2026-2028 Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree EUROPHOTONICS

The field of optics / photonics, the science of light, is booming and involves a large number of interdisciplinary activities in health, environment, energy, transport, telecommunications with significant economic and societal benefits. Optics / photonics plays a key role in fundamental discoveries and in new technologies, with theoretical and experimental aspects. Photonics is considered by the European Commission as one of the “Key Enabling Technologies (KET)” which are increasingly driving innovation today and will continue to drive innovation in the future.

The EUROPHOTONICS Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree (EMJMD) started in 2010 is a two years Master program focusing on advanced research and applied topics that will constitute the near and extended future scientific goals in the field of Photonics, with interdisciplinary applications. Master students benefiting from this program will be able to work on today’s new challenges in their academic or applied research careers: understand and control matter and optical phenomena at the nanometric scale, provide new imaging and monitoring tools for complex biological processes from cells and tissues to clinical applications, bring new and original tools for future optical devices. After being graduated, the Europhotonics students obtain positions in industries, in research laboratories, in universities worldwide.

Depending on their diploma level, students can join the Master in the first year (M1) or in the second year (local Masters at M2 level).

The Europhotonics master has been selected several times by the European Agency in the framework of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree (EMJM). The partners of the current program are: AMU Marseille, KIT Karlsruhe, the Universities of Barcelona, TAU Tampere-Finland, Vilnius University-Lithuania. Several non European Universities are also partners of the program. The Europhotonics Master in Photonics covers one of the most expanding fields in physics and material sciences, dealing with Photonics Engineering, Biomedical Imaging, Quantum Optics, Lasers, Astronomy, Nanophotonics, Biophotonics and for numerous applications in Microelectronics, Aeronautics, Automotive industry…

This master aims at giving an extensive teaching program from fundamentals to advanced research topics in Photonics and its interdisciplinary applications. Master students benefiting from this program will be able to work on today’s new challenges in their academic or applied research carriers: understanding and control matter and optical phenomena at the ultimate nanometric scale, providing new imaging tools for the most complex biological processes from cells and tissues to clinical applications, bringing original tools in line with future optical devices.

• Table of Content
• About Erasmus Mundus
• Erasmus Mundus Masters Scholarship
• Aim and Benefits of Erasmus Mundus Masters Scholarship
• Requirements for Erasmus Mundus Masters Scholarship Qualification
• Interview date, Process and Venue for Erasmus Mundus Masters Scholarship
• Documents Required for Application
• Application Deadline
• How to Apply

Erasmus Mundus Masters Scholarship

Application Deadline	29 Jan 2026
Value	Fully Funded
Country to study	Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, Spain
Type	Masters
Sponsor	Erasmus Mundus
Gender	Men and Women

Aim and Benefits of Erasmus Mundus Masters Scholarship

• Two years scholarships funded by the European Agency can be obtained after the selection procedure by students who apply for joining the program at the M1 level (1st year). Scholarship candidates must have already obtained a first higher education degree (bachelor) or demonstrate a recognized equivalent level of learning according to national legislation and practices.
• The EMJM scholarships will be a contribution to the costs incurred by the beneficiary students and shall cover travel, visa, installation and subsistence costs. It is calculated on the basis of a monthly unit cost for the entire period needed by the enrolled scholarship holder to complete the study programme. It corresponds to
• 1.400 EUR per month for the entire duration of the EMJM study programme (24 months maximum).
• This period covers study, research, placement activities, thesis preparation and defence, in line with the requirement of the joint Master. During this period, the scholarship can only be awarded in full, and to full-time students.
• The EMJM Scholarship comes with mobility rules constraints, as explained in the Student Contract.
• EMJM Scholarship students receive a full free waiver for the Registration and Tuition fees.

Requirements for Erasmus Mundus Masters Scholarship Qualification

Academic prerequisites

• The students who want to apply to the program at the M1 level must hold a “Bachelor” or “Licence” degree corresponding to, at least, 180 ECTS (validated for European students or Partner countries), in the fields of : physics, optics & photonics, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, physical chemistry, applied physics.
• Applicants must possess a solid academic background in the general fields of physics and mathematics (usually a minimum 12 ECTS each during the Bachelor studies).
• Most applicants are currently enrolled for their last year or session of a BSc or BEng program or equivalent. In this case, the original version of the diploma will be asked after selection.

