The Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Aquaculture, Environment and Society (ACES-STAR) has officially opened its September 2026 intake application portal—and if you’ve been waiting for a Europe-wide, multi-campus master’s that mixes real aquaculture fieldwork, industry placement, and global food security impact, this is your sign to move fast.
But here’s the headline you can’t ignore: full Erasmus Mundus scholarships are not available this cycle for applicants from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and the Philippines due to funding restrictions. That said, the programme is still offering fee-waiver scholarships (tuition + medical insurance covered), which keeps the door open for many strong applicants who can self-fund living, travel, and visa costs.
What This Master’s Is Really Offering?
ACES-STAR isn’t a “study in one place, write a thesis, leave” kind of master’s. It’s a two-year, three-country European training track designed to turn you into someone the aquaculture world actually needs—people who can work at the intersection of environment, society, and sustainable seafood production.
You study across three European centres of excellence—Scotland, Crete, and France—learning from international experts while building the kind of cross-border academic profile that employers and PhD committees take seriously.
ACE-STAR Scholarship Package (Fee Waiver Track)
Since full scholarships are restricted for certain countries this year, the big funding highlight you can aim for is the fee waiver scholarship, which typically covers:
- Full tuition fee coverage for the full 2-year programme
- Medical insurance covered for the 2-year period
And here’s what you should budget for separately (because this matters for planning and approval at home):
- Day-to-day living costs
- Visa costs
- Travel costs (including moving between study countries)
Simple Eligibility Requisities
If you’re thinking, “Do I even qualify?”—here’s the easy filter. You’re generally a strong match if you can say yes to most of the following:
- You’re applying for the ACES-STAR Erasmus Mundus Joint Master for the September 2026 intake
- You’re ready to study in three locations (Scotland, Crete, France) across the programme
- You can commit to the programme structure, including fieldwork and applied learning
- You’re prepared for an industry placement during the programme (a major career-building component)
- If applying from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, or the Philippines, you understand that full scholarships aren’t available this cycle, but fee waivers are possible.
Apply: https://www.emm-aces.org/
The application portal for the ACES-STAR Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree (September 2026 intake) is currently live, and applications are being accepted up to and including Friday, 30 January 2026. Any application submitted after 30 January 2026 will be automatically rejected, so you should aim to complete and submit everything well before the deadline to avoid last-day technical issues.