AI4CI Scholarship Call (Cnam en Grand-Est, France)

1. The aim of the Scholarships (hereinafter referred to as “Scholarships”) is to increase the accessibility of master's studies developing advanced digital skills and promote the growth of higher-level skills, equality and diversity in computer science.

2. The Scholarships are granted by the AI4CI project. AI4CI project is co-funded by the European Union under the grant agreement N° 101123524.

3. The scholarship will be awarded to persons (hereinafter referred to as applicants) who are citizens of the European Union, listed EEA countries or of countries associated to Digital Europe Programme studying in the AI4CI project master's degree program “Artificial Intelligence for Connected Industries” at Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers en Grand Est (hereinafter referred to as CGE), in Mulhouse, France.

For this call, 9 Scholarship Grants will be granted.

4. Procedure for awarding Scholarships

4.1. By February 12, 2026, the Regional Director and the Project Manager contact all accepted students and informs them about:

- the possibility of applying for scholarships;

- the criteria for awarding scholarships;

- requirements for the student's application for a scholarship;

- the time limits for submitting the application.

4.2 Applications are accepted until April 17. Applicants are required to submit all documents and information referred to 5.2 paragraph and proving eligibility for scholarship.

4.3. Within 30 working days after the deadline for the acceptance of applications, the study program committee of the programme assesses the received applications, their suitability, award points according to the criteria set out in paragraph 5.3 and thus rank the applicants.

4.4 The programme committee selects the best-ranked applicants, but only those who fully meet the Scholarship requirements. Other applications are assigned to the reserve list and are reconsidered if any of the scholarship recipients refuse them or loses the opportunity to continue receiving it during their studies.

4.5 Within 30 days of the meeting of the study programme committee, all applicants who have submitted applications are informed about the decisions taken in relation to their applications.

4.6. Students who have received Scholarships, within 10 working days upon notification, must:

- Sign a scholarship award agreement, which also specifies the consent to the processing of the student's personal data, for scholarship management and marketing purposes and a series of legal obligations that apply to students receiving the support such as respect of ethics, record-keeping, etc;

- Provide the bank details necessary for the transfer of the scholarship.

4.7. Students have the right to appeal about the results of the assessment, presenting aspects that they consider inappropriate in their assessment, factual errors in the assessment of the data provided. In the case of an appeal, the following procedure shall apply:

- Appeals are accepted by the study programme committee within 14 working days from the date of notification of the results of the assessment;

- The appeal must be submitted in writing, indicating the specific places where the student's score was improperly assessed;

- The study program committee must evaluate the appeal within 14 working days and inform the applicant about its results;

- If the inaccuracies indicated in the appeal are confirmed, they must be corrected and, accordingly, the order of award of the scholarship is updated.

4.8 In the event of a refusal of the scholarship, disagreement with the conditions or failure to provide the necessary data in a timely manner, the applicant is not included in the list of scholarship recipients, and for the occupation of this scholarship, the next priority applicant who is on the reserve list is contacted.

4.9 After all scholarships have been awarded, but no later than September 25, 2025, the final list of students who have received scholarships is published and their payment begins.

5. Requirements for students. Scholarship award criteria.

5.1 The main requirements that must be met when applying for scholarship are :

- to be an EU citizen or a citizen of one of the listed EEA countries or of one of the countries associated to Digital Europe Programme – provide a copy of the identity document indicating nationality;

- to study at Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers en Grand Est (CGE), in Mulhouse, France, in the Artificial Intelligence for Connected Industries master's degree study program

- to be included in the students’ list of this study program.

- to be part of the promotion 2025-2027 of the AI4CI Master in Cnam Grand-Est

5.2. When submitting an application, the student must provide the following documents:

- the application, in which he or she briefly indicates the motivation and plans, how the received scholarship will be used, how it will contribute to the student’s upskilling in advanced digital skills (mandatory);

- a copy of the identity document showing the date of birth and nationality of the applicant (mandatory);

- copies of documents of links to data sources, illustrating applicants’ achievements (optional).

5.3. Criteria by which applicants' applications are ranked:

5.3.1The aim of the scholarship is to promote equal opportunities for people who have fewer opportunities because of their social, economic or their disability. If the student can prove any difficulty, the score will be awarded on this priority criteria.

5.3.1.1 Economic barriers: inclusion of long-term unemployed people or people on social assistance (Proof to be provided in the form of a tax form showing an income of less than €35,000 per year or for students who are residents in France, the CAF certificate (‘quotient familial’ lower than 500 € ). Criteria weight is 1.

