Student enrolled in a doctoral program in the United States
Exactly 1 grant awarded
6-10 months in France
The 2027/2028 competition is now open. The national deadline is Tuesday, October 6, 2026
One award is offered to a student enrolled in a doctoral program in the United States to pursue research for their thesis at CESI. Candidates may carry out research projects in any of the disciplines represented at CESI and related scientific themes from CESI LINEACT laboratory.
Founded in 1958, with 26 campuses in France, 8000 host companies and more than 110,000 alumni, CESI is a higher education institution dedicated to training future engineers in four areas: Industrial engineering; Civil engineering and construction; Computer science and Embedded systems. CESI's research laboratory is CESI LINEACT, focusing on industry, sustainable cities, digital sector, and training for the future. For more information about the laboratory, click here.
Research activities are mostly concentrated in the campuses in Rouen (Normandy), Strasbourg (Alsace), Lyon, Nancy, Toulouse, Saint Nazaire, and Nanterre (a suburb of Paris). Applicants will need to select the campus that makes most sense for their proposed activities.
CESI focuses on the following sectors:
Industrial engineering and innovation
Computer science and digital information systems
Quality, security, environment, and sustainable development
Construction and civil engineering
Grant period should start in Fall 2026. A September or October start date is preferred.
Grantees will be required to attend a mandatory 1- to 2-day in-country orientation in late September or early October, and a 2-day mid-year conference in February (organized by the Fulbright Commission in France).
For further information, please consult IIE's website on Fulbright-CESI College of Engineering Doctoral Research Award
The candidate must be a doctoral candidate in the United States.
For candidates who will be conducting research in an English-speaking lab, no particular level of French is expected (although we welcome a commitment to taking language courses prior to departure and/or in country). For candidates who will be conducting research in a French-speaking environment, they should demonstrate at least an intermediate level of French.
It is the applicant's responsibility to secure affiliation with an institution or research unit attached to CESI. A letter of affiliation should be submitted with the application. The letter should be signed by the director of the research laboratory (“directeur du laboratoire”).
You may contact the following person at CESI for assistance in identifying a host lab, Chantal Hurard : churard@cesi.fr
- Residency in host country is NOT permitted in year prior to grant.
- Dual citizens of this country are eligible
- Doctoral candidates must not have obtained their PhD before completing the proposed Fulbright grant period in France. Otherwise, they should plan on applying to the US scholar program.
The 2027/2028 is now open. The national deadline is Tuesday, October 6, 2026
For further information, please consult IIE's website on Fulbright-CESI College of Engineering Doctoral Research Award
Interested candidates must apply to the Fulbright Student Program through the International Institute of Education (IIE) and select Fulbright-CESI College of Engineering Doctoral Research Award from the Award Name drop-down menu.
