Specialised education programmes or modules in key capacity areas

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 cofunded

by the European Union under the grant agreement N° 101123524.

3. The scholarships 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 programme “Artificial Intelligence for

Connected Industries” at Avignon Université (hereinafter referred to as

AU), in Avignon, France.

For this call, 8 scholarships will be granted (5 for first-year master’s

students, and 3 for second-year master’s students).

4. Procedure for awarding scholarships

4.1 By June 21, 2026, the Local Academic Coordinator and the Local

Project Manager contact all accepted students and informs them about:

1. the possibility of applying for scholarships;
2. the criteria for awarding scholarships;
3. requirements for the student's application for a scholarship;
4. the time limits for submitting the application.

4.2 Applications are accepted until August 21, 2026. Applicants are

required to submit all documents and information referred to the 5.3

paragraph and proving eligibility for scholarships.

4.3 Within 30 working days after the deadline for the acceptance of

applications, the programme committee of the programme assesses the

received applications, their suitability, award points according to the criteria

set out in paragraph 5.4 and thus rank the applicants.

4.4 The programme committee selects the best-ranked applicants, but only

those who fully meet the scholarships prerequisites and requirements. Other

applications are assigned to the reserve list and are reconsidered if any of

the scholarships recipients refuses 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:

1. 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;

1. 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:

1. appeals are accepted by the study programme committee within 14

working days from the date of notification of the results of the

assessment;

1. the appeal must be submitted in writing, indicating the specific

places where the student's score was improperly assessed;

1. the study programme committee must evaluate the appeal within

14 working days and inform the applicant about its results;

1. 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 December

18, 2026, the final list of students who have received scholarships is

published and their payment begins.

5. Requirements for students and scholarship award criteria.

5.1 The main prerequisites that must be met when applying for scholarships

are:

1. 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;

1. to study at Avignon Université (AU), in Avignon, France, in the

Artificial Intelligence for Connected Industries master's degree

study programme – provide a proof of administrative registration;

1. to be included in the students’ list of this study programme –

provide a proof of course enrollment;

1. to be part of the promotion 2026-2028 (first-year master’s students)

or 2025-2027 (second-year master’s students) of the AI4CI Master

at Avignon Université (AU).

5.2 Another requirement that must be met is for candidates to demonstrate

excellent academic achievement. This will be determined based on the

ranking of applications received through Mon Master/Études en France

during the Spring 2026 admissions process.

5.3 When submitting an application, the student must provide the following

documents:

1. 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);

1. a copy of the identity document showing the date of birth and

nationality of the applicant (mandatory);

1. copies of documents or links to data sources, illustrating applicants’

achievements (optional).

5.4 Criteria by which applicants’ applications are ranked, in case that the

selection based on the prerequisites and requirements referred in the 5.1

and 5.2 paragraphs outnumbers the total number of scholarships offered:

5.4.1 Support of students in a difficult situation. The aim of the

scholarship is to promote equal opportunities for people who have fewer

opportunities because of their social or economic situation, or their

disability. If the student can prove any difficulty, the score will be awarded

on this priority criterion.

5.4.1.1 Economic barriers:

– for students who have never worked more than in occasional

student jobs: inclusion of students from families with low income,

long-term unemployment, or on social assistance (proof to be

provided in the form of a tax form showing an income of parents of

less than 35,000 € per year)

OR

– for students who come back to the master’s program after at least one year of employment/unemployment: 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 €). Criterion

weight is 1.

5.4.1.2 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). Criterion weight is

1.

5.4.2 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:

5.4.2.1 up to 1 point – participation and achievement at an international

scientific conference event;

5.4.2.2 up to 1 point – participation and achievement in a hackathon-type

event related to advanced digital abilities;

5.4.2.3 up to 1 point – the establishment of a start-up or company that

provides services of competences requiring advanced digital skills or sells

a product based on them;

5.4.2.4 up to 1 point – participation to courses related to the development

of advanced digital competencies;

5.4.2.5 up to 1 point – 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. Criterion

weight is 3.

5.5 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.

5.6 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 5 (for first-year master’s students) and

up to 3 (for second-year master’s students) of the highest-ranked

applications get the scholarship.

5.7 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 5.4.1.2);

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

6.The procedure for paying scholarships to students.

6.1 The scholarship is paid in two installments:

- in January 2027 - 2,000 €;

- in June 2027 - 2,000 €;

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 4,000 € for a year and it will be fixed

for the scholarship period. During the whole scholarship period, one student

cannot be awarded more than 4,000 € from AI4CI project scholarships.

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 the AI4CI project one,

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:

1. discontinues studies;
2. takes academic leave;
3. transfers to another study program;
4. does not pass at least one exam or fails the course during the scheduled semester;
5. violates the rules of ethics and academic honesty.

7.2 The student can terminate the receipt of the scholarship on his/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

programme 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:

1. 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;

1. 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;

1. 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;

1. 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’s programme at

Avignon Université (AU), the main contacts are:

Francesco de Pellegrini : [email protected]

Nicolas Wasilewski : [email protected]

Disclaimer: FSTP is NOT an EU action; the beneficiaries provide the financial support in their own name and under their own responsibility. The beneficiaries’ own responsibility also includes the preparation and drafting of the content and conditions of the respective cascade calls. The publication of cascade calls in the EU Funding & Tenders Portal is made solely for information purposes with the aim to facilitate increased visibility of the cascade calls to the general public. The publication of cascade calls in the EU Funding & Tenders Portal publication shall not be construed as direct or indirect approval of the content and conditions of the cascade calls by the relevant EU funding authorities or as any form of waiver from the aforementioned responsibility. In line with the above, when promoting the EU action (as per Article 17 GA), the financial support must therefore NOT be presented as directly provided by the EU.

The recipients (third parties) are NOT party to the Grant Agreement. The beneficiaries remain responsible towards the granting authority for the proper use of the funding by the recipients.