Région Hauts-de-France - Bourses de mobilite internationale MERMOZ

What the Mermoz grant gives you

You get up to 335 EUR per month (77.40 EUR per week) to spend time abroad during your studies. The Hauts-de-France region in northern France pays it. It covers a company or organisation internship, a study semester at a foreign university, or a research stay in a foreign lab. The amount is worked out week by week and depends on your family's income. You get the full rate if your household's tax quotient is between 0 and 12,000 EUR, a reduced rate up to 30,000 EUR, and nothing above that. The tax quotient is a French figure for taxable household income per family member. The minimum paid for a whole stay is 150 EUR. Students with a disability get 25% more. On top of the grant, CROUS scholarship holders (students already on France's main state grant) receive a 300 EUR travel lump sum, or 400 EUR with a disability. Stays usually last from 2 to 26 weeks depending on your course.

Who can apply

• Where you study: You are enrolled at a state-recognised partner higher-education institution in the Hauts-de-France region.
• Level: Internships are open from Bac+2 to Bac+8 (two to eight years after the French school-leaving exam). Study semesters go up to Bac+5, research stays from Bac+6 to Bac+8.
• Where you go: Any country in the world, but not French overseas territories, Monaco or Andorra. You cannot go to a country you hold the nationality of, and you must actually live there during the stay.
• Residence: If you are a foreign student, you must have lived in France for at least two years.
• Financial need: Your family income quotient must be 30,000 EUR or less.
• One-time rule: You have not already received a Mermoz grant. Research stays are the exception and can be funded more than once. You are also not in a gap year, not on a vocational-training grant, and not funded for a stay abroad by another French region.

How to apply

First, present your plan for the stay abroad to your institution's international relations or internship office. They must approve it before any grant is possible. Then you file your own application online through the region's aid portal, before your stay ends. The region then checks your eligibility, your institution's approval and your documents.

How realistic are your chances?

This grant is cut narrowly by geography. You must study at a partner institution in the Hauts-de-France region and meet the income limit, so only local students qualify. With a regional budget of around 4 million EUR, there is real room to fund those who fit. If you study in the region, stay within the income threshold and get your institution's sign-off, your prospects are good.