Route 01 · Free extra shot

Erasmus Mundus (Plan A)

Fully funded: tuition + insurance + €1,400/month for up to 24 months, with no bond requiring you to return home. Odds are low (DEAI gave ~25 scholarships from ~3,000 applicants), so it's a free extra shot alongside Germany, not a replacement.
Exact application steps (DEAI manual, MAIA, visas for Belgium/Spain) + all 22 Erasmus Mundus programmes checked →

DEAI

Keep

Data Engineering & Artificial Intelligence

Route
ULB Brussels → UPC Barcelona → TU Wien / Padua / Lyon 1 → thesis
Deadline
11 Jan 2027, 12:00 GMT (refs 18 Jan)
English
MOI accepted · PTE 59 · no Duolingo

No GRE, no fee. Scored on CS credits, grades, work experience, cover letter and references. ~25 scholarships from ~3,000 applicants.

MAIA

Added

Medical Image Analysis

Route
Girona (ES) · Bourgogne (FR) · Cassino (IT)
Deadline
Tentatively Nov 2026 – Feb 2027
English
MOI accepted

2027 scholarships confirmed (call not open yet). Max 2 selected per country. A direct match for your retinal-imaging final-year project.

Official page ↗

IPCVai

Added

Image Processing & Computer Vision with AI

Route
Year 1 in Budapest (PPCU), then partner universities
Deadline
1 Nov 2026 – 2 Feb 2027, noon Paris time
English
MOI accepted (official letter: whole bachelor's taught in English)

New find from the deep research: an EM call is open for 2027 and it accepts MOI. A good fit for your computer-vision / retinal-imaging background.

IFRoS

Maybe

Intelligent Field Robotic Systems

Route
Girona · Zagreb · ELTE Budapest
Deadline
Not posted
English
MOI accepted

Its EU project ended 14 Oct 2026, so there are probably no 2027 scholarships. Email to confirm before spending time.

Official page ↗

Roadmap

  1. This week
    MOI letter + English transcripts; register on the DEAI portal; check FAST is in the list
  2. Late Oct
    Ask 3 referees (a publishing FAST professor counts most). Letters due 18 Jan.
  3. Early Nov
    Email DEAI, MAIA and IFRoS; get experience letters; start the retinal-imaging arXiv write-up
  4. Nov
    Europass CV; fill the DEAI self-evaluation Excel exactly (altering it = exclusion); draft the cover letter
  5. 1–15 Dec
    Submit DEAI early; post the arXiv preprint
  6. Dec – Jan
    Submit MAIA once the call opens; IFRoS only if funded
  7. 11 Jan, 5 PM PKT
    Hard DEAI deadline
  8. Feb – Mar
    Results (reserve lists often move); keep the Germany applications going
  9. If selected
    Accept within ~2 weeks; the scholarship letter is your proof of funds; visa for Belgium (DEAI) or Spain (MAIA)

DEAI tips

  • Fill the self-evaluation Excel exactly as instructed. Altering it means automatic exclusion.
  • Referees are scored on their reputation and H-index. Pick a FAST professor who publishes.
  • Submit by mid-December. Early files are checked and you're told about missing documents.
  • Your work experience earns points; lead with production LLM/RAG systems in the cover letter.
  • For MAIA, centre the motivation letter on your retinal-imaging project, and put it on arXiv first.

Dropped from the original Plan A

ProgrammeWhy dropped
EMAI Artificial Intelligence (UPF Barcelona)No scholarships appear to be offered for 2027, and no MOI/PTE. (IELTS / TOEFL / Cambridge only)
CoDaS Communications & Data ScienceExpects CGPA 3.60+ for Pakistan; communications-heavy. (MOI from Pakistan rejected · PTE 62)
EDISS / CYBERSURE Intelligent Software / CybersecurityGreat fits, but only possible if you take IELTS. (IELTS/TOEFL only)