Your edu-ticket to France

Updated on: Monday, July 26, 2010

Arti Sridhar, a management student at IIM-Ahmedabad, is on cloud nine after getting a scholarship from the French Embassy in India and BNP Paribas, a European company into banking and financial services. And there are 60-odd other jubilant students who are now packing their bags to leave for France and give their careers that much-desired global boost.

Scholarships galore
The French government offers several scholarships disbursed through the Embassy of France in India to Indian students to undertake higher studies in France. Over 300 scholarships are earmarked for students of academic and cultural disciplines. The recently announced scholarships are sponsored by companies like Orange Business Services, BNP Paribas, Air Liquide and Thales. Going ahead, the French government plans to hold road shows across India popularising the opportunities available in France, informed French Ambassador to India, Jerome Bonnafont.
“Currently, Indian students comprise less than one per cent of the total number of foreign students enrolled in French universities. About 2.5 lakh foreign students are studying in French universities, of whom only about 2,000 are from India. The majority of Indian students take up engineering and management programmes apart from language and cultural programmes. We are targeting at increasing the number to 4,000 in the coming years,” he said.

From BNP Paribas
Fifteen management students (from IIMs Ahmedabad, Banga-lore and Calcutta) are on scholarships from BNP Paribas and are going on exchange programmes to the ESSEC management school.

From Air Liquide
Air Liquide have awarded scholarships to three young engineers, who will pursue Master degrees (in the fields of energy, engineering, industrial engineering, economics and finance) at the Ecole Polytechnique.

From the Neemrana Music Foundation
The Foundation that promotes and imparts classical music in India, has awarded scholarships to two young singers who wish to specialise in music in France.

From Thales and the Krishnakriti Foundation
Thales gave scholarships to eight outstanding students for programmes in material behaviour, structural design, logistics systems, management of information systems, aerospace engineering, etc. The Krishnakriti Foundation has conferred scholarships upon two young artists to study art and painting in France at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris.

From Orange Business Services
The company has given scholarships to 13 engineering graduates who have chosen to pursue specialisations in IT networks, IT for value-added services, telecommunications engineering and management information systems at Institut-Telecom, ISEP or ESIGELEC engineering schools.

From the French Embassy and Alliance Française
The French Embassy and Alliance Française (AF) jointly gave away scholarships to 12 students of the AF, based on the strength of their study project and academic levels to pursue higher studies in France. The scholarships alone account for about 1,12,000 euros, or Rs 67 lakh, worth of scholarships over and above the amount granted through co-financed scholarships.
Other programmes to aid academic mobility include scholarships by the French Regional Councils, such as the Ile-de-France scholarships providing a grant of 1,05,000 euros for 10 students in 2010, and the Eiffel excellence scholarship programme under the aegis of the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs for an amount of 2,88,000 euros for 20 Indian students.

Your edu-ticket to France

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