The Open Society Foundations/French Government Scholarship program provides fellowships to individuals from Central Asia to pursue Master 2 degree programs in the social sciences and humanities at universities in France.
Eligible fields include economics, environment, history, international relations, law, philosophy, political science, public administration, public health, and sociology.
The program aims to promote academic exchange opportunities to broaden applicants’ educational, professional, and cultural experiences, so that they may return to their home countries to share their knowledge in the academic or professional sphere.
Funded by the Open Society Foundations (OSF) and the French Government, and administered by the Scholarship Programs on behalf of OSF and Campus France in France, the program supports individuals from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan who demonstrate both academic excellence and the potential to become leaders, decision-makers and opinion-formers in their own countries.
The program places participants at accredited universities in France. Before beginning their masters degree programs, fellows attend an intensive OSF Summer School in Istanbul which includes academic writing courses with seminar-style social science courses. During the academic year in France, a fellows’ conference is held in Paris to increase the group’s cohesiveness as a cohort.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must:
be a national of and resident in one of the Central Asian countries at the time of applying for the award and intend to return to their home country or region at the end of the period of study;
display intellectual ability and leadership potential;
be a student in their fifth year of undergraduate studies, and/or already hold the first university degree in their home country or region with outstanding academic records;
have education or professional experience in one of eligible fields of study;
be applying for a Master 2 in economics, environment, history, international relations, theory of law, philosophy, political science, public aAdministration, public health, and sociology;
meet the French university’s respective programmes’ selection criteria;
demonstrate appropriate French language skills.
Ineligibility Criteria
The program does not support business or science degrees.
Guidelines
The deadline for applications for the 2013-2014 academic year is Monday, January 14, 2013.
Applicants must complete an application form in one of the five eligible Central Asian countries in which they are residing.
For further details and application forms, please contact the appropriate local coordinator as outlined below.
Applicants from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan may contact:
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan Educational Centre ‘Bilim-Central Asia’
158/160 Kunayev St Apt.7,
Almaty, 050010 Kazakhstan
Tel: +7(727)2611555, 2612555
Contact persons:
Larissa Gorbunova: lgorbunova@bilim.kz
or:
Espace Campus France
Alliance Française d’Almaty
Académie juridique, 2ème bâtiment, 2ème étage
52 V, Avenue Abaï
050008 Almaty
Tel: +7 (727) 392 25 59 / 392 14 22
Email: almaty@campusfrance.org
or:
Espace Campus France
Alliance française d’Astana
32/1 rue Moldagulovoy
010000 Astana
Tel : +7 (7172) 58 03 20 / 59 28 83
Email: astana@campusfrance.org
Website: www.kazakhstan.campusfrance.org
Turkmen or Uzbek applicants may also contact French Embassies in their own countries.
Kyrgyzstan
Soros Foundation—Kyrgyzstan
55A Logvinenko Street
Bishkek,720040
Kyrgyzstan
Tel: +996 312 663475 ext. 112
Fax: +996 312 663448
Contact person:
Mirgul Iminova: miminova@soros.kg
or:
Centre Français
143/1 rue Issanova
(croisement rue Frounzé)
Bishkek
Tel : (312) 32 39 53
Tajikistan
Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation—Tajikistan
Trade and Business Center “VEFA”
37/1 Bokhtar street, 4th floor, room #404
734002, Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Tel: (+992 47) 441-07-45,441-07-46,
441-07-47,441-07-48
Fax: (+992 47) 441-07-29
Contact person:
Gulnora Choukourbekova: gulnora@osi.tajik.net
or:
Centre Culturel BACTRIA—French Cultural Center
15 rue akademikov Rajabovikh
Dushanbe. Tajikistan
Tel: (992 37) 221-92-89, 227-03-67
Email: bactria@acted.org
Website: www.bactria.net
