France South Africa Scholarship 2025

ABOUT THE SCHOLARSHIP PROVIDER – EMBASSY OF FRANCE

Campus France is an agency of the French Ministries of European and Foreign Affairs and of Higher Education and Research. The aim of the organisation is to encourage French Higher Education and facilitate academic exchange between global and French tertiary institutions.

Campus France in South Africa is committed to promoting higher education in France, and assists students and researchers who wish to pursue postgraduate studies in France. Each year, the Embassy of France in South Africa award scholarship funding for Master’s or PhD degree studies in France. They are partnered with French businesses present in South Africa, as well as South African organisations (namely: the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), National Research Foundation (NRF) and Universities South Africa (USAf)).

ABOUT THE FRANCE SOUTH AFRICA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME – FIELDS COVERED

The Embassy of France is inviting students from South Africa; Lesotho and Malawi, to apply for the France South Africa Scholarship, for the 2025 academic year.

The scholarship will cover studies in France, towards a Master’s degree or PhD qualification, in ANY field of study, starting in September 2025.

ABOUT THE FRANCE SOUTH AFRICA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME – EXPENSES COVERED

There are 2 types of scholarships to be awarded:
1) A full scholarship, which includes: return flight to France, monthly allowance (approximately 850 euros for master students and 1400 euros for PhD students), individualized accommodation aid (approximately 150 euros per month) from the French Government. Scholars will also receive social security, priority for accessing student housing, visa fee exemption and assistance by Campus France Paris.

2) A cost sharing scholarship, which includes: a monthly allowance provided fully or partially by a partner, and all the other benefits of a full scholarship.

Candidates are encouraged to seek alternative sources of funding, and special attention will be given to students with confirmed sources of financing.
Scholarships will be awarded for a specified amount of time to be spent in France, in line with the time required to obtain the degree:

Master’s degree students: scholarships will be awarded for between 10 and 22 months. Master degrees are generally 2 years long and in some cases, students may be required to apply to M2 (2nd year of the Master Programme). After the 1st year of study, the Embassy of France may award the scholarship for the 2nd year depending on academic performance.
PhD students: scholarships will be awarded for a maximum of 3 years. After the 1st year of study, students will be required to justify the progress of their research work in order to qualify for funding for 2nd and 3rd year.
PhD students under co-supervision/ cotutelle: scholarships will be awarded for periods spent in France and these periods of stay should be specified by the candidate.

MORE ABOUT THE FRANCE SOUTH AFRICA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME – SELECTION

Important dates:

14 October 2024: scholarship applications close.
November 2024: eligible candidates will be interviewed.
end of November 2024 to early December 2024: final candidates will be selected and results will be made available.
February 2025 to July 2025: specific programme will commence in South Africa (online french courses and possibly internship).
Early September 2025: departure to France

Selection process:
Candidates will be selected by the Advisory board, based on the following factors – candidates will be shortlisted and interviewed based on their files.

Skills and merit per the applicants academic record and professional background.
Quality of the applicants studies project and its coherence with the applicants background.
PhD applicants: preference will be given to PhDs under joint supervision and commitment of South African and French supervisors will be decisive;
Level of proficiency in foreign languages and its adequacy with the suggested curriculum.

Please note:

Decision are final and cannot be disputed.
Applicants are requested to not follow-up regarding the status of their application.
No ranking on any of the lists will be communicated to the applicants.
If studies are interrupted, the scholarship will automatically be suspended.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR THE FRANCE SOUTH AFRICA SCHOLARSHIP

Applicants must satisfy the following minimum entry criteria before applying (please note that failure to satisfy all the requirements will lead to your application not being considered):

You must be a citizen of South Africa, Lesotho or Malawi
You must have been born on or after 1 January 1995
You must be intend on studying towards a Master’s degree or PhD
You must be intend on enrolling at a French Higher Education institution (you do not have to be accepted in a higher education institution before applying for this scholarship)
You must intend on starting your studies in September 2025

HOW TO APPLY FOR THE FRANCE SOUTH AFRICA SCHOLARSHIP

Applications must be submitted online at: France South Africa Scholarship Application 2025

Candidates will be required to Register an Account before they can Login and apply.

Application notes:

You will be able to save and resume your application at any time, however no changes will be allowed to be made after final submission.
Ensure that all the information on your application is correct before submitting.
Applications can be done on any platform, but it is recommended that a desktop computer be used.
The application does not recognise special characters (such as apostrophes), so ensure that you do not use them.

Upload clear copies of the following supporting documentation to your profile (the submission of these documents is compulsory – if any items are missing, your application may be disqualified):
ALL applicants must submit:

Completed online application form
Passport
Updated resume/ curriculum vitae, including entire academic record
Covering letter, including motivations and interests in the selected academic project
Degree certificates (Bachelor or Master degrees)
University transcripts for the last 2 years of study

Master students must ALSO submit the following:

List of study programmes the student intends on applying for (as well as application dates and tuition fees)
Proof of acceptance for the study programme stating in the application (between February and May/ June 2025)
Email correspondence with the institution in France (to be submitted during the application process)

PhD students must ALSO submit the following:

Supervisor commitment letter (or by the two supervisors, South African and French in case of a co-tutelle) indicating their commitment to supervise in France and in South Africa
In the case of co-supervision, this attestation needs to indicate that a cotutelle agreement (unless it has already been signed) will be established, that enrolment will be at both universities and that a degree will be awarded by the French higher education institution
In case of co-supervision, a detailed plan of the various periods to be spent in France during the research work and, if it is already signed, a co-tutelle agreement
Detailed description of the research project and detailed work plan (2 to 3 pages long)

Optional documents students may submit:

Academic or professional recommendation
Language proficiency certificates
Cost-sharing commitment letter from the corresponding organisation

IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS TO READ BEFORE APPLYING FOR THE FRANCE SOUTH AFRICA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME

CLOSING DATE FOR THE FRANCE SOUTH AFRICA SCHOLARSHIP

14 October 2024 (at 23:59).
(Applications submitted after this date will not be accepted – please apply before the closing date to ensure your application is considered.)

CONTACT THE SCHOLARSHIP PROVIDER

For any queries related to this bursary programme, please contact the Embassy of France directly:
Contact page: https://www.southafrica-france-scholarships.com/contact-us
Please do NOT contact the Embassy of France if this bursary has already closed.