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Creative, visionary, reflective, and technologically interested students will shape the future of our cities, mobility, and well-being by caring for the earth. The programme welcomes students who master the English language, are open-minded, daring, and have a background or strong interest in one of the pillars. We welcome students with various backgrounds including:

• engineering
• information technology
• geography
• environmental sciences
• design
• social and humanistic studies
• cognitive science
• statistics and mathematics
• business and management

Although having a field related  educational background is a benefit for enrolment, there will be provided harmonization courses which will help candidates to get knowledge about specific areas before starting their studies.

The programme consists of the following academically dependent specialisations, which are studied in 3 different locations throughout the time:

• Enrolling in Tallinn, basic studies in sustainable societies, AI and data and design
• Continuing in Porto with a mix of electives and basic studies
• Arriving at Tampere, studies are in the form of an Interdisciplinary project-based course with real clients
• Last semester focuses on professional placement and master’s thesis and allows students to choose a place between Tampere, Tallinn and Porto for their studies.

This is your chance to experience three excellent universities and three countries, their learning and research culture and become the best in Europe on Sustainable Society design using AI and data-driven approaches!

The main facilities are the Labs libraries in the three universities; these include but are not limited to VR Lab (Tampere University), wearables (Tallinn University) including simple audio and video recording equipment to a full set of Wi-Fi and static Mirametrix eye-tracker, a set of Tobii eye-tracking glasses, Empatica wristbands, Muse headbands. Further, studies also take place in the schools:

• Software Development Lab, featuring dedicated software development environments and tools
• Hardware and Robotics Lab, featuring a wide range of possibilities for physical prototyping, including a 3D printer
• Virtual Reality and Games Lab, featuring virtual reality and game development hardware and software
• Sports facilities
• Libraries

The students can also use the vast and diverse information resources (including electrical) of the Tallinn, Tampere and Lusófona Universities Academic Libraries. The full list we have is:

• Computer and internet access;
• Library and digital library access;
• Lounge areas and cafeterias;
• Sports facilities, Sports clubs and teams that can be joined. Each country has its own emphasis, reflecting its culture on sports. In addition, all participating countries have a focus on increasing bicycling and providing safe routes for such commuting. TLU: ; TAU:  and UL: At Universidade Lusófona-Centro Universitário, there is no excuse not to practice sport. Discover the Exercise and Health Club, Lusófona Volleyball, Surf Academy, Judo Club, Lusófona Academic Adventure Club.

The admission exam consists of assessment of the documents (50% of the final score), and the interview (50% of the final score).

For general required documents, see the application procedure and check English requirements; not all countries with an English educational background are exempt from language tests. Master's level applicants are required to have a Bachelor's degree or a corresponding qualifications.

Each applicant is also required to submit:  

• A situated motivation video (submitted as a link)
• A portfolio - skill set (submitted as a separate file)
• CV (submitted as a separate file)
• Self-funding plan (submitted as a separate file)
• Approved applicants will have an interview with the admission committee

All the links must be submitted separately, not embedded within other documents. All the links must be accessible to everyone without registration. In order to qualify, candidates have to submit all the required documents. 

Once the admisson is opened please apply as soon as possible so that the admission specialists can give you feedback before the application deadline and give you a chance to update your application, if necessary. If you submit your application during the last week of the application period, you will not receive feedback, and we have the right to reject the application without any feedback or extra time.

I) Motivation video

The motivation video (max 1 min 30 s) should provide a clear overview of the applicant’s intention to study in the AISS joint master’s programme. Speeding up the video will also amount to rejection. The motivation video positions the applicant’s interests within the current research topics and the future workforce. The video is an opportunity to connect the applicant’s skill set and academic and/or professional background with the preferred topic. Applicants are encouraged to situate themselves within current academic and/or industry developments and to envision possible projects and outcomes for their potential Master’s thesis.

The video must be uploaded to the application using the Dreamapply online application system. We do not accept videos in the format of TikTok, Instagram, X, or other social media platforms. The video can be no longer than 1 minute and 30 seconds. Please note that if it exceeds the length limit, it will be rejected without the possibility of correction.

II) Portfolio – skillset

Applicants are expected to submit a portfolio with selected works demonstrating their previous experience and skill set on a professional level. The portfolio can include videos, images, sketches, 3D visualisations, graphic or interactive presentations, applications, GitHub links (excluding extra material), research, or citizen activity projects.

The expected format of the portfolio is as follows:

• Up to 5 individual works with a brief description. 
• The individual pieces of work should represent and identify the candidate's best skills. 
• Each work’s description should include a summary and relevant background information, to be understandable without accessing extra materials (such as books, podcasts, etc)
• In all cases, the applicant should clearly explain the skill set required for the project and their contribution. 

