The master has a single admission session a year. The 2027 session is expected to open in January and close in February 2027; the exact dates will be announced on this page. Applications are submitted on the PSL application portal.
Application process
The procedure requires an online application, then interviews. Admission is only possible in the first year (M1) of the program, with no direct entry into the second year (M2). Applications are evaluated by a panel on the basis of the applicant’s prior education and qualifications.
Timetable
The dates below are those of the 2026 session; the 2027 dates will be similar but not identical.
| Date | Step |
|---|---|
| January 15, 2026 | Opening of the admissions portal |
| February 24, 2026, 23:59 (Paris time) | Closing of the admissions portal |
| March | Publication of the eligibility results |
| March–April | Interviews of the eligible applicants (remote interviews accepted) |
| Mid-April | Publication of the final admission results |
You are strongly advised to complete and submit your application well before the deadline, ideally the day before or at least several hours in advance, to avoid last-minute technical issues.
Documents to prepare
- The online application form.
- A résumé (CV).
- A cover letter. It is an essential part of the application: read the guidelines carefully before writing it.
- All higher-education transcripts and diplomas, with a French or English translation when the originals are in another language.
- At least one recommendation letter.
- Optionally, a writing sample: a piece of written work produced during your previous studies (dissertation, thesis or an essay written for a class). If you have no such document, do not write one for the application; the cover letter matters much more.
No official English test is required.
Prerequisites
The program is open to any student holding a bachelor’s degree in science or the humanities. Knowledge of French is not required.
Normaliens do not go through this procedure to join the master: they contact the director of studies of the department, Yves Boubenec (boubenec@ens.fr).
Tuition fees
Tuition fees are set each year by ministerial decree. For 2026–2027 they are €255 for a year of master, plus the CVEC (contribution de vie étudiante et de campus), €105, paid online before registration.
Students from outside the European Union
From the 2027 intake, students who are not citizens of the EU or the EEA pay a higher fee. French law sets a differentiated tuition fee for them: €3,950 for a year of master in 2026–2027 (the amount for 2027–2028 will be set by decree). Until 2025–2026, ENS-PSL exempted all its non-EU master’s students from it. A decree of 19 May 2026 now caps the exemptions an institution may grant at 30% of its non-EU students in 2026–2027, then 25% and 20%. Students entering the master in September 2027 who are not EU or EEA citizens should therefore expect to pay the differentiated rate, unless they belong to a category exempt by law (refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, long-term residents in France, tax residents in France for at least two years, citizens of Switzerland, Andorra, Monaco and Quebec) or obtain an individual exemption from the ENS at registration.
The ENS double degree and scholarship
Candidates to the master are strongly encouraged to also apply to become a Normalien at the École normale supérieure, a highly prestigious status in the French academic system with a number of very important benefits, including the virtual certainty of receiving a PhD scholarship after the master and a scholarship of around €1,000 per month for foreign students. The ENS double degree and scholarship page gives the details.
ST4Health, a parallel option
Students in engineering or medicine may also apply to the Digital Mental Health track at ST4Health, a parallel PSL option that accepts direct entry at the M2 level.