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Applications are ongoing for the 2025 France Excellence Doctoral Scholarships. As part of its policy of supporting higher education and scientific research in Côte d’Ivoire, the Cooperation and Cultural Action Service (SCAC) of the French Embassy awards scholarships called “France Excellence” for the pursuit of higher education in France at the doctoral level.
Opportunity Details
The “France Excellence” training or development scholarships awarded by the Cooperation
and Cultural Action Service of the French Embassy in Côte d’Ivoire aim to:
• Strengthen the teaching and research capacities of higher education and
research establishments in Côte d’Ivoire;
• Support quality research operations on subjects directly linked to the development of
Côte d’Ivoire;
• Sevelop scientific skills in research laboratories in Côte d’Ivoire,
generally in conjunction with French university partners;
• Promote scientific exchanges between French and Ivorian research and
higher education establishments;
• Improve the employability of young people in key economic sectors in Côte d’Ivoire.
In an effort to increase the number of scholarship recipients, given budgetary constraints, the principle of cost-sharing scholarship funding has been adopted. The monthly scholarship allowance, social security coverage, and scholarship management fees by the Campus France Paris agency and delegation are the responsibility of the SCAC, and travel expenses (plane ticket, train ticket, etc.), regardless of the training location, are fully covered by the scholarship recipient. Scholarships will be paid within the limit of the duration of the training and subject to confirmation by the host institution of the scholarship recipient's attendance.
Applicants for a doctoral thesis grant must:
• hold a DEA, a Master's degree or a diploma deemed equivalent; Thesis grants
• be Ivorian and French-speaking;
• be under 40 years old for students not yet integrated into the body of higher education teachers
(renewal of the teaching staff);
• declare on their honor any financial support other than that requested from the SCAC in Abidjan;
• present a commitment to cover the cost of round-trip transport to the training location.
Conditions for carrying out the thesis
The doctoral thesis scholarships awarded by the SCAC of the French Embassy, within the framework of this
program, are work-study thesis scholarships. They are carried out under the supervision of a
host institution in France or in the West African region and a reference laboratory (home laboratory) in Côte d'Ivoire , both of which have accepted the student's application and given a reasoned opinion on the interest of the thesis subject to the SCAC in Abidjan.
The SCAC support of the French Embassy in Côte d'Ivoire provides for the payment of three stays of up to 4 months per year for a maximum period of 3 years. After the 12 months (one year), no additional stays supported by the SCAC will be possible in the host laboratory or institution; the Campus France Paris agency and delegation will be responsible for managing the scholarship throughout the training.
This work-study thesis scholarship scheme does not provide for the payment of training and research costs (bench fees) in France and Côte d'Ivoire. All doctoral thesis defenses must be held in Ivory Coast. Renewal of the thesis grant from one stay to the next is subject to the conditions
Candidate's commitment
The candidate undertakes to:
• send to the home institution via his/her doctoral thesis director and no later than September 15
of each year in which he/she is supported by SCAC funding a report on the progress of his/her research and teaching activities;
• return to Côte d'Ivoire at the end of the doctoral thesis. A written commitment must be provided in the application file;
• not take on any other teaching responsibilities other than those assigned to him/her by the home institution.
Commitment of the host institution
The host institution in France or in the sub-region must:
• be able to demonstrate its ability to supervise the doctoral thesis through work-study;
• undertake to notify the SCAC no later than October 15 of year n of the training, of an opinion on the progress of the research, on the doctoral thesis student's ability to continue their research and on the desired dates of stay for the budget year n+1;
• report to the SCAC in Abidjan any difficulties encountered during the training which would have an impact on the quality of its completion.
Commitment of the home institution
The home institution undertakes to:
Before the admission of candidates to the doctoral thesis:
• provide a reasoned opinion justifying the selection of candidates. This opinion must take into account
the institution's research priorities and the scientific qualities of the candidate;
• provide, in line with the objectives set out in 5.4, a certificate of commitment to recruit the candidate at the end of his or her doctoral thesis in the home institution, if the stated objective of the training is to strengthen the teaching staff of the institution.
After the admission of a candidate to the doctoral thesis to:
• help the thesis student to seek the research funds (bench fees) necessary for the research work
• send to the SCAC of Abidjan no later than October 15 of year no work
• an opinion on the progress of the doctoral student's research work and work
• an opinion on the execution of the teaching and other responsibilities requested of the doctoral student.
