How applications are assessed?
- Each eligible applications are first pre-evaluated by one member of the Academic and Management Board according to the scoring table and weighted criteria as indicated below:
| Criteria used to assess online application |
|
| Academic excellence & potential |
50% |
|
10% |
|
20% |
|
20% |
| Track-record |
30% |
|
20% |
|
10% |
| Motivation (as per cover letter) | 20% |
| English proficiency (as per cover letter + test scores) |
Discriminating variable |
- Application files whose profile does not match the fundamental requirements of the iPSRS programme will be discarded without quantitative evaluation.
- All applications getting more than 3/5 after the first assessment are assessed by a second full partner.
- All applications getting on average more than 3.5/5 after the assessment by two full partners are assessed by the 4 academic full partners.
- The same full partners will be assigned to applications from specific countries. As a maximum of 10% EMJM scholarships can be delivered to students from a same nationality for the duration of the European Funding (2024-30), only 6 of the best students from each country will be selected over the period.
- All applications getting on average more than 3.5/5 after the assessment by four full partners are interviewed. The applicants’ performance is scored on a scale of 5.
| Criteria used to assess interview performance |
|
| Ability to listen, understand question and provide relevant and concise answers |
10% |
| Ability to illustrate personality and skills, and notably soft skills, by providing past real life stories to answer competency-based questions |
20% |
| Ability to demonstrate adequacy and consistency between the academic background, objectives of the iPSRS programme and professional project |
20% |
| Knowledge of iPSRS programme objectives | 20% |
Degree of engagement for the programme (with respect to other on-going applications) and motivation for the specific training of iPSRS |
30% |
| English proficiency (oral expression and understanding) | Discriminating variable |
- The final grade of each application is the average of the application average grade and the interview grade.
- Final selection is agreed during a Academic Board meeting by the 4 academics partners full consensus on the basis of averaged selection and interview grades.
- An administrative check is performed (diploma authenticity, contact of applicants referees).
Before applying online,
- Take time to read about iPSRS program
- Read selection criteria, that will help you focus on what matters
- The iPSRS programme aims at training experts in photonics with a double skill. The first year requires some prerequisites (see What you must know before joining the iPSRS EMJM) in optics and photonics and in programming. Students must demonstrate they have already learnt these prerequisites or, if they have only a part of them and their academic level is excellent, they must demonstrate their commitment to learn them on their own (online courses, books) before starting the programme. Being aware of the programme of the first year and having the right prerequisites is fundamental to succeed. The double skill is taught in second year. All students validating the first year will be well prepared to it whatever the concentration track.
Appeal procedure
Unsuccessful applicants to a programme and/or an associated scholarship may appeal following the rejection of their application (including application to
EMJM and
Consortium scholarships that are attributed at the time of selection), provided that they have good arguments to oppose.
The procedure to follow for an appeal to the selection decision is set as follows:
1. If the applicant does not agree with the final decision of the Eligibility and Selection Committee, then s/he may appeal this decision to the Quality Assurance Board .
2. In order to be valid, the appeal must be in writing, using the following letter of settlement template (page 2 of this document) signed and dated, and sent (in .pdf format) by the applicant to the attention of:
Prof. Nathalie Destouches, Head of Academic & Management Board and Academic coordinator, and Aurore SIMONNET, Administrative Coordinator at master.PSRS [at] univ-st-etienne.fr
3. The appeal must be submitted within ten (10) days following the publication of selection outcome at the latest.
4. The appeal should set out fully the grounds upon which it disputes the decision of the Selection Committee , together with copies of any relevant supporting documents or justifications upon which it relies. The grounds of the appeal must be based on new elements or facts which were not taken into consideration when the application was originally analyzed. It should be noted that the Quality Assurance Board may reject an appeal which is not submitted within the ten (10) days period or which does not contain the necessary justifications or documentation.
5. The Quality Assurance Board will examine every appeal cases, either physically during a Quality Assurance Board Meeting or virtually any time before the intake starts. The Board may decide or not to ask the Academic and Management Board to reassess and reconsider the application, and to do so before beginning of the intake.
6. The applicant will be informed of the appeal decision by a written instrument at the very least before the said Programme’s intake starts.
Important note: the Quality Assurance Board is primarily responsible for conflict cases settlement. The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency should not be contacted directly by the student alone, but rather by the Consortium if the conflict, despite the appeal decision, is not resolved.
