“Erasmus Mundus scholarship” is the search term, but it is not, strictly, one scholarship attached to one university. Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters (EMJM) is a funding action inside the EU’s Erasmus+ programme that pays for a small number of students to complete a joint master’s degree co-delivered by a consortium of universities in at least three different countries. That distinction — consortium-delivered joint programme, not a conventional scholarship bolted onto a single university’s existing master’s — is the single most common thing applicants get wrong, and it drives almost every eligibility and application rule below. This guide covers what EMJM actually funds, who qualifies (including the mobility and prior-residence rules that disqualify strong applicants late in the process), how the application actually works, the selection timeline, and how EMJM relates to the shorter-lived Erasmus Mundus Design Measures and to Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) doctoral funding.
Programme cycle this guide describes: the EMJM strand of Key Action 2 under the current 2021-2027 Erasmus+ programme, referencing the most recent published call information. EMJM is re-tendered and re-selected every year — which universities hold a live consortium, what each consortium’s participation-cost contribution covers, and exact deadlines all change call to call. Treat the structure and rules below as stable across cycles and verify the specific figures and dates against the current Erasmus+ Programme Guide and your target consortium’s own site before applying.
What an Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters programme actually is
An EMJM is a single, jointly designed master’s programme — not a partnership between separate degrees — delivered by a consortium of at least three higher education institutions in three different countries, of which at least two must be an EU member state or a third country associated to the Erasmus+ programme. Students move between at least two of the consortium’s countries during the programme and graduate with a joint, double, or multiple degree recognised by all participating institutions, not a certificate from a single “host” university. This matters for how you should actually evaluate a programme: you are not comparing “University X’s Erasmus Mundus scholarship” against “University Y’s regular master’s” — you are evaluating a specific consortium’s curriculum, mobility structure, and which of its partner institutions you would actually study at in which semester. Two EMJM programmes in the same subject area can have meaningfully different mobility tracks, specialisations, and partner-institution combinations.
What the scholarship covers
EMJM scholarships are generous relative to most graduate funding, and are intended to cover the real cost of a mobile, multi-country master’s rather than just tuition. Based on recent programme cycles, the standard package includes:
- A contribution to participation costs — paid to the consortium, covering tuition, insurance, and mandatory programme costs.
- A monthly subsistence allowance paid directly to the student for the duration of enrolment.
- A travel contribution, scaled by the distance between the student’s country of residence and the consortium, plus an installation allowance for students relocating from outside Europe.
The exact euro figures for each component are set and published in the Erasmus+ Programme Guide for the relevant call year and can shift between cycles — do not rely on a number quoted in a blog post or a forum thread from a prior year’s intake. Confirm the current figures on the EU’s own Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters page and on your target programme’s page, since a portion of the participation-cost contribution is administered by the consortium and can vary by programme even within the same call.
Eligibility: the rules that disqualify strong applicants late
Two categories of eligibility rule matter, and only one of them is the one most applicants check first.
Academic eligibility
You need a completed bachelor’s degree (or first cycle degree) by the time the programme starts, in a field the consortium considers relevant — requirements are set by each consortium individually, not centrally by the EU, so language requirements, prior-GPA thresholds, and required prerequisite coursework all vary by programme.
Mobility and prior-residence rules — the ones that catch people late
This is where applicants who are otherwise strong candidates get disqualified, often after already investing significant time in an application:
- Prior residence in Europe. EMJM scholarships are explicitly aimed at drawing students from outside the EU/Programme countries. If you have already spent more than a defined threshold of time (recent cycles have used 12 cumulative months) in an EU member state or Programme country within a set look-back window (recent cycles have used the prior 5 years) immediately before the application deadline, you are typically ineligible for the scholarship track — though you may still be able to enrol in the programme itself without the funding.
