FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

1.    How to apply for EPOG

• When and how will I be able to apply for EPOG? You can only apply electronically via the EPOG online application form. The same form shall be used to apply for the course and the Erasmus Mundus scholarships.

• I have already submitted an application last year. Can I use the same application? Yes, you need to use the same email address/login and you will have access to your application. All the information and attachments from last year will appear, except for the information concerning your referees and your letters of recommendation, since those have to be recent. You will also need to verify each section carefully since some sections have been removed while others have been added, and some have been modified.

2.    Erasmus Mundus Scholarships (applications from October 11, 2016 to January 9, 2017)

• How can I be sure that I am eligible for a scholarship? All applicants who are eligible for the EPOG Master’s course are also eligible for a scholarship, except if they have already obtained an Erasmus Mundus Action 1 scholarship (students who have alread received an Action 2 scholarship are eligible as long as they do not receive both scholarships simultaneously). These are attributed on the basis of merit and excellence only. The number of scholarships is limited (between 15 and 20 for each Master’s cohort).

• Should I apply for a “Programme country” or “Partner country” scholarship? Whether you are eligible for Programme countriy or Partner Country depends on your nationality, and your place of residence.
  Generally speaking, “Programme country” scholarships target students who are nationals or residents since at least 12 months in Europe, while “Partner country” scholarships target students from all other countriesand who do not reside in Europe more than 12 months during the last five years.More in details, you are eligible for a “Programme country” scholarship if your are a national of a country which isone of the European Union’s 28 members states, Iceland, Norway, Liechstenstein, Switzerland, Turkey or the Former Yougoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). Or if you have a “Partner Country” nationality who resides or has been carried out your main activity (studies, training or work) for more than a total of 12 months over the last five years in a “Programme Country”, you will be considered as a Programme Country student. The five-year reference period for this « 12-month rule » is calculated backwards as from the submission deadline (January 9, 2017) of applying for the Erasmus Mundus student scholarship.You are eligible for a “Partner country” scholarship ifyou are a national from all the other countries and that you do not reside nor carry out your main activity for a total of 12 months over the last five years in a “Programme Country” (see the Scholarship page for financial details).

Additional scholarships called “geographical windows” will be available, for the 2017-19 cohort, for students from the following geographical areas:

• What should I do if I am eligible for both categories of scholarships? You can only be eligible for both categories if you have two or more nationalities. You can apply only for one category of scholarship at a time (“Programme country” or “Partner country”), so that you must pick a category. If you choose to apply for a “Programme country” scholarship, make sure that it will suffice to satisfy your financial needs during your stays abroad.

3.    Academic requirements

• Is it necessary to hold an undergraduate degree in economics? The EPOG Master’s course is an economics course. It is crucial that you have a background in economics (macroeconomics, microeconomics, statistics, international economics…), even though your degree title does not have to be in economics. For example, an applicant having studied “International Relations”, “Law”, “Sociology”, “Political sciences” or any other academic fields will be considered on a case-by-case basis. They can be considered eligible provided that he/she has followed enough economics and statistics (or econometrics) courses (equivalent to 24 ECTS and 6 ECTS, respectively) and obtained satisfactory grades. Secondary school education in economics is not sufficient to follow the course.

• My BA degree is not in economics. How can I prove that I still have a good background in economics? If your Bachelor’s degree is not in economics, you need to have obtained at least 24 ECTS (about one semester) in economics and 6 ECTS (see below for explanation of ECTS) in statistics (or econometrics) during your previous studies to be eligible. You should also explain in detail your motivations for this course in your statement of purpose and justify the relevance of your application to an Economics Master’s course.

• For option A, the 24 ECTS can include any type of basic/advanced economics courses, and management courses can constitute part of the 24 ECTS
• For option B (Majors B1 and B2), the 24 ECTS should include microeconomics, macroeconomics and international economics
• For option C, the 24 ECTS should include basic/advanced economics courses (for Major C1) or more specifically microeconomics, macroeconomics and international economics (for Major C2).
• In case a student only has 6 ECTS or equivalent in statistics (or econometrics), he/she may be asked to attend an extra course if he/she is enrolled in the programme.

Therefore, applicants with other degrees in humanities (political science, law, international relations…) or business administration will be considered, provided they fulfill the above-mentioned criteria.

If there is no established system of conversion of credits into ECTS in your country of studies, please detail in the comments section and in your statement of purpose the extent of your background in economics.

You can add a document explaining the credits and grading system of your country of studies in the “Optional Attachments” section of the online application form.

• What is the ECTS? The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) is a student-centred system based on the student workload required to achieve the objectives of a programme of study. Its aim is to facilitate the recognition of study periods undertaken by mobile students through the transfer of credits. The ECTS is based on the principle that 60 credits are equivalent to the workload of full-time student during one academic year.

If you come from outside of the European Union, please inform us on how to convert your course credits into ECTS and how to convert/read your academic grades. For this purpose, use the “Optional Attachments” section of the online application form.

This information should mainly rely on official arguments and texts.

For specific country information, you can refer to the enic-naric website.

• Obtained or expected diploma. The EPOG course is a Master’s course. Therefore, we expect applicants to have already obtained their Bachelor’s/undergraduate degree or to be expecting it during the academic year before the programme starts: In order to be eligible for EPOG, you need to graduate by August 31 (of the year in which the programme starts)  at the latest.

