How to apply

Terms of student recruitment

Students are recruited on the basis of their application and possibly an interview, whereby both the students' prior degree course and personal career plans are taken into account.

First-year recruitment

MPRI is a two-year programme. First-year recruitment concerns students who wish to take the whole programme. The following students may apply for MPRI within this framework:

  • students with level L (third year) qualifications (Bachelor's degree or equivalent) from a French or foreign college or university.

Second-year recruitment

MPRI is also open to students who wish to enter the programme directly in the second year. These students must have done their first year either:

  • within the framework of another research or professionally oriented Master at a French college or university, or
  • at a foreign university.

Entrance requirements

We have set, for both first and second year recruitment, entrance requirements, which should allow students to appreciate the knowledge required in order to join MPRI.

M1 entrance requirements

M2 entrance requirements

Application Process

Prospective students may apply to the first year (M1) or second year (M2) of MPRI. While the M2-MPRI program is unified, there are four distinct M1-MPRI programs, run respectively by Université Paris Cité, ENS Paris (rue d'Ulm), University Paris-Saclay (faculté des sciences or ENS Paris-Saclay), and IP Paris.

Applying to M1

The first year of MPRI (M1) is organized independently by each partner institution. This includes recruitment: in order to apply to M1 MPRI, prospective students should choose one of the partner institutions, and apply there. There is no central recruitment. Below is a list of partner institutions, and contact links.

Applying to M2

There are 5 cases.

Case 1

Students who are awarded a scholarship by a partner institution to attend the M2 MPRI are automatically admitted and they will enroll in the partner institution granting the scholarship.

Learn more about scholarships and the corresponding application processes.

Case 2

Applicants who have validated the M1 at ENS Paris (rue d'Ulm) are admitted following an advice of the ENS Paris study director. They will enroll at ENS Paris (rue d'Ulm).

Case 3

Applicants who have validated an M1 at University Paris Saclay should apply to the M2 Parisian Computer Sciences Research of University Paris-Saclay. Admitted students will enroll at ENS Paris-Saclay.

Case 4

Applicants who have validated an M1 at IP Paris should apply to the Master Foundations of Computer Science of IP Paris. Admitted students will enroll at IP Paris.

Case 5

All other applicants should apply to the MPRI track of the Master of Computer Science (Campus des Grands Moulins) at Université Paris Cité through their application website. We expect to receive in addition a recommendation letter from a university professor or a researcher willing to attest that you possess the abilities and skills necessary to take the MPRI program and in which they justify their standpoint. The letter should be sent directly by e-mail to the director of studies at Université Paris Cité. It is the students' responsibility to make sure that the letter of recommendation reaches the study director of Université Paris Cité in time by June 15. As a rule of thumb, the 3 main conditions to be accepted in the M2-MPRI programme are: a very good scholar curriculum, a clear motivation to do research in the areas covered by the Master MPRI, and a (positive) recommendation letter from a recognized researcher. Incomplete applications will not be considered. The selection results will be available by the end of June and the selected candidates (and only them) will be informed by regular mail of the selection results and of the administrative process.

In case of emergency regarding an application, you may contact the study director relevant to your case.

Future prospects

Most MPRI graduates continue on with a doctorate program (Ph.D.), although some students successfully enter professional life after obtaining their Master's degree from MPRI. The MPRI + doctorate program combination naturally leads to careers in academia (teaching-research positions at universities, full-time research positions at research institutions), or in industrial research and development.


Scholarships

The tuition fees for Masters are quite modest in France, about €250 per year. Nonetheless, the living expenses near Paris are high.

Several programs offer scholarships for both French and foreign students and which are handled directly by the partner institutions. You can have a look at this page. Here are some rules of thumb.

Guidelines

  • Apply early. Deadlines for scholarships tend to be well before the deadline for applying to MPRI; some of them are as early as December or January.
  • When choosing the institution where you apply for a grant remember that while the M2 programme is unified, there are really 4 distinct M1 programmes run respectively by Université Paris Cité, ENS Paris, ENS Paris Saclay, and École Polytechnique.
  • The rankings of the various institutions are not coordinated. To increase your chances you may apply to several grants in parallel.
  • Criteria for getting a grant are more severe than for getting an admission to the programme, i.e., if you fail to get a grant you may still apply for admission. In this case, you should follow the the rules described here.
  • Prepare a Motivation Letter and a Curriculum Vitae with the details of your grades and possibly your research experience and contact the Study Director of the institution you are applying to.

Links

Here are links to the pages describing possibilities for scholarships in MPRI partner institutions:

  • ENS Paris (rue d'Ulm): here. Beware that the scholarships at ENS Paris are in general for a 3 years training (L3, M1, M2). Contact: Damien Vergnaud.


PhD grants

Specific PhD announcements for 2024–25

Other sources

Here are some mailing lists or web sites that announce on a regular basis PhD grants in areas close to the core of the MPRI master. If you are aware of other relevant lists or if you find one of the links below is obsolete or simply not working please write to the Master's director.

In general, all applications to a French PhD School or Foundation require an advisor who is working in a laboratory attached to the School/Foundation and who presents a PhD project and a PhD student.