Charpak Scholarship for Indian Students: Variants, Eligibility, Benefits and How to Apply (2027)

Hoping to fund your studies in France with a Charpak scholarship? What the French Embassy’s own programme for Indian students actually offers, variant by variant, who can apply, how the two selection rounds work, which calls are open or closed right now, and what else to line up so your plan does not depend on a single award.

What is the Charpak scholarship?

A French government award designed for India, managed in India.

Campus France India describes France Excellence Charpak as the French government scholarship programme in India. It is run by the Embassy of France in India and named after Georges Charpak (1924 to 2010), the French physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1992. Applications go through the online scholarship portal of the French Institute in India, and questions go to a dedicated address, scholarship.france@institutfrancaisindia.in.

The same Campus France India pages state that the programme allows Indian students to study at undergraduate or postgraduate level in public and private institutions in France. Every year, according to Campus France India, the French Embassy, French companies and institutions award scholarships to more than 500 Indian students; the other schemes are covered further down.

The Charpak variants, side by side

Four sub-programmes, each with its own profile, length and amount.

The overview page on Campus France India lists four sub-programmes. Each has its own page with benefits, eligibility and timeline; the table below summarises what those pages said when we read them.

The pages differ on some details (Summer Training: May to July in the overview, May to August on its own page; Exchange: one to six months in autumn, four to six in spring). Follow the page of the session you apply to.

And the Raman-Charpak Fellowship?

A separate research programme, implemented by CEFIPRA for Indian citizens registered for a PhD in India: two to six months in a French laboratory, €1,500 a month and a return ticket. Master’s applicants should look at Charpak Master.

Charpak Master: what the award covers

The variant most Indian postgraduate applicants are looking for.

Holders of the Charpak Master receive the status of French government scholarship holder. According to the programme page, this brings the following benefits:

The page adds a note on tuition: French government scholarship holders enrolled in programmes leading to a national diploma at French public institutions may be exempt from the differentiated fees charged to non-European students. The awardee must check this with the institution. For any other programme, plan your tuition budget as if you will pay it in full.

Who is eligible for Charpak Master?

Seven conditions on the official page, and a short list of exclusions.

The same page lists who is not eligible: PhD students, applicants who intend to complete only a master’s thesis, a training programme or a research project in France, students on semester exchanges, internships or research projects (these have their own variants), and anyone who has already held the Charpak Master.

When the embassy can withdraw the award

This part is often skipped, and it matters. The Embassy of France in India reserves the right to revoke or discontinue the scholarship if the holder receives another French government scholarship, an Erasmus scholarship or one from the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie; signs an apprenticeship or professional training contract; does an internship that is not mandatory in the course; takes a gap year, an exchange or any period abroad; or is not granted a visa. If your plan includes a paid work-study year, weigh it against the scholarship before you apply for both.

How to apply for Charpak Master, step by step

Admission first, scholarship second, and one application only.

1. 1
   Apply to your French programme

   The scholarship requires a prior application to a French institution. For the admission procedure, Campus France India points you to its offices in India or to the institution’s own website.
2. 2
   Gather your scans

   Formal photograph, first page of your passport (or proof of a passport application), a CV of two pages at most, the admission or acceptance letter, mark sheets and degrees from Class XII onwards, a DELF or DALF certificate if any, proof of employment or internships if any, and typed, signed letters of recommendation, ideally on headed paper and stamped.
3. 3
   Handle a missing admission letter

   If the French institution has not answered before the deadline, attach the email correspondence showing that the letter is on its way.
4. 4
   Submit once, on the official portal

   Apply on scholarship.institutfrancaisindia.in, in PDF or JPEG only. If you applied to several French institutions, fill in the form for your top choice. Multiple online applications lead to disqualification.
5. 5
   Write the statement of purpose yourself

   The SOP sits at the end of the form. It goes through a plagiarism check; the page discourages AI tools and states that applications with significant AI-generated content are disqualified.
6. 6
   Prepare for the interview window

   Shortlisted candidates are called for an online interview on fixed dates that are not rescheduled. For the 2026 cycle, the window was 13 to 30 April 2026.

How Charpak candidates are selected

A screening check, then two rounds.

The Master page describes a first check of general eligibility: academic requirements, age limit and required documents. Complete applications then go to Round 1, where a selection committee evaluates academic excellence, consistency, the quality of the statement of purpose and the overall profile. There is no minimum CGPA or percentage. Shortlisted applicants move to Round 2, an online interview.

