Government of France-Ministry of Defence/CEA - CIFRE-Defence Doctoral Grants

What CIFRE-Defence gives you

You will undertake a paid, 3-year PhD on a defence-related research topic. A French company will employ you on a fixed-term contract for the entire duration of 3 years. It will pay you a gross salary of at least 1,957 EUR per month. You will divide your time between the company and an academic research laboratory, enabling you to gain both research training and practical professional experience. Funding is provided by the French Ministry of Defence through its Agency for Defence Innovation (AID) and is administered in collaboration with the ANRT. The AID pays your employer 14,000 EUR annually (a total of 42,000 EUR over 3 years) to fund your post. Promising projects may later apply for follow-up funding under the AID’s ASTRID Maturation Programme.

Who can apply

• Degree: You hold a Master’s degree or an equivalent qualification, such as an engineering diploma.
• Nationality: You are a citizen of the EU, the United Kingdom or Switzerland.
• Field: Your dissertation relates to one of the AID’s priority areas, such as artificial intelligence, robotics, cyber security, materials science, photonics, shipbuilding or the humanities and social sciences.
• Where you work: You will be employed by a company incorporated under French law and accepted by a recognised research laboratory in France. The laboratory requires a supervisor who is qualified to lead research work (an HDR, the French accreditation to supervise PhD students).
• Timing: You’re still right at the start. By the time your file reaches the ANRT, you must have spent no more than 9 months working on the project and must have been enrolled for no more than 9 months whilst working on your final thesis.
• First doctorate: You have not yet obtained a doctoral degree and are not currently enrolled in any other doctoral programme.

How to apply

As a rule, the laboratory or company initiates the application and selects the candidate. The application is submitted via the Ministry’s digital platform. It is recommended that a candidate be nominated, but this is not mandatory at the time of submission. The AID reviews the documentation, carries out a pre-selection process and decides which projects will receive funding. Around 15 grants are awarded each year.

How realistic are your chances?

This funding scheme is highly selective: only around 15 grants are awarded each year; your research topic must align with specific defence priorities; and you must already have the support of a French company and a laboratory. As a result, the pool of eligible applicants remains small. However, this also means that you will need to stand out primarily through a strong project team and a suitable topic, rather than competing against a huge open pool of applicants. If your nationality meets the requirements and a laboratory or company is prepared to build the project around you, your prospects are good.