Application – 1st year of PhD

Before you can join our doctoral school, an application must be done before being evaluated by the admissions committee made up of professors from the Research Training Unit Institute of Humanities, Sciences and Society (IHSS). With the international policy of the Doctoral School, particular attention is paid to international research projects (including European projects) as well as joint thesis supervision. Beyond the prerequisites and the documents to be provided, the jury prioritizes the scientific quality of the thesis project:

• Evaluation of the scientific project and the research topic
• The project must be related to the laboratory’s scientific projects
• The innovative nature of the project and its feasibility

Prerequisites:

• Have a thesis director (the agreement of a thesis director before applying is an essential element of the file).
• Candidates must hold either a national master’s degree (research or professional) or a diploma conferring the degree of Master for foreign candidates.
• Candidates must have obtained at least 14 out of 20 in the dissertation (or equivalent) of their master’s degree.
  Exception: if the student obtained less than 14 on the dissertation and reports research activity through publications, research contracts, and conferences, his file will be examined by the commission.

Calendar of admissions committees :

• September 20, 2023 for applications sent before September 13, 2023.
• October 18, 2023 for applications sent before October 11, 2023.

Any application sent after the deadlines will not be taken into account. The Doctoral School calendar takes precedence over the eCandidat application calendar.

The agreement of a thesis director is not a sign of admission but of eligibility for the application to be submitted to the admissions committee.

In addition, the supervision rate of thesis directors is limited, it is possible that the admissions committee will recommend you to change of thesis director.

Steps to apply for the 1st year of PhD

1. Write your thesis project according to this model.
2. Consult the list of thesis directors, their research themes, and their contact details here.
3. Contact a thesis director and submit your project to them.
4. Send the following documents to ali.brador@u-paris.fr (respecting the file submission deadlines):
   – Thesis project
   – Letter of support from the future thesis director, justifying the inclusion of the project in the host team
   – Photocopy or certificate of your diploma (French translation by a sworn translator)
   – Master 2 transcript
   – Master 2 thesis
   – CV and cover letter
5. Once you receive the approval of the commission, create your application on the eCandidat platform (from June 19 to July 21, 2023, at 12 p.m. then from August 22 at 10 a.m. to December 15, 2023).

For the training agreement, you should use the version pre-completed by the doctoral school, here.

For any other information relating to registration in the 1st year, you can check this link.

Language level (foreign students) :

Candidates of foreign nationality must provide proof of French level in one of the following tests or diplomas, retained by the authorities of Université Paris Cité:

• DALF (Advanced Diploma in French Language) level C1
• DELF (Diploma of Studies in French Language) level B2
• TCF (French Knowledge Test) less than two years old. Level b1
• TEF (French Assessment Test) less than a year old. Level 3
• DHEF (Diploma of Advanced French Studies)
• CEFP2 (Certificate of Practical French Studies 2)
• DS (Higher Diploma)
• DL (French language diploma)