Applications for the DocNomadsPlus EMJM will open on October 20th. There are two deadlines:

• January 20th – for candidates applying for Erasmus Mundus scholarships
• April 15th – for self-funded applicants only

! Important: Only applications submitted by January 20th will be considered for EMJM scholarships. Self-funded candidates may apply in either round.

Interview Dates:

• Scholarship candidates: March 16–20
• Self-funded candidates: May 11–15

Applicants not selected for a scholarship may still be considered for self-funded places if they notify us after the results.

Join a unique international program in documentary filmmaking across Europe. We look forward to receiving your application!

General profile of prospective candidates

DocNomadsPlus is primarily aimed at students from all over the world with a Bachelor's degree in:

• Film Studies
• Audiovisual Arts
• Media / Communication studies

Applicants with a Bachelor’s degree in other fields may also be considered, provided they submit a convincing artistic portfolio.

Whether your Bachelor's degree qualifies for admission will be evaluated by the admissions office. The minimum requirement is a first-cycle higher education degree that corresponds to Level 6 of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). Your degree should, within your national education system, grant access to second-cycle programmes (Master's level, EQF Level 7).

Formal Requirements

You apply via an electronic application form that must be completed and uploaded before the deadline expires. In this form we ask for the following documents:

1. A CV summarizing previous studies and relevant experience.

2. Diploma

   a. A digital copy of your diploma (scan or clear photograph).
   If the original is not issued in English, Dutch, French or German, please also include an official translation into one of these languages. This can be provided by your school or by a sworn translator.
   If you have not yet graduated, you may submit an official statement from your institution confirming that you are enrolled in the final year, including your expected graduation date and the title of the degree you will obtain. If you have already graduated but your final diploma is not yet available, a provisional certificate of graduation will be accepted. Please note that only candidates who will graduate by 31 August 2026 are eligible to apply.
   If the original document is missing, you can upload in a certified copy of the original.

   Legalisation of original diploma documents is not required during the initial application phase. However, additional documentation or verification may be requested if any details remain unclear during the admissions phase, or at the time of enrolment.

   b. Your transcript of records or diploma supplement. This should clearly document the full curriculum of your study programme, including the grades obtained.

3. Copy or scan of the candidate’s international passport or EU identity card with expiration date.
4. Candidates are required a good spoken and written English. The minimum required level of the English proficiency certificates is B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). Please note however, that applicants can only prove their proficiency by the following means:

a. Providing one of the following English certificates with the minimum scores listed below, issued within 5 years before the application deadline (from January 20th 2021):

• IELTS Academic with minimum overall band score 6.5 (with no section band score under 5.5)
• TOEFL iBT with minimum overall score 79
• Cambridge English Qualifications for higher education (B2 First, C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency) with a minimum score of 170 on the Cambridge English Scale.
• Duolingo English Test with a minimum score 110
• ITACE for Students, with at least CEFR B2 results (Please be aware that this tests can only be taken in Belgium.)

b. Providing a (high school or higher education) diploma from an English taught study programme in Australia, English-speaking Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or the United States of America.

We do not accept Medium of Instruction statements.

While a valid proof of English proficiency is required, the applicant’s practical command of English will also be assessed during the interview. If the demonstrated language skills are deemed insufficient for successful participation in the programme, the application may not be retained.

5. A recent photo of the candidate (good quality head-shot with white background).
6. A residence certificate issued no later than 12 months before the submission deadline of the application, in accordance with the candidate's municipality normal registration rules or, a certificate from the candidate's place of work, study or training issued by the employer or institution in question.

Tuition

A maximum of 24 places are offered at DocNomadsPlus each year. An Erasmus Mundus scholarship will be available only to a minor percentage of those places.

For non-scholarship holders’ participation costs/tuition fees for the whole study period of four semesters is 15,000 Euro. This is to be paid in three installments: 2.000 EUR before June 20th, 5,500 EUR before the beginning of the first semester and 7,500 EUR to be paid before the beginning of the third semester.

Erasmus Mundus scholarship holders do not have to pay participation costs/tuition fees.

The participation costs/tuition fees include participation in all classes offered within the DocNomadsPlus curriculum; insurance according to the requirements of the Erasmus+ Programme (cover provided for scholarship and self-paying students); support in administrative and organisational issues by the consortium partners; costs for enrolment at the consortium partner’s institutions; all examinations and issuing of the final diploma.

What is not included in tuition fees?

The participation costs/tuition fees do not cover travel costs from the country of origin, travel costs required for mobility, travel documents (passport, visas), accommodation and living expenses, or other costs (e.g. study books, stationery, photocopies, etc.).

