EMLex Erasmus Mundus 2027 — Fully Funded Lexicography Master's
Fully funded Master scholarship in Spain for International students 2027
Europe's only lexicography master's, paying EUR 1,400 a month for 24 months, with tuition and insurance covered — but you need both English and German to enter.
Eligibility
- A university degree in linguistics, languages, translation, communication, media, book studies or library science, or a related field approved by the consortium
- Reading competence in both English and German, with B2 production in at least one
- Language certificates no older than two years
- Final-year students may apply if the degree is conferred before the programme starts
- Applicants who already hold an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master scholarship are not eligible
EMLex is the only Erasmus Mundus joint master in lexicography, which sounds narrow until you look at what its graduates actually do: terminology management, dictionary and corpus work, language technology, and the unglamorous infrastructure that every translation and search product quietly depends on. It is also one of the very few funded master's programmes in Europe that requires two languages at entry rather than one.
That requirement is the whole story of the admissions pool. Most applicants arrive with English and nothing else, and are filtered out at the formal check before anyone reads their motivation letter. If you grew up with Dari or Pashto and studied German, or you are a Chinese graduate who took German as a second foreign language, this is a programme where your language history is an asset rather than a footnote.
What it covers
Scholarship holders receive a pro-rata payment totalling EUR 1,400 a month for the duration of the programme, up to 24 months, and the scholarship also covers participation costs: tuition, health insurance, library costs, administrative costs and cultural events. The programme puts the maximum total at roughly EUR 33,600 in living allowance, though the page describes it as pro-rata, so a late start or an interrupted semester reduces the total.
About 20 scholarships are available for the 2027 intake, across a maximum of 30 study places including self-funded students. Those are unusually good odds for an Erasmus Mundus award: roughly two thirds of the cohort is funded.
The monthly allowance is intended to cover travel, visa and residence permit costs, installation and living expenses, with no separate travel budget. Plan the first month carefully, because the first payment does not arrive until the end of the first month of study.
Who can apply
You need a higher education degree in linguistics or applied linguistics, foreign languages, translation, communication or media, book studies or library and information science, or another relevant discipline accepted by the consortium's admissions committee. Final-year students can apply as long as the degree certificate is in hand before the programme starts.
The language rule is precise and worth reading twice. You must have sufficient reading competence in both English and German, and very good production skills — at least B2 — in one of them. Certificates for both languages must be provided and must be no older than two years. Accepted evidence includes onSET, Goethe-Institut, OSD, TestDaF, IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity and Cambridge certificates, and a degree in German studies or English studies may satisfy the requirement.
One exclusion catches people late: anyone who has already benefited from an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master scholarship cannot receive another.
Eligibility self-check
Can you follow a lecture in German, even if you would rather write in English?
Do you hold a certificate for both languages, issued within the last two years?
Is your degree in one of the listed fields, or can you argue convincingly that it is related?
Will your degree be conferred before September 2027?
Have you confirmed you have never held an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master scholarship?
If the German answer is "not yet", the honest move is to book a test now rather than hope the consortium accepts a self-assessment. The formal check is mechanical, and it happens before any human reads your file.
Deadline
The application period for an Erasmus Mundus scholarship for the 2027 intake is open and runs until 1 February 2027, inclusive. The intake begins in September or October 2027 depending on the home university.
One scheduling detail is easy to miss: the 2027 intake cannot start at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nurnberg, because the joint summer semester in 2028 takes place there. If Erlangen was your first choice, choose again.
How to apply
Apply through the consortium's online application system, uploading your documents as PDFs. The page warns that incomplete or oversized PDFs will not be considered, so check file sizes before the deadline rather than after.
https://www1.emlex.eu/web/application
If you are selected, you must accept the offer within ten days of the approval notification. Missing that window removes your entitlement to the scholarship, and there is no appeal against your own silence.
What to prepare
Degree certificate and transcripts, with certified translations if the originals are not in English or German; language certificates for both languages, within the two-year validity; a CV; a motivation letter; a passport copy; and any evidence of lexicographic or terminographic work, which the selection criteria explicitly reward.
Common mistakes
Applying with English only. This is the most common rejection and it happens at the formal inspection stage, before assessment.
Submitting a motivation letter that reads like it was generated. The application page states plainly that applicants are strongly encouraged to write their own letter without AI-generated text, which means the committee is looking for it.
Naming Erlangen as your home university for 2027.
Assuming the self-funded route will rescue a failed scholarship application. Reduced tuition is offered under certain conditions and only after the scholarship round, at around EUR 2,000 instead of EUR 4,000, and it is not guaranteed.
Letting the ten-day acceptance window pass while you compare offers.
Tips to win
Show lexicographic thinking rather than language enthusiasm. The selection criteria name competence in linguistic analysis and lexicographic or terminographic knowledge, so describe a dictionary, terminology database or corpus problem you have actually worked on.
Explain your mobility plan. The consortium assigns home universities and tries to honour first choices, and a candidate who can say why a particular combination fits their research is easier to place.
Be honest about the German level and show the certificate. A B1 certificate with a clear plan to reach B2 reads better than an unsupported claim of fluency.
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Photo: Luis Miguel Bugallo Sanchez (Lmbuga), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
If you would like a second pair of eyes on this application before you submit it, an OEAC advisor can go through your documents with you and tell you what is missing — the first conversation is free.
Last updated: 11 November 2026
Always confirm the deadline and eligibility on the official page before you apply. Scholarship dates change between rounds, and this listing is a summary — the provider's own page is the authoritative source. OEAC Network lists scholarships for free and is not an agent for any university or funding body.
