Launched in June 2017 by president Macron, the initiative aims to attract researchers and students in the field of sustainable development to France.

“The output of this research will be beneficial for all countries”

Over 2,000 applications from 48 countries were received for this round of scholarships.

“This is the first time that such an important number of students and researchers is selected,” a Campus France spokesperson told The PIE News.

“This is a testimony of the attractiveness of the MOPGA program and a way to reaffirm the leading role of France in the fight against global warming after the COP 21 organised in Paris.”

The majority of the new scholars (44%) will follow a short program, while 31% will attend a master’s course. The rest will undertake a PhD or a post-doc.

Most of them come from Europe (26%), while the top 10 nationalities are the US, India, Senegal, Mexico, China, Colombia, Italy, Germany and Greece.

They will study or research in the field of climate change, Earth system science and energy transition.

“The output of this research will be beneficial for all countries,” the Campus France spokesperson explained.

While the program was first launched to attract researchers from the US, the spokesperson explained, growing interest from all over the world meant the program was open to other countries as well.

“As we found out that talented researchers from many different countries were interested in the program, we opened the application to all of them,” they said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education, Research and Innovation have allocated €3.8m to the program over the period 2018-2020.

The funds are managed by Campus France. Some institutions are also co-financing study and research programs.