The France Excellence Eiffel programme is funded by France's Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and managed by Campus France, for international master's and doctoral students at French institutions.
The important thing to understand is who applies. Students cannot submit an application themselves. Only a French higher education institution may nominate a candidate, so the first move is to contact the international office of the institution you hope to attend, well before its internal deadline.
The award pays a monthly allowance, international travel with a return flight, national transport to the study city, health cover and assistance finding housing in a CROUS or private residence. Students pay their own rent; accommodation is not a funded benefit. Tuition is not paid by the programme, though holders of a French government scholarship are exempt from tuition for national diplomas at public institutions.
Selection favours seven priority fields. All French higher education institutions are eligible to nominate candidates.
Two Campus France pages give different doctoral allowances: EUR 2,000 on the scholarship implementation page and EUR 2,100 on the programme overview page. This entry publishes EUR 2,100, since the programme overview figure is independently confirmed by the French government's own doctoral funding page (doctorat.gouv.fr), which states the same EUR 2,100 monthly allowance from January 2026; the implementation page's EUR 2,000 figure appears to be a stale value.
Nationality eligibility verified on 19 September 2026 against the official programme guidance. Citizenship, residency and programme-specific conditions in the eligibility description still apply.
Housing support verified on 19 September 2026 against the Campus France programme overview and scholarship-holder guidance: Campus France helps with the housing search, but the student pays rent.
