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The lettre de motivation
The cover letter, lettre de motivation, is an institution in France: it accompanies applications for jobs, internships, university programs, grants and even some apartments. Its expected style is often a surprise to English speakers. French readers tend to distrust enthusiasm stated outright, words like passionné, superlatives, and phrases that could appear in any application; what persuades them is precise, verifiable information, a clear link between the applicant's background and the specific post or project, and an even, measured tone. The structure is fairly fixed: a one-page letter, often moving from you, the institution and why it interests the writer, to me, what the writer brings, to us, what they could do together, though this scheme is taught more rigidly than it is applied. Letters traditionally end with a formal closing such as "je vous prie d'agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées," a long formula that is expected rather than read; shorter closings like "Bien cordialement" are increasingly common in emails. University travel grants for master's and doctoral students, often called aides à la mobilité, exist at many universities and in many regions, usually with a cover letter, a project description and a budget; their amounts and conditions vary widely. As Sophie says, the committee's real questions are simple: who is applying, what exactly will they do, and is it feasible?