Assessment and appeal

How are applications assessed?

Eligibility

An administrative eligibility check is performed immediately after the end of the Call of Application. This eligibility check covers:

• respect of application deadline;
• completeness of the application file;
• eligibility of the candidate in relation to the EMJM criteria.

Ineligible applicants will be informed immediately after the eligibility check and provided with the reasons of ineligibility. 

An academic eligibility check is also performed. Application files whose profile does not match the fundamental requirements of the DIGICREA programme will be discarded without quantitative evaluation.

Stage 1 of selection 

Candidates are evaluated according to their specialization choice, i.e., candidates who wish to join the “Sound-Music” specialization compete with each other.

All eligible applications are evaluated by the Selection Board. This Selection Board is composed of two juries (one for “Sound-Music” specialization and one for “Image” specialization). Each jury gather members from all 3 universities involved in the program. Applications are assessed according to the joint selection criteria and scoring table as indicated below:

This first pre-evaluation is scored on a scale of 5 (5=Excellent, 4=Very good, 3=Good, 2=Satisfactory, 1=Sufficient, 0=Insufficient). Special attention is given to make sure that all evaluators share the same view on criteria to be applied and correspondence between subjective quality of each item and the scale used.

Only best applicants (average of 3,5/5 or above of pre-evaluation and moderation scores) are short-listed and selected for Stage II. Non-short-listed applicants will be notified of the outcome two (2) months after the end of the Call for Application at the latest.

Stage 2 of selection

All applications selected for stage 2 will be scheduled for a maximum 15-minutes online interview (forecast dates March 25 to 30, 2026). The conversation will recognize the candidate's personality characteristics, way of thinking, personal life experience, and character attributes. During this second stage, the applicants’ performance is scored on a scale of 5.

The conversation will offer the opportunity for the candidates to :

• Present her/himself and reasons why Jury should select her/him
• Share personal projects and plans for the 4^th Semester and the future (after graduation)
• Specify current or future professional / artistic / academic engagements
• Understanding of the Program and expectations about it

The final grade of each application is determined by calculating the average of the application score (stage 1) and the interview grade (stage 2).

Final selection is agreed during a final meeting with all partners full consensus on the basis of averaged selection and interview grades.

As a maximum of 10% EMJM scholarships can be delivered to students from the same nationality for the duration of the European Funding (2024-2030), only a maximum of 5 of the best students from each country could be selected over the period.

A final administrative check is performed (diploma authenticity, contact of applicants’ referees).

Successful applicants are notified of the outcome of their application by email. Non-successful applicants can appeal  the selection committee decisions (see below). Only aggregated statistics on applicants and selected students are published to ensure the confidentiality of applicants. Original certificates of admission will be sent to successful applicants.

Tips for a successful application

Before applying online,

• Take the time to read about DIGICREA program (see How to apply and FAQ )
• Read selection criteria, that will help you focus on what matters
• The DIGICREA programme aims at training experts in the fields of new audio-visual media, new technologies in the film industry, music, graphics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and their applications in a broad context. Students need to submit artistic works. 
• The Examination and Selection Board initially assesses the candidates' predispositions to professions related to the use of digital technologies for the production of audiovisual and musical forms, including the production of documents in Virtual/Extended Reality.

Appeal procedure

Candidates wishing to appeal the jury's decision may contact the DIGICREA Consortium for further information: digicrea @ univ-st-etienne.fr (digicrea @ univ-st-etienne.fr)

Unsuccessful applicants to the programme and/or the associated scholarship may appeal following the rejection of their application (including application to EMJM scholarships that are attributed at the time of selection), provided that they have good arguments to oppose.

Candidates who fail to provide the required documents within the established timeframes should not submit an appeal. The purpose of the appeal procedure is to consider any concerns you may have regarding the handling of your proposal in the evaluation and eligibility-check process.

If after reading the above mentioned conditions you still have reasons to believe that a mistake has been made, please send an email to digicrea @ univ-st-etienne.fr (digicrea @ univ-st-etienne.fr) with all the necessary information. All appeals have to be submitted within ten (10) days following the publication of selection outcome at the latest.