As a doctoral student or supervisor, you will find below answers to questions you may have. If you cannot find the answer to your question, go to the Contacts section and find the person you need to contact!
Enrollment
Can a UBFC doctoral student register indifferently at UFC, uB or UTBM since the transfer to UBFC?
No, the place of registration is the supervisor’s home institution and attachment.
Can someone else in the research unit sign the administrative documents instead of the director?
When the signature of the director of the research unit is requested on the registration file (or any other administrative document), only he or someone with official signing authority can sign the document.
Procedures for foreign doctoral students
Can the prefecture require the school certificate to issue the residence permit?
No. There is no official document from the Prefecture that requires the schooling certificate to be attached to obtain/renew a residence permit. A certificate of pre-registration, signed by the director of the DS, is sufficient to obtain a receipt (valid for 3 months). The title will then be issued upon presentation of the proof of final registration (the schooling certificate or a certificate of final registration signed by the director of the DS).
What is the procedure to follow when a student becomes a salaried PhD student?
Salaried doctoral students who were previously students in France and who therefore have a “student” residence permit do not have to apply to renew their “student” residence permit but must change their status to “scientist”. They will have to present the hosting agreement issued by the employer and a work contract or employment certificate. They will then obtain a “Talent researcher” residence permit.
How should students whose residence permit expires before the start of the registration period proceed?
These students, who have graduated from a French higher education institution, must apply for a Provisional Residence Permit (PRP) at the Prefecture. This PRP will be marked “Student seeking a first job”.
The PRP is a residence permit, valid for one year and non-renewable (except for Indian nationals for whom it is valid for one year and renewable once), which allows foreign students who have graduated in France to look for a first job. As soon as they find a job and contract, they must change their status according to their situation. For those who become salaried doctoral students, they must apply for a “scientific” residence permit, based on the hosting agreement issued by the employer and the employment contract or hiring certificate.
The PRP is automatic: it must be requested within two months before the end of the validity of the residence permit, upon presentation of a certificate of successful completion of the degree.
Request for authorisation to register for the Habilitation to Direct Research
Can the experts chosen by the DS to study a request for authorisation to register for the HDR also be part of the jury?
Yes, especially since in some disciplines specialists are rare. But the DS must be vigilant about a possible conflict of interest with the candidate.
Can a foreign co-supervisor, who supervises theses in the institution but is not attached to a research unit of the doctoral school concerned, take his HDR at UBFC?
Yes, if the prerequisites are met and if it is at least attached to a French research unit. The decision is up to the DS, since it is the one that examines the application.
Training
How many courses do you have to attend during your PhD?
Each doctoral school defines its volume of compulsory training hours. Please contact the secretariat of your doctoral school to find out the minimum number of hours of training to be taken during your doctorate.
How many courses can be taken?
You are limited to 7 cross-cutting courses per year. There is no limit for courses specific to your doctoral school or for non-catalogue courses.
How do I get reimbursed for travel expenses to training courses?
You should contact your doctoral school to find out about the procedure for reimbursing your travel costs to courses.
When will I receive my registration confirmation?
You will receive your confirmation or refusal of registration a few days after the deadline for registration for the course.
I have registered for a course but I no longer wish to attend. What should I do?
If you have received your confirmation of participation, you must immediately notify the course manager of your withdrawal. Your place will be offered to another PhD student.
If you have not yet received your registration confirmation, you can cancel your registration request from your ADUM personal space > heading “Courses” > “Current courses” > “Delete”.
When will my training hours be validated?
Your training hours will be recorded once you have completed the training evaluation questionnaire.
When and how to access the training evaluation questionnaire?
At the end of the course, you will receive an e-mail asking you to fill in the course evaluation questionnaire.
The evaluation questionnaire will be accessible from your personal ADUM space > “Training” section > “Evaluation of training courses attended”.
How can I obtain my certificates of participation in the courses I attended during my PhD?
For the courses attended before September 2016, a certificate of attendance was sent to you at the end of each course. You must keep these certificates, which will be requested when you re-register as a doctoral student or when you defend your thesis.
The training courses followed since September 2016 appear in your “Summary of participation in training courses”. You will have to print and sign this summary with your doctoral school director for your re-registration in the doctoral programme or for your thesis defence.
How to validate the hours of a non-catalogue training?
You must submit your request for validation of “non-catalogue” training hours to your doctoral school director with proof of participation. Your doctoral school director will decide whether or not to validate these training hours.
DS ESM doctoral students must make their request for validation of off-catalogue training hours using the “Request for validation of off-list training hours” form available on the DS ESM website. This form, once filled in, must be sent to the DS ESM secretariat along with the proof of participation in the training.
How to register a non-catalogue course on ADUM?
After your doctoral school director has validated your “non-catalogue” training hours, you can enter the information (training title, field, location, date, number of validated hours) in your ADUM personal space > “Training” > “Non-catalogue training” section. You must attach your proof of attendance in pdf format.
The information will be validated by the training manager of your doctoral school.
I am a doctoral student outside UBFC and I would like to participate in one of your cross-disciplinary training courses. What do I have to do?
You must send your request by e-mail to the manager of the desired course, attaching a copy of your student card and a certificate from your thesis director authorising you to follow the course.
Co-supervision of thesis
When a co-director without an HDR is already in progress, must the co-director regularise his situation by applying to the CAC UBFC for a co-director without an HDR?
The procedure must be applied systematically for any new co-direction, but there is no obligation to apply for a co-direction already in progress on 1 September 2017.
Can a thesis be co-supervised by 2 co-directors?
No, since the order of 25 May 2016, there can only be one academic co-director. However, there can be a second co-director if he is not an academic, but is an expert from the socio-economic world. If two people apply for co-directorships without HDR for the same thesis, it is up to the thesis director, in agreement with the director of the research unit, to choose which candidate can apply. The name of the second candidate and his role in the supervision can be indicated in the Individual Training Agreement. If necessary, his contribution may be valued by the CNU by co-authoring articles with the doctoral student.
Defense
What documents do I need to provide to the jury on the day of the defence and where can I find them?
The following documents must be provided to the jury: PV of defense, report of defense, note to the jury, electronic submission form before the defense. They can be downloaded from the doctoral student’s personal space once the defence authorisation has been entered (under the heading Administrative documents).
Rapporteurs appointed for a doctoral or HDR defence must, according to the procedure, not have a joint publication with the candidate. What exactly do we mean by “joint publication”?
These are co-authored articles published since the thesis. Book chapters are not counted if the rapporteur and the candidate are authors of different chapters in the same book. This being said, it is necessary, as always, to interpret the regulations with discernment and not to be too strict in their application, in order not to block the evaluation process if, obviously, there is no conflict of interest between the rapporteurs and the candidate. The director of the DS can always ask for further details about past or current collaborations between them. One should not forget that in some disciplines specialists are rare, and therefore know/collaborate with each other.
International thesis co-supervision
In the framework of an International thesis co-supervision, can a co-director be associated with the French thesis director?
Yes, the number of directors/codirectors in the country of co-supervision does not count towards the limit of 1 academic co-director set by the Order of 25 May 2016.