After the thesis defense,
• the co-thesis director, in liaison with the head of the establishment, undertakes to take stock of the
procedure for integration into the body of higher education teachers, or of the steps taken with
the doctoral student for their professional integration, at the SCAC in Abidjan.
SCAC Commitment
The SCAC of Abidjan undertakes to:
• notify the host institution in France, the home institution and the
doctoral thesis student of the acceptance of a new scholarship, or the accepted renewal period;
• since the funding of work-study doctoral theses is provided by an annually managed budget, the
SCAC of Abidjan can only commit to the dates and periods of stay in France on March 1 of each
budget year.
The SCAC, in conjunction with the General Directorate of Higher Education and Professional Integration,
retains full latitude regarding the organization of the candidate selection committee (mixed Franco-Ivorian jury,
calls for applications, etc.)
Eligible sectors
The eligible sectors are:
- Health
- Agriculture
- The environment
- Computer science
Sub-themes of these sectors will be considered as priorities: digital, artificial intelligence,
quantum, biotechnologies, energy, low-carbon mobility, exploration of the seabed, space, food,
biodiversity, climate change, information and communication technologies and human
and social sciences linked to the aforementioned fields.
Selection method
The admissibility of application files is studied on the basis of a single form (available on the websites
of the French Embassy in Côte d'Ivoire and Campus France Côte d'Ivoire) to be completed by the
candidate. This form includes the list of documents constituting the file.
To assess the relevance of scholarship applications, a Franco-Ivorian jury individually interviews
each thesis candidate . This procedure allows, in complete transparency, to select the best candidates
in line with the national priorities of Côte d'Ivoire, with a view to their development,
capacity building or the renewal of the teaching staff. This system is set up in liaison with the
Ivorian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
The agenda of the various candidate audition sessions and the practical arrangements for this audition will be
communicated to the preselected candidates after verification of the eligibility of the files by the
Cooperation and Cultural Action Service of the French Embassy.
Each member of the jury will have at their disposal a summary document containing the essential elements included
in the candidates' file. During the candidate interview phase, the academic excellence of the
application, the interest of the thesis subject, the conditions of the training in terms of supervision,
reliable university partnership and especially the professional prospects at the end of the training, will be
the subject of exchanges between each candidate and the members of the jury and constitute the main selection criteria.
The assessment of the performance of each candidate by the members of the Jury will be recorded on an evaluation grid.
A report in which will appear a ranking in order of merit and according to the priorities (areas of
training) previously defined, will be jointly signed by the Counselor for Cooperation and Cultural Action
of the French Embassy and the representative of the Ministry of Higher Education and
Scientific Research. On the basis of this list in order of merit of the candidates, the number of those
definitively retained will be determined according to the number defined during the budget programming.
Composition of the joint Franco-Ivorian scholarship awarding jury:
• Jury presidency: the Cooperation Advisor of the French Embassy in Côte d'Ivoire or his
representative.
• Jury co-presidency: the Director of Higher Education and Professional Integration or his
representative.
• Two representatives of Ivorian institutions;
• Two French academics and/or researchers (representing French organizations present in Côte
d'Ivoire);
• The Scientific and University Cooperation Attaché of the French Embassy in Côte d'Ivoire;
• The representative of Campus France Côte d'Ivoire;
• The Secretariat will be provided by the scholarship manager of the cooperation service of the French Embassy
Selection and renewal procedure
The joint Franco-Ivorian scholarship awarding jury will determine, following the candidate interviews, a
ranking based on the following criteria, which take into account:
• the training areas deemed to be priorities in consultation with the Ministry of
Higher Education and Professional Integration;
• compliance with the application rules (see application file);
• the scientific interest of the subject and its orientation in relation to the development of Côte d'Ivoire;
• the interest of the host institution in France or in the sub-region for the subject and the prospects
for collaboration;
• professional prospects at the end of the doctoral thesis and
• the conditions for supervising the doctoral thesis abroad and in Côte d'Ivoire.
Once the scholarship has been granted, the SCAC Abidjan scholarship department, responsible for implementation in conjunction with the Campus France Paris agency and delegation and monitoring of students, will examine renewal requests
in relation to:
• the progress of the thesis work established by the candidate;
• the opinion of one of the two thesis co-directors;
• the opinion of the highest authority of the original establishment.
Apply for France Excellence Doctoral Scholarships