It is estimated that students will need between 600-1000€ per month for living expenses.

Erasmus Mundus Scholarships

• Candidates are eligible for an Erasmus Mundus scholarship, awarded on the basis of merit.
• Students who are granted an Erasmus+ scholarship pay no tuition fees and receive a scholarship of 1,400 EUR per month. These Erasmus+ scholarships contribute to travel, visa and a living allowance.
• Candidates eligible for scholarships are students who have obtained a primary higher-education degree or can demonstrate a recognised equivalent according to national legislation and practices of the degree awarding country.
• Students who have already obtained an EMJM scholarship for an Erasmus Mundus Master Course / Joint Doctorate scholarship are not eligible to apply for an additional scholarship under the EMJM action.
• Erasmus+ scholarship holders cannot benefit from another EU-funded scholarship scheme to follow the same EMJM course. This holds for the entire period of the course.
• Students with a double nationality must specify the nationality under which they submit their scholarship application.

Other scholarships besides Erasmus+

As there are a limited number of Erasmus+ scholarships available, we invite you to take a look at local scholarships and other possibilities.

The EU’s Skills and Education Guarantee (S&E) allows students to apply for support for their Master’s studies abroad. Loans will be offered by participating banks and student loan agencies on favourable conditions to mobile students, including better than market interest rates and up to two years to allow graduates to get into a job before beginning repayment.

Please get more information on the website of Erasmus+.

In the application form, you will also be asked to upload the following assignments:

Assignment 1:

Make a 1-minute video, sharing your Motivation for studying at DocNomads Plus. Please answer all 3 of the following questions in the video:

• What does documentary mean to you?
• Why are you applying to DocNomadsPlus?
• What are your expectations of this master’s degree programme?
• The film must be uploaded to YouTube or to a similar platform with an unlisted link (no password!).

Assignment 2:

• Make a Documentary Film, taking into account the following requirements:
• The film must be a 3-minute documentary film made by the candidate specifically for the application on a subject of applicant's choice.
• The guiding topic for this film is “Around Me, in the Here and Now.”
• The film must express/underline the candidate’s strong relationship with social reality and personal curiosity about the themes that emerge from it. It must focus on characters and places and show a creative personal cinematic concept.
• The film must be shot and edited by the applicant.
• Additional music, sound effects or video effects are not allowed. You can use voice-over, provided it's your own voice and in your mother tongue. The film must have English subtitles embedded in the video, even if the film is spoken in English.
• The film must be uploaded to YouTube or to a similar platform with an unlisted link (no password!). If the film is made available for public access, the application will be automatically disqualified.

Assignment 3:

A link to one (1) previous film made by the candidate. This must also be uploaded to YouTube or to a similar platform. It can be an entire film or part of a film, but its maximum length is 10 minutes. This film too must have English subtitles. The film must also (mandatory) have credits [outlining the role of everyone who was involved in the production of the film].

• This previous film, although required for the jury’s selection process, is viewed only if necessary in making decisions regarding the selection process.

Candidates are subjected to a threefold admission procedure.

Prior to the first ranking of the candidates, the Consortium makes sure that all applications that were submitted prior to the deadline, are complete.

Next, all the eligible candidates are ranked. The consortium looks at the e-application packages (documents and films) of the eligible candidates. Each candidate gets a mark on a scale from 0 to 30, based on the following criteria: 5 points for previous studies and experience (CV), 5 points on the motivation video, 20 points for the artistic potential based on the application film (taking into account the criteria mentioned above.). This results in a final ranking of all the applicants. Based on this ranking, at least 50 candidates are invited for an online interview in the first round. The number of interviews in the second round is not fixed.

The online interviews are scheduled over a period of three days. At least one but no more than two members of each partner university are present. The procedure is attended and facilitated by the admission assistant and by the Consortium Coordinator. A time slot of approximately 15-20 minutes is allocated to each candidate. Following a carefully designed time schedule, that tries to accommodate the region and more importantly the time zone in which candidates live, the selection committee calls the individual candidates. The questions that are asked vary, because the background of the candidates is diverse. After the interview, the members of the selection committee asses the candidate, considering the ways in which the candidate:

• Was able to critically discuss the “Around Me, in the Here and Now” production or other aspects from his/her work.
• Proved familiar with documentary film culture.
• Was able to engage in a conversation in English.
• Answered questions about his/her motivation and social skills.

To conclude the third and final day, the selection committee makes, by consensus, a final artistic ranking of all the candidates. When two or more candidates are found to have equal merit, preference is given to applicants from countries not represented in the DocNomadsPlus programme yet or who are members of a minority or underprivileged.