5.3.1.2 Health problems or disability: support for people suffering from chronic illnesses, psychological disorders or disabilities that can affect their mobility. Documentation will be requested (disability card or any document from a recognized institution in the field of expertise). Criteria weight is 1.

5.3.2. Promotion of students contributing to society and personal development in the area of advanced digital skills. It is estimated how much in the last 3 years the applicant has actively participated in various events related to advanced digital skills or their application. The following activities are scored:

5.3.2.1. up to 1 point – participation and achievement at an international scientific conference event;

5.3.2.2. up to 1 points – participation and achievement in a hackathon-type event related to advanced digital abilities.

5.3.2.3. up to 1 points – the establishment of a start-up or company that provides services of competences requiring advanced digital skills or sells a product based on them;

5.3.2.4. up to 1 points – participation to courses related to the development of advanced digital competencies;

5.3.2.5. up to 1 points – participation in volunteering related to advanced digital skills.

If the applicant has received scores for several activities, the maximum of them is used for the assessment, and not their cumulative sum. The criteria weight is 3.

5.4. The scores obtained by the applicant for each criterion are multiplied by the weight of that criterion and then added together. The maximum amount of points that an applicant can score is 5 points.

5.5 According to the score each applicant received; they are ranked from the highest to the lowest scorer. This is how the queue of candidates for scholarships is formed, where up to 7 of the highest-ranked applications get the Scholarship.

5.6 Promote diversity in terms of gender, age and inclusion. In the case of candidacies with equal scores, in order to promote gender equity, diversity and inclusion, the priority order will be determined according to the approach, inside every group of candidacies with the same scores:

1) profiles of women and gender minorities

2) candidates with disabilities (based on the supporting documents provided in the point 5.3.1.2)

3) candidates from the age group 26-30 years.

5.7 If there is a tie between candidates, their overall first semester averages will be taken into account for ranking purposes.

6. The procedure for paying scholarships to students.

6.1 The scholarship is paid in three instalments:

- in June 2026

- in October2026

- in June 2027, if the student meets the requirements, i.e. does not satisfy any of the conditions referred in the 7.1 paragraph.

6.2. The amount of the scholarship is 3000 euros for both years and it will be fixed for the scholarship period. During the whole scholarship period, one student cannot be awarded more than 3000 euros from AI4CI project scholarships, what corresponds to the tuition fees in the programme for a full 2-year study period.

6.3. By receiving this scholarship, the student does not lose the right to apply for and receive other scholarships, unless otherwise specified in them and unless EU double funding is received in terms of scholarships, getting multiple EU funding for the same purposes.

6.4. Upon receipt of other scholarships rather than AI4CI project, the student should additionally provide a written declaration, justifying the absence of EU double funding in forms of scholarships.

6.5. In case of double funding, the AI4CI scholarship can be rejected, or its size can be reduced, to meet the real expense and income from scholarships balance.

7. Termination of award and payment of scholarship. Redistribution of the scholarship

7.1. The award and payment of the scholarship shall be terminated if the student has completed at least one of the following actions:

- discontinues studies;

- takes academic leave;

- transfer to another study program;

- does not pass at least one exam or fail the course during the scheduled semester;

- violated the rules of ethics and academic honesty.

7.2. The student can terminate the receipt of the scholarship on his or her own will, for personal reasons. In this case, a written request should be submitted for the termination of the award and payment of the scholarship to the study program committee.

7.3. The award and payment of the scholarship to the student is terminated from the occurrence of the circumstances referred in the 7.1 and 7.2 paragraphs.

7.4. In the cases provided for, upon termination of the award and payment of scholarships to a student, the process of assigning that scholarship to another student for the remainder of the scholarship payment period shall be carried out.

7.5. The procedure and criteria for the redistribution of scholarships are analogous to those for their award, but several changes apply:

- Applicants for the redistribution of scholarships are evaluated within one month from the occurrence of the circumstances of termination of the scholarship to the student concerned, but not earlier than 10 working days after the fact of termination of the scholarship;

- From the moment of termination of the scholarship, within 5 working days, the students of the relevant study program are informed about the opportunity to submit applications for the vacant scholarship;

- From the moment the notice is sent to students, students can submit the necessary documents for applying for the vacant scholarship within 5 working days;

- The study programme committee assesses all applications within 5 working days and informs students about the results of the evaluation of applications within the next 5 working days.

Regarding questions, related to the call and AI4CI Master programme at Conservatoire national des arts et métiers en Grand Est, the main contact is

Stéphane JEANGERARD : [email protected]