 35 or younger at selection. Your thesis must run under a cotutelle or codirection agreement with a foreign partner institution, unless you receive the 36-month award as a newcomer. Students already enrolled in France can apply for the PhD award, but candidates applying from abroad get priority. Doctoral candidates in the humanities have another France option worth a look: the FmSH DEA Visiting Fellows Program 2026.

The scholarship cannot be combined with another French government scholarship, an Erasmus+ grant, or an Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie award. If you receive one of those, you lose the Eiffel.

Two rejection rules matter. If your Eiffel application was rejected in a previous round, you cannot apply again at the same level, even through a different institution or in a different field. And a candidate put forward by two institutions in the same round is rejected outright, so commit to one institution.

How the nomination process works

Campus France accepts files only from French institutions. Your job is to convince one institution to nominate you. The steps run like this:

1. Pick a French master’s or PhD program in one of the 7 eligible fields: Biology and Health; Ecological Transition; Mathematics and Digital; Engineering Sciences; History, French language and civilization; Law and political science; Economics and management.
2. Apply for admission through the institution’s own process.
3. Contact the international relations office early. Ask whether they nominate candidates for Eiffel and what their internal deadline is.
4. Prepare your dossier pieces (listed below).
5. The institution selects its candidates and submits the files online to Campus France by 6 January 2027.
6. Experts appointed by the ministry score each file against published evaluation grids.
7. Winners and their institutions get the results by email in the week of 12 April 2027.

Experts appointed by the ministry score each file against published evaluation grids, one for the master’s component and one for the PhD component. The experts are teacher-researchers with proven international experience, appointed for non-renewable 4-year terms. Their grids weight academic excellence, the coherence of your study project, and the strength of the institution’s presentation of your file.

Deadlines for the 2027 campaign

The official 2027 calendar runs on two clocks. The call opened on 2 October 2026. Institutions must submit their files to Campus France by Wednesday 6 January 2027.

Your clock is the institution’s internal deadline, and it comes much earlier. Universities need time to select candidates and build the files, so most set cutoffs in November or December 2026. Start your conversations in October.

Results go out by email in the week of 12 April 2027, to both the winners and their institutions.

Documents you need

The institution builds the file, but you supply the pieces. For master’s applications the file needs:

• Copy of your ID, showing your name and date of birth.
• CV in French or English, maximum 2 pages, with your academic record and any work experience.
• Copies of your latest diplomas, with your ranking.
• Transcripts from the last 3 years.
• Language certificate, if you have one.
• Professional project in French or English, 1 to 2 pages.
• The signed candidate declaration and commitment charter.
• The program curriculum and full calendar.

PhD applications need everything above, plus:

• Thesis project presentation in French or English, maximum 5 pages, covering the topic, objectives, hypotheses, novelty, and expected impact.
• An argued expert opinion on the scientific value of the thesis, from an external expert in the same field with no conflicts of interest.
• That expert’s CV, maximum 2 pages.
• The global funding plan for the thesis.
• The signed cotutelle convention or codirection attestation, including the stay schedule.

Tips to strengthen your nomination

Start early. Internal deadlines close weeks or months before 6 January, and late candidates simply miss the round.

Match your program to one of the 7 eligible fields exactly. Experts are grouped by field, and a mismatch weakens the file.

Write a tight professional project or thesis plan. The scoring grids reward clear objectives, coherence, and a credible link between the program and your plans.

Document your ranking. Diplomas and transcripts with class rankings carry weight in a program built on academic excellence.

For a PhD, line up the cotutelle or codirection partner before the institution’s deadline. The agreement takes time to sign. A related route for jointly supervised doctorates is the PhD Co-Tutelle Scholarship 2026 in Europe.

Eiffel is competitive, so keep a backup plan. Other funded routes in France include the GYIS Paris Scholarship 2027.

Talk to the Campus France office or the French embassy’s cultural section in your country. The embassy’s cooperation and cultural services help institutions identify strong candidates, and they can point you to universities that nominate Eiffel candidates regularly.

Frequently Asked Questions