HEC postgraduate studies programme in France

[Usman Naseer]

190 PhD students to leave for France in Sept

Lahore, June 25, 2008: The French Embassy in Islamabad, along with the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan, has launched the 2008 edition of their programme of postgraduate studies in France.

A reception hosted by director of Alliance FranÁaise de Lahore, Matthieu PINEL, at a local hotel to celebrate the departure of the 2008 batch of Pakistani students.

In his speech, the director praised the students who had passed the competitive selection and wished them best of luck for their studies in France. He reminded them that it was an opportunity for them to act as ambassadors of Pakistan during their stay in France and hoped they would also become ambassadors of France upon their return in Pakistan.

The growing attraction of Pakistani students towards France, especially in the last 5 years, has led 102 students to start a Masters degree and/or a PhD (in various fields: sciences, social studies, economics) in France in 2005, 147 in 2006 and 160 in 2007. For 2008, a strict selection process was conducted all over the country and as a result 190 students will join the French universities in September 2008 at PhD level. The s students for this program have been selected through the HEC selection process on the basis of academic merit and interviews with the French professors. The selected candidates are undergoing French language training in Pakistan at one of the four French Cultural Centres (Islamabad, Lahore, Faisalabad, Karachi). As many as 27 students are leaving from Faisalabad and 48 from Lahore. After the successful completion of the training programme by the end of June 2008, the selected candidates will travel to France where they will again take up an advanced training course in French enabling them to effectively carry out their further studies in French. Students are supported by: the French Embassy which funds French language classes in Pakistan and France, the French Government which grants them free tuition in the French universities, and the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan which provides them with full PhD scholarships.