Are you applying for a Master's degree? Find out more about Objectif Master 2023

23 May 2023

Training

Introduced in 2020, the Objectif Master scheme is aimed at all L3 students applying for a Master's degree. The aim? To help you design and write your project, prepare your application and support you through the various stages up to enrolment. Workshops on the program: help with deciding and writing your project, drafting your CV and application letter, coaching for selection interviews and public speaking, preparing to look for internships and support in putting together your application, etc.
Objectif Master 2023
Objectif Master 2023 © Inalco‎
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As part of its student success programs, Inalco is offering all those of you planning to pursue your Master's degree next year the opportunity to benefit from the Objectif Master scheme, to accompany you from February 18, 2023 - and until March 22, 2023, the date for submitting applications on www.monmaster.gouv.fr.

Inalco's Masters programs are selective. To maximize your chances of admission, it's important that you design your project now and prepare your application with care. To help you do this, different workshops are being organized from February 20 to mid-April 2023.

Objectif Master: a course to maximize your chances of admission

To maximize your chances of admission, prepare your application carefully, in particular by taking part in the eight workshops on offer to help you design your project and build your application:

  • 1. Designing and writing your research master's project
  • 2. What is research at INALCO? Building your Master's project with BULAC
  • 3. Designing and writing your professional Master's project
  • 4. Writing a CV and application letter
  • 5. Speaking skills
  • 6. Preparing for selection interviews
  • 7. Internships (research, agreements, etc.)
  • 8. Meeting with master students


To find out about the content and schedule of these workshops and to register, visit the "Workshops" section. Have a question? Check out the FAQ. To make sure you don't forget anything, check out the "Key facts and dates" section.

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To register for the 2023 workshops, it's ICI

The Master's degree: a selective course

Whatever its orientation, research or professional, the Master's degree is not simply an extension of the bachelor's degree. It's a selective course that represents a real qualitative leap, just like the transition between secondary and higher education. To prepare for it, you'll need to draw up a project in consultation with the teacher likely to supervise your research or internship in M1.

Important elements of the application file

In addition to administrative documents (completed application form, diplomas and transcripts, etc.), your application file will need to include a CV, a covering letter and your project. These three elements are the most important and should be given your full attention.
The ability to highlight your skills in a CV and write a convincing cover letter is not something you can improvise. We strongly recommend that you take Workshop 3 "Writing a CV and cover letter". The know-how you'll acquire in this workshop will be useful in many circumstances other than the preparation of your Master's application (internship search, job application, joining a research team, etc.).
When applying for a research-oriented Master's degree, your cover letter will necessarily include a passage in which you explain the personal, intellectual path that led you to choose the subject you are presenting in your project (Why did you like this subject, under what circumstances did the idea come to you, what book, film or event inspired you, etc.).

When applying for a research-oriented Master's degree, your cover letter will necessarily include a passage in which you explain the personal, intellectual path that led you to choose the subject you are presenting in your project (Why did you like this subject, under what circumstances did the idea come to you, what book, film or event inspired you, etc.).e, etc.).
When applying for a professionally-oriented Master's degree, your CV and cover letter should highlight your resources (personal qualities, knowledge, technical and behavioral skills, networks of contacts, formal and informal sources of information...)

What is a Master's project?

When applying for a Research-oriented Master's degree:

The project is the main element of your application. It should have the following characteristics:

  • Formally speaking, it should be a two- to three-page document (Times New Roman, 1.5 line spacing, 6000 signs maximum).
  • This document will necessarily have a title that announces the subject dealt with, delimits an area and/or sets chronological milestones, and announces a line of questioning. At the application stage, this title is provisional. It may evolve as you refine the definition of your subject and the related issues. Nevertheless, it should be carefully thought out.
  • The project should indicate the general theme to be addressed, possibly the chronological and/or spatial boundaries of the subject, the language involved, and the discipline in which the subject falls (linguistics, literature, history, anthropology, etc.)
  • The project should set out a line of questioning, which will later become your problematic. At this stage, it's a selection of questions from among those that emerge from your theme and that you'd like to ask. This selection is made in discussion with your teachers. Some questions may be good, but have already been dealt with many times, while others may be too complex, calling for corpora or terrains that are inaccessible in the context of M1 or even M2. Make sure your project is feasible.
  • The project should include an embryonic bibliography (be careful to respect the formatting), which will include around five titles of books and/or articles related to your subject. In one or two sentences, you will justify your choice of each of these titles.
  • The project must also explain how you plan to carry out your research. In other words, what your sources will be and how you will exploit them from a methodological point of view. Depending on the discipline in which your subject falls, you'll need to delimit a corpus of texts in the language of study (published or unpublished), or carry out fieldwork, i.e., build up your own sources through observation, interviews or other techniques. You also need to start imagining how you will collect and process this corpus or field data (methodology).

Below is a document to help you prepare your Research Master application.

2023 Objectif master _ définir son projet de recherche (3.52 MB, .pdf)


For a Master's degree in career guidance:

  • Your project specifies what you envisage as your future career path: the sector of activity and its specific features, the type of administration, company or organization (size, location, environment...), the dimension of the host organization (national, international, ...), the professions, functions and missions.
  • It indicates the steps already taken to carry out the internship or internships you are considering. Finding an internship that fits in with your project can be a long and difficult task. Anticipate and prepare this search by taking part in Workshop 6 devoted to internships.

Below is a document to help you prepare your Master Pro application.

2023 OM Préparer projet pro (5.94 MB, .pdf)