Novosibirsk State University graduate students Mikhail Dyatlov (Physics Department), Alexei Verevkin (Physics Department) and Kseniya Mozhaytseva (Natural Sciences Department) were among 322 laureates from around the world who received the prestigious Eiffel Scholarship. In addition, five NSU undergraduate students were awarded French Embassy scholarships following a complex competitive process. All of the students are now taking intensive French language classes in preparation for studying abroad.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs established the Eiffel Scholarship Program to attract talented foreign specialists to the country's universities. Gifted students interested in one of the four educational areas: economics and management, politics and law, public administration and engineering sciences, are eligible for scholarships. Applicants to the Master’s program must be 30 or under and 35 or under for post –graduate (PhD) programs. Monthly stipends for this scholarship program are 1,200 euros.
The five NSU undergraduate recipients of the French Embassy scholarships are: Polina Syrikova (Humanities Institute), Alexander Nagaev (Mechanics and Mathematics Department), Vera Mayborodova (Pkysics Department), Tatyana Steshchenko (Physics Department) and Artem Mulyukov (Physics Department). 48 of these scholarships were awarded to students in Russia this year. The monthly stipend for this program is 750 euros for 9 months.
Michele Debrenne, Professor French Language Section NSU Humanities Institute and NSU French Center talked about the scholarship programs and other partnership programs with French institutions of higher learning,
The graduate students had to pass through a challenging competition in October 2016. They are currently in the first year Master’s Program and taking intensive French language courses. In September 2018, they will go to France for three semesters, and in the spring of 2020 they will return to NSU to prepare to defend their Master's thesis. Six of the eight graduate and postgraduate Fellows participate in the "double diploma" program conducted with Higher Schools of France. NSU already has cooperation agreements with six Polytechnical Higher Schools. In the near future additional agreements will be signed with ChimieParisTech and AgroParis.
Artem Mulyukov , French Embassy recipient explained that each applicant had to create a portfolio that included information about his NSU diploma, language certificates, CV, motivation letter and recommendations. Artem will be studying at the Télécom Paris Tech.
Tatiana Steshchenko, another French Embassy Fellow talked about her plans,I will study at the French Institute of Optics in the double diploma program. The admission process does not include a monetary award. You must apply separately for a French scholarship. After the announcement of the results, I was very happy I passed.
Alexei Verevkin, Eiffel Scholarship winner said he won’t believe until the final step is completed that he was so lucky,
I will go to the Mines ParisTech. Getting a visa, different university documents and so on - everything seems to be going well, but I will not be completely happy and calm until I get to Paris, at school, with full confidence that everything worked out.