How to finance a doctorate in France

Financer son doctorat
Financer son doctorat

Funding must often be found before enrolling in a Doctorate. Depending on your situation, your host establishment, your country of origin, a company or the European Union may finance your research project.

THE TOOLS INDISPENSABLE FOR FINDING FUNDING

Before looking for doctoral funding, check to see if the doctoral school that you're interested in requires minimum funding before you can enrol. This is especially the case when you are in the natural and technological sciences. The amount is indicated on the school's page in the directory of doctoral schools.

Check the list of possible funding for your Doctorate in the Campus Bourses catalogue. Depending on the case, your Doctorate may be financed by your host establishment, a company or your country or university of origin.

Finally, each year the Association nationale des docteurs (ANDès - the National Association of Doctors) publishes a guide to funding for Doctorates in which you will find additional information concerning funding for your Doctorate.

CampusBourses
CampusBourses

 

DOCTORATES FINANCED BY YOUR HOST ESTABLISHMENT

On their Internet sites, doctoral schools, laboratories and research institutes regularly publish proposals for financed thesis subjects. This doctoral funding constitutes the first way for you to find funding for your Doctorate. There are three types:
 

  • Funding from a doctoral fellowship: your doctoral school provides you with 1,400 euros net funding for your Doctorate per month for three years. This is done either through its research budget or as a complement to your own funding. The doctoral fellowship is a work contract specifically for doctoral students, with no age or nationality conditions. It can be renewed twice for one year each time, for a total of 5 years.
     
  • Funding from a contract with a research institute: your research institute (CNES, CNRS, CEA, etc.)  provides you with 1,500 euros net funding for your Doctorate per month.
     
  • Funding from a contract connected to a project financed by the Agence Nationale de Recherche (ANR National Research Agency), at 1400-1500 euros net per month.

 

Doctorat en France
Doctorat en France

DOCTORATES FINANCED BY THE EUROPEAN UNION

Established as part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actionsthe European Joint Doctorate provides funding for 36 months. It is aimed at foreign students who are enrolled in a Doctorate in a European institute of higher education that belongs to a consortium of at least three establishments in three different countries. The funding request must be sent to the coordinating establishment.

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Les bourses destinées aux étudiants égyptiens
Fundings from the French Embassy in Egypt

SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMES FUNDED BY FRANCE IN EGYPT

The French Institute in Egypt offers several funding opportunities for scientific stays for Egyptian doctoral students and researchers wishing to visit France.

Each of these grants is aimed at a certain category of scientists:

  • For PhD students: A co-financed program between the Agency of Francophonie University (AUF) and the Research Institute for Development (IRD), Egyptian doctoral students can benefit from a stay of 4 to 6 months in France, possibly renewable during the three years of their thesis for a maximum of 12 months. See the call for applications.

 

  • For Post-Doctorat/PhD students: A co-financed program between the Science and Technology Development Fund (STDF), The French Institute in Egypt offers stays of up to 9 months in France for Egyptian post-docs - every year, 20 candidates will be eligible for this co-financed program. A limited number of other candidates may be selected from the French Institute's own funding. See the call for applications.

THE IMHOTEP PROGRAM FOR PHD STUDENTS AND EGYPTIAN RESEARCHERS

The IMHOTEP program for researchers is the Franco-Egyptian Hubert Curien Partnership (PHC). It is implemented in Egypt by the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT) of the Ministry of Scientific Research, and in France by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) and the ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MESRI).

The French Embassy in Egypt - French Institute in Egypt and the Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT) select projects (after an open call). This program supports exchanges between researchers from both countries. Each project can be awarded a budget of around 25,000 euros for a period of 2 years.

 

More details on the website www.campusfrance.org/en/imhotep(for French researchers) and on the website www.imhotep.eg.net (for Egyptian researchers).

 

Imhotep
Imhotep

For more information on scientific funding programs and doctoral studies contact:

coopsciences@ifegypte.com

 

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