No minimum mark does not mean marks do not count: a weak semester is better explained in the SOP than left unexplained.

Charpak deadlines: what the pages say right now

Most calls were closed or not opening when we checked. Plan around that.

For the Master variant, the 2026 cycle reviewed files before an April interview window. Campus France India had not published the 2027 call, so treat dates seen elsewhere with caution and keep checking the official page.

Can you use a Charpak scholarship at any French institution?

The pages set conditions on the programme and on you; the embassy decides.

Campus France India states that Charpak covers studies in public and private institutions in France. It does not publish a list of approved programmes. What the Master page does set out is a list of conditions that depend on the programme you choose: it must be a full-time master’s-level programme, it must take place in France, and periods abroad of a semester or more are not funded. The award is then decided by the selection committee, and it can be withdrawn on the grounds listed above.

In practice, eligibility depends on your profile (nationality, age, studies), the programme (full time, master’s level, in France), the timing of your admission against the call, and the revocation rules on apprenticeship contracts and optional internships. If you are unsure whether a given programme fits, write to scholarship.france@institutfrancaisindia.in before you apply and keep the answer with your file.

Other scholarships to line up alongside Charpak

A good funding plan has more than one line.

France Excellence Eiffel

Eiffel is funded by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. According to Campus France India, it pays a monthly allowance of €1,181 at master’s level (€1,031 maintenance plus €150), for programmes of 12 to 36 months, plus a round-trip international ticket, train tickets within France, health insurance and cultural activities. The fields listed include mathematics and digital science and engineering. The key difference: only French higher education institutions can submit applications; you cannot apply directly. For the 2025 session the call opened in the week of 1 October 2024 and closed on 8 January 2025; the 2026 call is closed.

Erasmus Mundus, Campus Bourses and institutional awards

Campus France India also points to Erasmus Mundus joint master’s scholarships (study in at least two participating countries), the Campus Bourses search engine, and awards run by French institutions themselves.

The AI2 international scholarship

At AI2, there is no separate scholarship form: every international application is assessed automatically, and the amount is stated in the admission letter. The award combines criteria such as academic excellence and the admission interview, early application, a partner channel (applying through one of AI2’s partner institutions in India, Sri Lanka or elsewhere) and full payment. It applies to the first year of enrolment, is not transferable and cannot be combined with other AI2 discounts.

Charpak, Eiffel and an AI2 scholarship compared

Different payers, different routes in, different things covered.

Charpak and Eiffel help with living costs; the AI2 scholarship lowers tuition. AI2 notes that its scholarship does not count towards the resources the visa requires: for a long-stay student visa you must show at least €877.50 a month (₹93,203), a threshold in force since 1 August 2026 according to Campus France India and Service-Public F2231. Our wider guide to scholarships in France for Indian students covers the remaining options, and the education loan guide explains how families fill the gap.

Building a budget that does not depend on one award

Plan the first year as if no scholarship arrives, then subtract what does.

All rupee amounts here use ₹106.2145 per euro, the FBIL reference rate published on the Reserve Bank of India website at 1.00 pm on 29 October 2026, rounded. A simple worst-case first year at AI2 for an MSc Year 1 student looks like this: tuition of €12,500 plus twelve months of visa resources at €877.50, or €10,530, makes €23,030, about ₹24.46 lakh, before flights and deposits. With an AI2 scholarship bringing Year 1 to €10,500, the total falls to €21,030, about ₹22.34 lakh.

AI2 estimates living costs in the Paris region at about €900 to €1,700 a month, rent included, and a student permit allows up to 964 hours of paid work a year (Service-Public F2713). For a full breakdown, read our guide to the cost of studying in France for Indian students, and for the visa file itself, the France student visa guide from India. Before any Charpak interview, it helps to rehearse with our Campus France interview questions: the study-project questions overlap.

For AI2’s February 2027 intake, the priority deadline is 30 November 2026. The curriculum is on the MSc Applied AI and Data Science page, and the fee rules on the tuition fees page and the scholarships page.

Frequently asked questions

No separate form: AI2 admissions reviews your file, holds your online interview and states your entry year and scholarship in the admission letter. Priority deadline for February 2027: 30 November 2026.

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