Language requirements

The tuition language is English. Students are notably expected to produce a Master Thesis in English. A strong command of written and oral English is therefore requested. Applicants will have to demonstrate during application an English language proficiency equivalent to level B2 (TOEFL / IELTS / Duolingo / TOEIC scores or equivalent proof).

• TOEFL (570 paper-based, 250 computer-based, 88 internet-based)
• IELTS (at least 6.5)
• Duolingo (at least 120)
• TOEIC (at least 785)

Adequate financial resources

• Applicants should be fully aware of the financial costs of the programme and the cost of living in hosting countries. You will need to document your sources of income to apply for a student visa.
• Erasmus Mundus Joint Master (EMJM) scholarship holders are exempted of this requirement.

 

Interview date, Process and Venue for Erasmus Mundus Masters Scholarship

 The selection process, which aims at recruiting top level candidates, consists of 3 steps.

Step 1 – Online application

• The students submit their application online: previous academic results, academic background, CV, motivation & recommendation letters and other compulsory administrative documents.

Step 2 – Admissibility

The admissibility evaluation is performed on the basis of the documents uploaded by the applicants.

All the applications are analyzed by two evaluators of two different Universities, who will consider the results obtained in the previous academic education of the applicant, the academic background, the CV, the quality of the university of origin and the motivation and recommendation letters.

Only candidates with a good English level will be considered.

Based on the evaluators’ assessments, the Europhotonics selection committee composed by at least a representative of each Partner of the Europhotonics Consortium defines a first ranking list, divided into two sets:

• Admissibility List: Applicants who are offered to enter the Admission evaluation step.
• Non-Admissibility List: Applicants who will not be admitted to the program.

The students of the Admissibility / Non-Admissibility lists will be notified by email after the selection board’s decision.

Step 3 – Admission

Only the students from the Admissibility List can enter the Admission step. Students on the Admissibility List are divided into two sets:

• Admissibility + Scheduled Oral interview: Best ranked students who are directly called for an oral interview.
• Admissibility + Pending Oral interview: Students that might be called at a later stage for an oral interview if they want to participate as a Self-funded student or if there is a drop-out from the Main / Short  List applicants.

The final admission evaluation is performed on the basis of an online oral interview with the applicants from the Admissibility List and a panel of evaluators composed of at least two evaluators from two different universities. This online interview will serve to assess the level of English of the student, the motivation and the overall level in physics and mathematics.

Based on the evaluators’ assessments and the rules imposed by the European commission, the selection committee composed by at least a representative of each Partner of the Europhotonics Consortium defines a final ranking list.

This final list is divided into four sets:

• Main List : Successful applicants who are offered to join the program with a full tuition fee waiver and an EMJM scholarship.
• Short List: Successful applications who are offered to join the program with a full tuition fee waiver and eventually a scholarship (but not an EMJM scholarship). 
• Reserve List : Successful applicants who are offered to join the program as Self-financed students, without scholarships nor fee waiver. 
• Non-Selected List: Applicants who will not be admitted to the program.

The students of the Main / Short / Reserve / Non-Selected lists will be notified by email after the selection board’s decision. No ranking will be communicated to the applicants. 

Documents Required for Application

You can upload pictures and scanned documents in any common format (JPEG, PDF…) – PDF format is however strongly preferred.

Please do not send any paper-printed documents, the originals will be asked after selection.

• Profile
• Photo
• Proof of nationality
• Letter of motivation
• University graduation diplomas
• Transcripts of records
• 2 Recommandation Letters
• Residence certificate
• English language proficiency
• APS certificate
• Other documents

To be filled online directly on the application platform.

Check also:
Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at UBC 2027
Chevening Scholarship 2027

Application Deadline

January 29, 2026

How to Apply

Interested and qualified? Go to Erasmus Mundus on application.europhotonics.org to apply

1. Read carefully about the Europhotonics program and see if you are eligible to apply.
2. Assess your financial ability in case you are not awarded a EMJM scholarship.
3. Create your personal account on the Application Software, then follow the instructions that are given by the Application Software.
4. Collect and upload all the documents required for your application on that website.
5. Nominate two persons who will act as referees as the reference letters must come directly from your referees. The referees  will directly receive an email on their professional email address with instructions to upload their recommendation letter. Do not wait for the last minute, as collecting the letters from the referees takes time.
6. Check that all your documents are uploaded, in particular the Reference Letters.
7. Do not forget to validate, otherwise your unsubmitted application will not be evaluated.

For more information, kindly visit Europhotonics webpage.