During this process of artistic evaluation, the Consortium Coordinator and the admissions assistant verify the validity of the submitted documents of the candidates. These results inform the final selection of the candidates.

The entire cohort should count approximately 24 students, but this is not a binding number.

Starting from this consensus-based final ranking, LUCA is responsible for the follow-up and communication with the candidates. The candidates are notified of the results within a month following the online interview. There is a 2-week appeal period during which applicants who were not selected may object to the procedure or its results.

DocNomadsPlus provides no oral or written feedback to the applicants about the assessment of their submitted application materials nor about the online interview.

Interview Dates:

• Scholarship candidates: March 16–20
• Self-funded candidates: May 11–15

Deadlines Results:

• Scholarship candidates: selected candidates and those on the waiting list will be notified in writing no later than March 27th; the non-selected applicants will be notified in writing no later than April 30th.
• Self-funded candidates: selected applicants will be notified in writing no later than the 31st of May 2026; non-selected applicants will be notified in writing no later than the 10th of June 2026.

There’s no possibility for any appeal to the final list of selected applicants, except if based on a specific procedural error by the DocNomadsPlus Consortium in the application process.

Please read the Selection Criteria as well as the Application Procedure carefully before submitting an appeal.

• Candidates who fail to provide the required documents within the established timeframes should not submit an appeal.
• Candidates who followed the Application Procedure and respected the deadlines but were denied selection due to unmet Selection Criteria and have reasons to believe that a mistake has been made during the selection procedure have the right to appeal the Selection Board’s decision.

The appeal procedure is concerned with how your proposal was handled in the evaluation and eligibility-checking process. It is not an automatic re-evaluation. Please note that new information or clarifications not in the application will not be taken into consideration. If, after reading the above-mentioned conditions, you still have reasons to believe that a mistake has been made, please send an email to admissions@docnomadsplus.eu with all the necessary information. All appeals have to be submitted by the date notified to you. Make sure to provide a correct e-mail address so that you can receive notifications on the status of your appeal. You will be contacted as soon as a decision has been made.

Upon receiving an appeal, the Joint Coordinator of DocNomadsPlus informs the Selection Committee, which answers to the candidate via the application assistant in 30 days from the date of the appeal. DocNomadsPlus provides no oral or written assessment to the applicants about their submitted application materials.

DocNomadsPlus aims to guarantee the principle of equal opportunities for all and to strengthen the universities’ social commitment and respect for diversity.

The programme is open to applicants with special needs. In case of selection, the Consortium can give support to students with disabilities (e.g., long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments) by acquiring special items or services, such as assistance by third persons, medical attendance, supportive equipment, travel/transportation assistance, etc. This offer is available to all enrolled students, Erasmus Mundus scholarship holders and self-funded students.

You can find general information about this additional financial support offered by Erasmus Mundus programmes on the website of Erasmus+.

GENERAL CONDITIONS

• The additional support allocated under the Erasmus Mundus grant will cover the individual needs of enrolled students up to a certain maximum if they fulfil the general eligibility conditions and according to the unit costs as established by the EACEA. 
• The amounts are calculated for the duration of the two years of the program.
• The applicable unit cost will be identified as the rate corresponding to or immediately lower than the estimated expenses. This unit cost is a contribution and may not cover the total amount of actual costs.

Privacy Statement

We inform Candidates/Applicants 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, to efficiently manage the projects, and producing statistics.

The European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), in the context of managing the  Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters, collects and processes the personal data of some of the candidates. In particular, certain data of the scholarship holders and non-scholarship holders is shared with the Agency and treated according to this privacy statement 

Personal Data Protection

The DocNomadsPlus Consortium is committed to user privacy. Information relating to individuals (personal data) is collected and used in accordance with the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation) in the current version of the OJ L 119, 04.05.2016; cor. OJ L 127, 23.5.2018, on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data. This website treats personal data according to the policy described in the Regulation mentioned above and provides information about the use of your data in the specific privacy policy statements as described below.

Storing the Personal Data of the Applicants

By submitting your personal data, you agree to its transfer, storing or processing. DocNomadsPlus Consortium will take all reasonable steps to make sure that the data of the candidates is treated securely and in agreement with this Privacy Policy.

Data that is provided to DocNomadsPlus Consortium is stored on secure servers. The transmission of information via the Internet is not completely secure and therefore DocNomadsPlus Consortium cannot guarantee the security of data sent to the DocNomadsPlus Consortium electronically and transmission of such data is therefore entirely at your own risk. Data will be stored for the purposes and objectives of the Program and of the institutions involved.