The portfolio must be submitted as a separate file. If you add links to the portfolio, do not amend the webpages after submitting the file. The committee cannot read books, listen to podcasts, or access extensive materials. The application will be rejected if the webpage referred to in a portfolio is updated after the application period.

III) CV

Applicants are expected to submit their CVs. The Europass CV is often used, but it is not an obligatory format and can be in any other format. The CV should be a maximum of two pages long. If you add extra material not required for the application, you can be rejected (such as certificates of training, recommendation letters and so forth).

IV) Self-funding plan

Submit a separate self-funding plan. Please explain how you envision funding the tuition fees, living expenses, and travel expenses if you do not receive the scholarship.  Please note that your application will be rejected if the self-funding plan is missing. Even those who can't pay the tuition fee and fully rely on the scholarship have to have funds to apply (to travel for the visa if they get accepted to the programme) and to travel to Estonia and cover the living costs until the first payment of the scholarship will be done - this will happen at the beginning of October.

V) Interview

The interview with the admission board is conducted in English. Each candidate is assigned a 15-minute time slot (10 minutes for the applicant’s speech and 5 minutes for discussion with the admission board). The order of the interviews is arranged through email. If you are not on time for the interview, rescheduling it is impossible. The structure of the interview is as follows:

• A personal introduction of the applicant, focusing on their previous academic and/or professional experience as related to their eventual studies in the AISS programme.  
• An explanation of the applicant’s motivation to study in the AISS programme introduces the topics the applicant is interested in exploring in depth during their studies. 
• An overview of the skill set that the applicant expects to acquire during their eventual studies in the AISS programme and the relevance of this desired skill set for the applicant’s future career plans.  
• The applicant’s vision of the potential master’s thesis topic
• Answers to the follow-up questions from the members of the admissions committee.  

You can prepare a PowerPoint or a PDF, but we do not guarantee that you can show it.

Please note that not all candidates who passed the document round will be invited to the interview.

Applicants are evaluated based on: 

1) Technical soundness of documents

1a) All the documents must be technically sound and according to the rules. For instance, the motivation video is within the time limit; no extra files are sent; the portfolio has a summary of the projects and is not just a collection of articles or links, and the items are explained clearly and understandably without a need to go through extra links and files.

2) The documents need to adhere to the content that has been asked for.

2a) The applicant’s intention to study, interests and current research topics, and connection to the program should be present for this motivational video.

2b) The content in the portfolio should be on actual projects that have been executed. There must be a clear summary and connection to the program, explaining the skill set needed to select and execute these.

2c) Originality is evaluated.

2d) The CV is relevant and presents the work, education, projects, and social activities (e.g. social projects).

3) Interview criteria

3a) The applicant is punctual, follows the interview structure, guidelines, and answers the questions.

3b) The applicant is convincing, authentic, and does not read from the screen or provide predefined/written answers.

3c) The applicant is able to express themselves.

Entrance exam part name: Documents

Minimum positive result: 35
Maximum positive result: 50

Entrance exam part name: Interview

Minimum positive result: 35
Maximum positive result: 50

Please send any additional questions regarding the admissions procedure or requirements to kristi.oikimus@tlu.ee.

Please also note that those who have already benefited from an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s (EMJM) scholarship are not eligible to apply for an additional scholarship. Only the ten best will receive the scholarship.

Please note: We are not providing personalised feedback to applicants.

You can review the presentations from the last year's info session of the master's program 'Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Societies' to get more information about program-specific requirements and the general admissions process.

The purpose of the scholarship is to support and acknowledge students who demonstrate excellence in studies and support students to execute master studies in the program of Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Societies.

The scholarship is meant to cover insurance, travelling costs related to the mobility scheme, housing, and food.

The student can't benefit from another EU-funded scholarship scheme to follow the same or another Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s master programme for the entire period of enrolment in the course.

The amount of the scholarship is 1400 euros per month and is paid during the nominal time of studies, 2 years.

The total number of scholarships in the project is 40. The scholarships will be divided equally between four admissions (from the year 2024 to 2027).

No more than 4 of scholarships are granted to students from the same citizenship during the four admissions. In each admission, no more than two scholarships are granted to students from the same citizenship.

The scholarship shall be granted on the basis of the admission exam results. Only student candidates who have specified interest to apply for the scholarship during the admission application process are included in the ranking list for the scholarship. Student candidates shall be excluded from the ranking list if the number of scholarships allocated for their citizenship is exceeded.

Students who have granted the scholarship do not have to pay the tuition fee.

Kristi Oikimus

Study counsellor and specialist of the programme kristi.oikimus@tlu.ee

Narva mnt 29, 10120 Tallinn, (+372) 640 9384

For additional guidelines regarding admission procedure please contact the international admission specialist. admissions@tlu.ee