• Grades / academic transcripts. For the “academic transcript” section of the online application form, you should put the grades that are available to you at the moment of application (including the grades obtained during the current academic year if you are still a student). The last grades can be updated until the end of the application period.

In brief, we need you to provide the grades for the current (or last) academic year and the grades for the academic year just before. E.g. your are a student during the academic year 2016-2017, you should provide the grades available for the academic year 2015-2016 and the grades available for the academic year 2016-2017.

• Can I apply if I have already completed (or am in the process of  completing) a Master’s degree? If you already have (or if you are completing) a Master’s degree, you are still eligible for EPOG. In this case, you should provide us with the grades of the last two years of studies (including that of the current year, if you are still studying).

4.    English language skills

• Is it necessary to be fluent in English? The EPOG course will be taught in the English language (except some optional courses). It is therefore crucial that you are able to understand classes, read documents, express yourself clearly and write essays in English. This is why we require non-native speakers to provide proof of their language ability (see the admission page for details on minimum test requirements).

• How recent should my English language test be? If you are currently a student, your English-language test should be relatively recent (2-3 years at the most). However, if you are not a student anymore and can prove you have been working in English recently, we will accept an older English-language test

• Are scanned copies of English language test results accepted? Yes

• My undergraduate degree was taught in English? Do I still need to provide English language test results? An exception can be made for students whose undergraduate degree was/is taught in English, provided that they can prove that all courses or the very large majority of courses were taught in English. The justification must be clearly presented and substantiated in a document that may be uploaded instead of the proof of English proficiency (e.g. a certificate or official letter of your higher education institution, with seal and signature of one of its high authorities). Note that if you are not able to provide convincing proofs, you must provide an English Test Certificate.

One year spent in an English-speaking institution or country is not enough to prove your level, unless you can prove that your level is particularly good. If you are in this situation, you are advised to sit for an English language test.

• I will only get the results of my English language test after the deadline for applying to EPOG. In this case, you should (i) indicate which test you will take and what grade you are expecting and (ii) attach (optional attachments) the evidences you may already have to help us to assess your English level. Once you get your results, you should send them to application@epog.eu with “TEST RESULTS” in the subject line before June 10. Please note that we will not accept any test results after this date and that we will cancel your selection if the results do not meet the minimum requirements. What is the code for sending TOEFL results to? There is no code for EPOG. You should wait until you receive results of your test, scan the results and add them as an attachment to your application.

5.    Passport and identity documents

You are required to upload a scanned copy of your passport with your application form. However, if you do not have a passport at the time of application, you can upload a national identity document instead.

If you are selected for the course, you will need a passport for travel purposes, so that you are advised to start with the administrative procedure as soon as possible.

6.    Application details

• Can I send my application by regular mail (not online)? No. Applications have to be submitted online (directly on the website).

• Do I have to send a photocopy of my degree(s) by regular mail? No. You should attach scanned copies of your documents to the online application (attachments section). Hard copies will only be requested if you are pre-selected for the course.

• I do not have a certified English translation of my degree. Is it a problem? If you do not have a certified translation of your degree at the time of application, you can upload an unofficial translation along with the original degree. However, if you are pre-selected for the course, you will need to provide a certified translation by February 15.

• Is there any specific format for the letters of recommendation? There is no specific format or questionnaire. We recommend the referees however, not to exceed one page (500 words). The letters do not need to be addressed to any specific institution, but can be addressed to the EPOG Consortium. Your referees will receive more precise instructions in the email that is automatically sent to them.
• Who is supposed to upload my letters of recommendation? In theory, your referees should upload it themselves. They are instructed to do so in the automatic email that is sent to them when you enter their contact details in the “References” part of the application form. However, if they face technical difficulties or are not at ease with technology, they can send their letter to you so that you upload it yourself.

• If I am not selected for EPOG, can I appeal this decision? In case of non-selection and if you have grounds to believe that your application file, although complete, was not processed through the selection procedure, you may engage an appeal procedure by filling the form which you can download on the following link http://www.cepn-paris13.fr/epogselection/Appeal%20form%20EPOG%20website.docx.
  This form should be sent by email before February 20 to application@epog.eu.
  Please note that the appeal cannot concern the decision itself, but only an alleged error made in the process that has resulted in the contested decision.

7.    Technical problems

• I have problems with the “plus” button (in particular for adding academic transcripts). Please try with another browser. Please try these solutions before contacting us.

8.    Privacy, personal data

Candidates/Applicants must be informed that if they are selected (proposed for a scholarship/fellowship, put on the reserve list or enrolled on a self-paying basis) their data may be used for the purposes of evaluating the programmes, efficiently manage the projects, and producing statistics. Data could be made available to the EACEA, the European Commission, the European External Action Service staff, as well as to other stakeholders of the Erasmus+ programme, such as Erasmus+ National Agencies, National Erasmus+ Offices and the Erasmus Mundus Student and Alumni Association.

Details about EACEA policy:

• http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus_mundus/funding/scholarships_students_academics_en.php
• https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/library/scholarships-catalogue_en

9.    Contact for support

Please refer to this FAQ and the other sections of the website before writing to us.

• If you have a precise question concerning the application form or a technical problem, contact us at application@epog.eu .
• If you have a question concerning the EPOG course and your eligibility, contact us at contact@epog.eu.

Please do not send us emails with attached documents since they will not be considered. Attach all relevant documents to your online application only.

We will not respond to individual emails sent before the opening of the call for applications.

For specific information on scholarships, see the corresponding EPOG webpage or the EACEA FAQ page.