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Are you looking for financial aid to support a period of study or research in France? This searchable directory of grant programs provides information on aid available from local, regional, and national, public or private sources in the world,

Grant search engine

Are you looking for financial aid to support a period of study or research in France? Our grant search engine provides quick access to information about grants that match your profile. From the bachelor to the postdoctoral level, the directory provides concise information on aid available from local, regional, and national government sources in France, multilateral bodies, corporations, foundations, and institutions of higher education. We would like to point out the grants available from French public sources and from the European Union in particular:

Under the European Union’s Erasmus program, European students may apply for grants to study in France or another EU country. The Erasmus Mundus program extends to non-Europeans as well, offering grants to help students earn a master’s degree or doctorate from joint degree programs and certain other multilateral partnerships.

A budget of some €100 million euros (2008) finances the large international-student grant program administered by the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. A quarter of the grants, including those of the Eiffel and Major programs, are made by the ministry’s central office in Paris. The rest are awarded by France’s embassies around the world. You can obtain information on those grants from the cultural office of the embassy or consulate general nearest you. Beginning in June 2009, information on embassy grants will also be available through the CampusFrance grant search engine.

The French Ministry of Higher Education and Research uses certain social criteria to award grants to French citizens and some international students—for example, students residing in France for more than two years whose residence for tax purposes is situated in France. The ministry also finances the “doctoral contracts” administered by the doctoral departments of the nation’s universities.

Responsibility for publicly financed research in France is shared by the nation’s institutions of higher education and its national research bodies, such as the National Center for Scientific Research, known widely as CNRS, whose mandate spans all disciplines. The other national research bodies have narrower mandates—for example, economic and social development (IRD), the environment and energy security (ADEME), or the exploitation and stewardship of the oceans (IFREMER). Most of the individual grant money available from these bodies is spent to support research by doctoral candidates and postdoctoral fellows, often in partnership with France’s regional authorities.

The nation’s regional councils offer grants for students and researchers enrolled in institutions located in their region. Most of France’s regions provide doctoral and postdoctoral research support that is administered by the region’s institutions of higher education. Programs usually require confinancing from a research body or corporate entity. In some regions, grants may be available to international students enrolled at the region’s institutions under exchange agreements with partner institutions abroad.

Some institutions of higher education offer grants to their students. The office of international relations at those institutions is your best source for detailed information.

The new "grant search engine"