- Compulsory physical mobility. Every enrolled student, scholarship-holder or not, must complete a minimum of two study periods in two different countries as part of the programme, at least one of which must be an EU member state or associated third country. This is not optional and not something a consortium can waive for a student who would prefer to stay in one location — if the mobility structure does not fit your circumstances, the programme itself is the wrong fit, not just the funding.
- One EMJM scholarship per person, generally. Recent calls have restricted applicants to being awarded an EMJM scholarship only once; a prior Erasmus Mundus scholarship recipient re-applying for a different joint master’s is typically not eligible for a second award.
Because these rules are set at EU programme level but interact with each consortium’s own admissions criteria, always confirm the current thresholds directly against the specific call’s programme guide and the target consortium’s eligibility page — the residence and mobility figures above describe the pattern that has held across recent cycles, not a number guaranteed to be identical in every future call.
How the application actually works: to the consortium, not the EU
This is the second most common misconception after the “single scholarship” framing above: you do not apply to the European Commission, to Erasmus+, or to EACEA (the Commission’s executive agency that manages the funding). Each EMJM consortium runs its own admissions process, on its own website, with its own application form, its own document requirements, and its own internal deadline. EACEA selects and funds consortia; it does not process individual student applications. In practice this means:
- You identify specific EMJM programmes (there are typically 100+ live consortia at any given time, across a wide range of disciplines) and apply directly through each consortium’s own application portal.
- You can — and, given how selective individual programmes are, generally should — apply to more than one EMJM consortium in the same cycle, since each is a separate, independent selection process with no shared applicant pool.
- The scholarship application and the programme admission application are typically the same application — there is usually no separate funding application submitted after acceptance. Read each consortium’s page carefully, since a minority of programmes handle scholarship allocation as a distinct step after academic admission.
Selection timeline
Timelines are set by each consortium, not centrally, but the pattern across most EMJM programmes is consistent enough to plan around:
- Autumn to early winter of the year before entry — most consortium application windows open, typically running from around October through January for a programme starting the following September or October.
- Winter through spring — academic and scholarship review by the consortium; some programmes conduct interviews.
- Spring — offer and scholarship notifications, followed by a visa/enrolment window over the summer.
Because deadlines are set independently by each consortium and some programmes close applications considerably earlier than others, build your shortlist and start applications well before the general “October-January” window closes for your specific target programmes — a program’s own deadline, not the general pattern, is the one that governs your application.
EMJM vs. Erasmus Mundus Design Measures
These are frequently confused because they share the “Erasmus Mundus” name and sit inside the same Key Action 2 funding line, but they fund entirely different things and neither one is a stage of the other from a student’s perspective:
- Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters (EMJM) funds the actual delivery of a fully designed, running joint master’s programme, including student scholarships. This is what a prospective student applies to.
- Erasmus Mundus Design Measures (EMDM) is short-term preparatory funding awarded to a single higher education institution (not yet a full consortium) to develop a future joint programme proposal — curriculum design, partner recruitment, quality-assurance planning — with the goal of eventually submitting a full EMJM application. It carries no student scholarships and is not something a prospective student applies to at all.
If you see “Erasmus Mundus Design Measures” attached to a programme you are researching, that programme is still in development and does not yet have funded student places — it is not an alternate route into the same scholarship.
EMJM vs. MSCA doctoral funding
The other recurring confusion is between EMJM and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), which is also EU research funding but sits under Horizon Europe rather than Erasmus+, funds a different career stage, and works on a different model:
- Degree level. EMJM funds master’s-level study. MSCA Doctoral Networks and related MSCA actions fund PhD-level researchers (and postdoctoral/experienced-researcher funding through other MSCA strands) — MSCA does not fund master’s programmes.
- What is being funded. EMJM funds a student’s tuition and living costs to complete a taught joint degree. MSCA Doctoral Networks fund a doctoral candidate as an early-stage researcher employed under a proper employment contract, doing supervised research within a multi-institution training network — the MSCA relationship is closer to a funded research job than a scholarship.
