Prepare a PhD

Registration in initial training is possible as a continuation of a master or other equivalent degree. 

• In initial training, the PhD is prepared full-time 
  The preparation is initially set to last 3 years. Beyond these 3 years, extensions of the duration of preparation are possible, depending on exemptions.
• Funding dedicated to the preparation of the thesis is requested for a registration in initial training. 
  The reference amount of this funding corresponds to the remuneration of the PhD contract established by public law. 
  Exemptions from this funding threshold can be requested from the head of the establishment. 

PhD students have a main research activity in one of the research teams or units of the doctoral school. 

They also have complementary PhD activities and training, intended to develop their scientific culture, their international openness and to prepare their professional future. The PhD programme is personalised and defined with each doctoral school, in a framework common to all PhD students at Université Paris-Saclay. 

They can have complementary activities outside research, which contribute to the preparation of their professional future (teaching mission, scientific mediation, expertise of promotion of research), limited to one sixth of their time each year.

• A thesis monitoring committee report must be submitted by the PhD student for each of their re-registrations.

Registration in lifelong training concerns two categories of people: 

1. Those who obtained their last diploma more than two years before the desired date of first enrollment in a PhD (whether the thesis is prepared full-time or part-time, and regardless of the financing conditions envisaged)
2. Those who plan to prepare their thesis at the same time as a main activity other than the preparation of thesis, regardless of the date of the obtention of the last degree. The main activity means that its provides more than half of the income. 

• Lifelong training does not require a funding dedicated to the thesis preparation, but its commission ensures, before the first registration, that material and financial conditions are correct. 
  Ultimately, candidates who have no funding to prepare their thesis and have no income from their main activity could prepare a thesis, as long as the doctoral school and the commission can ensure that the material and financial resources meet the mandatory conditions. 

In lifelong learning, the PhD can be prepared on a part-time basis. 

• The duration initially set for the preparation of the thesis depends on the time that can be devoted to its preparation. It lasts between 3 and 6 years. 
• An exemption must be requested to extend the duration of the PhD beyond the one initially set. It can be discussed during the monitoring committee that takes place each year before re-registration.

PhD students prepare their thesis in one of the research teams or units of their doctoral school. The distribution of their time between the research unit and their non-research activities is set from the first registration. 

As PhD students in initial training, PhD students in lifelong training also have PhD complementary activities and training, intended to develop their scientific culture, their international opennes, and to prepare their professional future. Still, their training courses are arranged to feet with the specificities of their situation. 

A thesis monitoring committee must stand each and every year, before re-registration. Among other things, it helps to check whether the conditions of the lifelong training PhD are suitable, or deserve to be rearranged. 

Planning lifelong training arrangement procedure

Unlike initial training and lifelong training, registration for a validation of acquired experience can only be done when the original scientific work constitutes a coherent whole, that might be considered for a defense/viva. Those works may have been carried out partly in a research unit of the doctoral school (for example, within the framework of a volunteer researcher agreement), or entirely outside the academic framework. 

• The PhD degree is awarded after a thesis defense or a presentation of the original scientific works.

To obtain a PhD degree by a validation of acquired experience, the candidate must:

1. Write a thesis or a dissertation to assess their personal part of a collective work. This dissertation or thesis will be evaluated by two rapporteurs and by a defense jury. Composition and expectations of the jury are the same as the ones for the initial training or the lifelong training PhD.
2. As for the PhD students, the thesis or the dissertation will have to be legally deposed and, if necessary, published on the national portal www.theses.fr
3. Help, chosen among the supervisors of the doctoral school, can be offered for the preparation of the thesis or the dissertation 

• The work having been prepared before registration in the Validation of acquired experience, the accompanying helper is not a thesis director. They do not ensure the scientific direction of the research work, but guide the candidate in the preparation of the dissertation or thesis.
• They play the role of thesis director for the defense (in particular to propose the defense)

Documents relating to the preparation of a validation of the experience acquired

• Procedure  

dd_vae_doctorat_procedure_fev2025.pdf

• Admissibility file 

• The vademecum "Validation of the experience acquired and PhD" 

• Tariffs  

A PhD application is a complete package that includes

• A candidate with a research project
• An original thesis topic
• A thesis director
• A team to host the research
• A proposed funding or proof that the material and financial conditions necessary for the successful completion of the doctoral thesis will be met

Candidates apply to the doctoral school that their research or team unit is attached to via the Université Paris-Saclay application portal. Their PhD director must also be attached to that doctoral school. 

An application is considered to have been submitted only once it has been completed and finalised. To do this, candidates must : 

1. Have submitted all the documents requested by the doctoral school:
   - A thesis subject
   - Information on the contions of the doctoral programme (thesis supervision, research unit)
   - CV
   - Transcripts
   - Other documents required by the doctoral school
2. Obtain a favourable opinion from the thesis director
3. Obtain a favourable opinion from the research or team unit director to wich the thesis directors responds

The application process is carried out via the Internet tool ADUM - an administrative tool for management of the PhD, from application to graduation. 
Data recorded in ADUM are subjected to the RGPD regulations. 

Once the complete file has been submitted and the application has been finalised, it is examined by the doctoral school to which the applicant belongs. 

1. In case of a favourable opinion on the application file, the candidate then presents their doctoral project and previous research experience during an audition, in front of an admission committee organised by the doctoral scool. This hearing is required in both initial formation and lifelong training, and regardless of the proposed funding arrangements and the manner in which the thesis preparation is to be carried out..
2. If the admissions committee gives a favourable opinion, the future PhD student may register for the first time.