Doctoral studies

 

Preparing a Doctoral Degree in Engineering Sciences/Thesis under joint sponsorship by French and foreign higher education institutions

Preparing a Doctoral Degree in Engineering Sciences

Obviously, doctoral studies are the most important scientific exchange programmes of engineering schools or universities (percentage of foreign doctoral students in ENPC : more than 50 %, in ENST : 43 %, in INSA, the Institut National Polytechnique, UTC... : 40 %).

The duration of the preparation of a doctoral degree is from 3 to 5 years, according to the following scheme :

  • a first year for the DEA (Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondies), which is a preparatory and qualifying year for doctorate studies, including lectures and research work and being concluded by the presentation of a thesis
  • two to four years devoted to research work leading to the writing and the presentation of the doctorate thesis.

Candidates selection and admission are under the responsibility of a committee which usually meets twice, in June and September.

Admission may occur at two levels :

  • DEA-level (Ph.D. qualifying year) for foreign students whose degree is at least at a bac+4 level; the DEA is usually considered as a preparatory year for the doctorate thesis, but it may also be a final degree ; in some engineering schools, students registered in the last year of the engineering curriculum may prepare simultaneously the DEA, with some additional research work;
  • thesis preparation level (after exemption from DEA) for foreign students whose degree is at least at the engineering degree or bac+5 level.

There is no automatic equivalence system for recognizing foreign degrees. The admission committees, when deciding the admission of students in DEA or thesis studies, take into account all previous studies of the candidates, their grades, personal projects ... and their ability to follow the French doctoral studies. Therefore, a good foreign engineering degree does not guarantee exemption from the DEA.

Before worrying about administrative procedures for registering in doctoral studies, the candidate should get in touch with the faculty member in charge of the program, in order to tell him about his ideas and motivation.

Thesis under joint sponsorship by French and foreign higher education institutions

In January, 1994, the French Minister for Higher Education and Research decided to authorize French higher education institutions to give doctor titles jointly with their foreign equivalent. This aims at developing scientific cooperation between French and foreign research teams by easing mobility of Ph.D. students.

These thesis are being alternatively prepared within both institutions under the supervision of both advisers. The thesis has to be written in one of the national languages of both countries, and a summary has to be written in the other language. The thesis is submitted only once to a jury including the same number of scientific representatives of both countries.

The list of the DEA programmes is available :

  • in the "catalogue du CEFI des DEA en Sciences de l'Ingenieur", available in French Embassies (Scientific services)or at CEFI -7 rue Lamennais - 75008 Paris - Tél +33-(0)1-42 89 15 73 - Fax : +33-(0)1-42 56 04 5 ;
  • on the Internet network, under URL : http://cri.ensmp.fr/~cefi