Master admission criteria & application

Anyone holding a Bachelor’s degree from a university (or equivalent) in a field related to the EPFL curricula can apply for a Master’s program.

However, please be aware that admission is competitive. Only candidates with excellent academic records and references have good chances of being accepted.

An expert committee will review each application according to several criteria, none of which taken alone could exclude an applicant. These criteria include the quality of the application, the student’s educational background and research references, their area of specialization, as well as factors related to compliance with export-control and embargo legislation.

Candidates who already hold a Master’s degree, or equivalent, in the field (or similar field) of the program for which they would apply are not eligible.

We also advise you to take notice of the requirements that are specific to every Master’s program.

Current EPFL students are automatically registered in the Master’s program of their field of study and only need to approve their registration on IS-Academia. They need not follow the application procedure to continue their studies in the same field.

Should several Master’s programs be consecutive to their Bachelor’s degree, they can request registration in any of these programs in the FRAC form at the beginning of their first term at the Master’s level.

An expert committee will review each application according to several criteria, none of which taken alone could exclude an applicant. These criteria include the quality of the application, the student’s educational background and research references, their area of specialization, as well as factors related to compliance with export-control and embargo legislation.

Students from other Swiss universities who completed a 180-ECTS-credit Bachelor’s program in the same field of study must follow the full online application procedure, but they are exempted from providing referees’ contact information. Admission to a consecutive Master’s program is guaranteed, but additional credits may be required.

An expert committee will review each application according to several criteria, none of which taken alone could exclude an applicant. These criteria include the quality of the application, the student’s educational background and research references, their area of specialization, as well as factors related to compliance with export-control and embargo legislation.

Current EPFL students and students from other Swiss universities who would like to change their field of study or access a specialized Master’s program must follow the full online application procedure.

The quality of the application, the relevance of the followed Bachelor’s program compared to the Master’s cursus of interest, and the motivation of the candidate will also be assessed. It may be required to have taken classes on specific topics and obtained qualified grades in these classes.

Current EPFL students are exempted from providing referees’ contact information.

An expert committee will review each application according to several criteria, none of which taken alone could exclude an applicant. These criteria include the quality of the application, the student’s educational background and research references, their area of specialization, as well as factors related to compliance with export-control and embargo legislation.

Holders of a degree from a Swiss University of applied sciences (HES/FHS) are admitted to EPFL’s Master’s programs provided they have an HES/FHS Bachelor’s degree in one of the following fields of studies, with an average grade of 5,00 or above:

• Architecture
• Civil Engineering
• Environmental Sciences and Engineering
• Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
• Electrical and Electronics Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Microengineering
• or Computer Science/Communication Systems.

They can access the Master’s programs that are consecutive to the corresponding EPFL Bachelor’s degree, i.e., respectively:

• Architecture
• Civil Engineering
• Environmental Sciences and Engineering
• Molecular and Biological Chemistry/Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology
• Electrical and Electronics Engineering/Neuro-X
• Mechanical Engineering
• Microengineering/Robotics/Neuro-X
• and Computer Science/Computer Science-Cybersecurity/Communication Systems/Data Science/Neuro-X

They will however need to succeed a preparatory year of 57 to 60 ECTS credits.

For detailed information about the preparatory courses, please contact the person specified on the page describing your Master’s program of interest. Holders of a degree from a Swiss University HES/FHS apply in the field of studies corresponding to their Bachelor’s degree and follow the preparatory year in that field. If applicable, they then select the consecutive Master’s program they wish to take.

An expert committee will review each application according to several criteria, none of which taken alone could exclude an applicant. These criteria include the quality of the application, the student’s educational background and research references, their area of specialization, as well as factors related to compliance with export-control and embargo legislation.

For students who followed courses at EPFL as exchange students and apply for a Master’s program: if Master’s credits obtained during your exchange program were not used at your university of origin, you will be able to validate them for your Master’s program, subject to validation and a maximum of 30 credits.

An expert committee will review each application according to several criteria, none of which taken alone could exclude an applicant. These criteria include the quality of the application, the student’s educational background and research references, their area of specialization, as well as factors related to compliance with export-control and embargo legislation.