- Application route. Both route applications through a consortium rather than the EU directly, which is the source of most of the crossover confusion, but the consortium types, review criteria, and funding instruments are distinct programme actions with separate rules.
CASRAI’s guide on structuring an MSCA fellowship proposal and on Innovative Training Networks under MSCA cover that doctoral-level funding track in depth if you are past the master’s stage and evaluating PhD funding instead.
Run your own eligibility self-check before you apply
Before spending the time a strong EMJM application requires — most consortia ask for a full academic file, a statement of purpose, references, and often a motivation interview — work through these questions honestly. Click each one to see what disqualifies or flags a follow-up check.
Do I hold, or will I hold before enrolment, a completed bachelor’s degree?
You need a completed first-cycle (bachelor’s) degree by the programme start date, or you must be in your final year and able to confirm graduation before enrolment. A degree still 1-2 years from completion is not yet eligible to apply, even if the subject area is a strong match.
Have I spent more than roughly 12 cumulative months in an EU member state or Erasmus+ associated country within the past 5 years?
If yes, check the specific threshold in the current call’s programme guide carefully — this is the rule that most often disqualifies otherwise-strong applicants for the scholarship specifically (you may still be able to enrol without funding). Time spent as a tourist, on a short course, or on a prior non-EMJM exchange can all count depending on how the current call defines “residence.”
Have I already received an EMJM scholarship in a previous cycle?
Most recent calls restrict funding to one EMJM award per person. If you were previously funded, check the current call’s rules on repeat applicants before assuming you are eligible again.
Am I genuinely prepared to complete compulsory mobility across at least two countries?
This is not a preference the consortium can accommodate around — it is a structural requirement of the degree itself. If a fixed-location study plan is a hard requirement for you (family, health, visa constraints for a specific country), an EMJM is very likely the wrong programme type regardless of subject-area fit, and that is worth recognising before applying rather than after an offer.
Have I identified more than one target consortium?
Individual EMJM programmes are highly selective (typically a small number of scholarship places against a large international applicant pool). Since each consortium runs an independent selection process, applying to only one programme concentrates all your risk in a single, often very competitive, review.
Do I understand this specific consortium’s own deadline and required documents?
General “October-January” timing is a pattern, not a guarantee for any specific programme. Confirm the actual deadline and document checklist on the consortium’s own site rather than a third-party aggregator, which can lag a programme’s own published requirements.
Frequently asked questions
Is Erasmus Mundus a single scholarship or many separate programmes?
Many separate programmes. “Erasmus Mundus” is the name of the EU funding action; each EMJM consortium runs its own independently branded joint master’s with its own admissions process, and there is no single centralised scholarship application.
Does Erasmus Mundus fund PhD study?
No. EMJM funds master’s-level joint degrees only. EU-funded doctoral research is primarily supported through MSCA Doctoral Networks and related actions under Horizon Europe, which follow a different application and funding model (see the MSCA guides linked above).
Can I apply to more than one Erasmus Mundus programme in the same year?
Yes. Each consortium runs an independent selection process, so applying to multiple EMJM programmes in the same cycle is normal practice and does not count against you in any individual programme’s review.
What disqualifies someone from the EMJM scholarship even if they meet the academic requirements?
The two rules applicants most often miss are the prior-residence-in-Europe threshold (typically around 12 cumulative months within the past 5 years) and the requirement to actually complete compulsory mobility across at least two countries during the programme — both are checked independently of academic merit.
Is Erasmus Mundus Design Measures a scholarship I can apply for?
No. Design Measures is preparatory funding paid to an institution to help it design a future joint programme — it has no student scholarships attached and is not something a prospective student applies to.
For the broader funding landscape EMJM sits inside, see CASRAI’s grants management and research funding pillar and the guide to Horizon Europe and EU research funding, which covers the Horizon Europe programme that funds MSCA alongside Erasmus+’s separate funding of EMJM.
