ERASMUS
TRAINING PROGRAM
Figure 4. Employability indicators for the five programmes that collect structured alumni data. schools, and participation in international conferences.
CONCLUSION AND PERSPECTIVES Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters in photonics are not only educational initiatives, they are strategic instruments for structuring the European photonics ecosystem. In two decades, they have built shared curricula across national systems, created a common language between laboratories, universities and companies, and given a fragmented field a visible European identity. Their impact reaches well beyond the classroom. They connect more than thirty universities and a wide network of industrial partners; they attract talented students from every continent and keep a large share of them in Europe; and they generate durable academic and industrial alliances that outlive any individual funding period. The three new programmes selected in 2026 confirm that this dynamic is still gathering pace. Several challenges remain: making the specificity of EMJM better understood, diversifying funding sources, and continuing to attract students to a discipline whose career paths are still insufficiently known. The forthcoming European degree, largely inspired by the EMJM model, offers an opportunity to consolidate what these consortia have built. For the photonics community, the message is simple: supporting these programmes, by hosting interns, teaching a module, proposing tutored projects on real industrial cases, sponsoring programmes, joining an advisory board or recruiting a graduate, is one of the most direct ways to secure the skills that European photonics will need over the next decade.
REFERENCES
[ 1 ] R. Whitley, The Intellectual and Social Organization of the Sciences, 2 nd ed., Oxford University Press, 2000
PROGRAMME WEBSITES:
EMIMEP: https:// www. erasmus-mundus. emimep. eu /
EUROPHOTONICS: https:// www. europhotonics. org /
IMAGING: https:// www. emjm-imaging. eu / IMLEX: https:// www. imlex. org / iPSRS: https:// master-photonics4security. eu / QUANTEEM: https:// www. quanteem. eu / QUARMEN: https:// www. master-quarmen. eu / RADMEP +: https:// master-radmep. org /
Photoniques 140 I www. photoniques. com 65