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What you need to know
In France, a doctorate is a research training course leading, for successful students, to the grade of Doctor. It is prepared in three years or more, depending on the subject.
A doctorate is a genuine professional experience, opening the researcher to other disciplines such as management and communication. It provides access to careers in public and private research, as well as to all sectors requiring the ability to analyse and summarise, skills in precision, autonomy, creativity, persistence, and to sectors with complex challenges.
Preparing a doctorate is a challenging task involving different actors, in which the doctoral student undertakes scientific research at a high level.
A doctorate is a genuine professional experience, opening the researcher to other disciplines such as management and communication. It provides access to careers in public and private research, as well as to all sectors requiring the ability to analyse and summarise, skills in precision, autonomy, creativity, persistence, and to sectors with complex challenges.
Preparing a doctorate is a challenging task involving different actors, in which the doctoral student undertakes scientific research at a high level.
Eligibility conditions
To be eligible to apply for the 1st year of the doctoral course, an applicant must have:
- defined his/ her dissertation subject: the application for a particular subject proposed by a Doctoral School or the host laboratory has been accepted, or the subject proposed by the applicant has been accepted;
- obtained the agreement of the doctoral dissertation supervisor and the host laboratory,
- obtained the relevant funding (this may or may not be compulsory according to the area of research).
The applicant must also be a holder: (see Decree of 7th August 2006)
- of a Master's degree at one of the French universities proving aptitude for research, or
- of an equivalent diploma obtained at a foreign university proving aptitude for research. In this case, you need to ask for your Master diploma equivalence during the application procedure.
Application procedure
This may vary from one doctoral school to another. For more information:
- Doctoral School Chemistry and Life Sciences - CSV
- Doctoral School Earth, Universe, and Environmental Sciences
- Doctoral School Electronics, Electrical Energy, Automatic Control, Signal Processing
- Doctoral school Health, cognition and environmental engineering
- Doctoral School Humanities, Political and Territorial Sciences
- Doctoral School Industrial, Material, Mechanical and Process Engineering
- Doctoral School Languages, Literature and Human Sciences
- Doctoral School of Economics
- Doctoral School of Informatics and Mathematics
- Doctoral School of Law
- Doctoral School of Management
- Doctoral School of Philosophy : History, Arts, Languages
- Doctoral School of Physics
- Doctoral School Science and Engineering of Systems, Environment and Organizations
Key Dates
Spring: choice of the dissertation subject, first contacts with a doctoral school and the future doctoral dissertation supervisor.
June: registration of applicants with a doctoral school.
July:
Université Grenoble Alpes accepts, with special permission from the doctoral school, applications received outside the registration period in certain cases (e.g. period required to obtain the relevant funding).
January: applications from doctoral students to access the common core of the Label curriculums for those so wishing.
June: registration of applicants with a doctoral school.
July:
- reviewing the applications by doctoral schools
- opening of the recruitment process for the Research and Higher Education Label (Label Recherche et Enseignement Supérieur (RES) in French). This concerns first-year doctoral students wishing to carry out teaching assignments.
From September to December: enrolment in the 1st year of the doctorate.- opening of the recruitment process for the Research and Higher Education Label (Label Recherche et Enseignement Supérieur (RES) in French). This concerns first-year doctoral students wishing to carry out teaching assignments.
Université Grenoble Alpes accepts, with special permission from the doctoral school, applications received outside the registration period in certain cases (e.g. period required to obtain the relevant funding).
January: applications from doctoral students to access the common core of the Label curriculums for those so wishing.
The Guide for international doctoral students
