I am currently a PhD student

In accordance with the decree of 26 August 2022 amending the decree of 25 May 2016, the doctoral student's individual monitoring committee ensures that the programme is progressing smoothly, based on the doctoral charter and the training agreement.

The doctoral student's individual monitoring committee provides support for the student throughout the duration of the doctorate. It must meet before registration in the second year and then before each new registration until the end of the PhD.

The interviews are organised in three distinct stages:
1. Presentation of progress and discussion,
2. interview with the doctoral student without the thesis director,
3. interview with the thesis director without the doctoral student.

During the interview with the doctoral student, the committee assesses the conditions of his/her training and the progress of his/her research. During this same interview, it is particularly vigilant in identifying any form of conflict, discrimination, moral or sexual harassment or sexist behaviour. It makes recommendations and sends a report of the interview to the director of the doctoral school, the doctoral student and the thesis director.

In case of difficulty, the doctoral student's individual monitoring committee alerts the doctoral school, which takes any necessary measures concerning the doctoral student's situation and the progress of the doctorate.

The Monitoring Committee is composed of

For full-time PhD students: from the 4th year onwards
For part-time doctoral students: from the 7th year onwardsAn additional period may be granted as an exception by the head of the institution on the proposal of the ED director after the ED/CED office has given its opinion.

Procedure and documents to be provided by the doctoral student one week before the date of the derogation commission:

For this authorisation, the committee is particularly vigilant about the state of progress of the work and will base its decision on the opinion issued by the 3rd year or 6th year thesis committee.

NB: this derogation can be granted to doctoral students who have an elective mandate in the university and component councils, who are employed (except for financed theses and for part-time doctoral students) on production of a certificate from their employer, who have been on sick leave (with supporting documents) and to doctoral students who have had a child during the thesis preparation period.

Specific case : Simplification of the registration exemption request file if the doctoral student registered between 01/04 and 30/06 in the first year. Simplification of the file by only sending: 2 CST, letter of request from the doctoral student to the President of a new year, request for authorisation to register, letter of support from the thesis director.

Schedule of derogation commissions for the year 2022/2023
- Thursday 22 September 2022
- Wednesday 19 October 2022
- Wednesday 16 November 2022

Beforehand, the ED checks that the candidate has fulfilled his/her training obligations.

Special condition for ED536 :
To be authorised to defend, the doctoral student must at least validate his/her research work by, depending on the disciplinary sector (see policy of the corresponding CNU sections):
an article submitted (with proof of submission) as first author in an international journal (indexed in the ISI database or referenced by the HCERES), or a patent application. Exceptions may be granted upon justification (e.g. theses with a confidentiality clause).

Two rapporteurs qualified to direct research are appointed by the director of the ED on the proposal of the thesis director. The corresponding form (Annex A on the doctoral student's ENT) must be submitted to the ED between 8 and 6 weeks before the defence (recommended deadline: 2 months). At the same time, the doctoral student sends his/her thesis manuscript to the rapporteurs.
Rapporteurs must be external to the ED and to the candidate's institution; they may belong to foreign higher education or research institutions. A person having participated in the undivided thesis monitoring committee or having signed one or more publications with the doctoral student during his/her thesis cannot be proposed as a rapporteur. He/she may, however, participate in the jury as an examiner, or even be jury president.
For any person proposed as rapporteur who is not a rank A, a cv mentioning the date of obtaining the HDR must be provided.
The rapporteurs give their opinion in written reports on the basis of which the director of the ED authorises the defence. These reports are communicated to the jury and to the candidate before the defence.

 

NB Important The doctoral student must complete and return to the ED secretariat the authorisation form for the dissemination of the thesis (appendix C), a CV detailing his/her publications as well as his/her manuscript in a single file in PDF format. The cover page template must be used (only the first page is compulsory, the plan or the content can be adapted according to the disciplinary constraints or the wishes of each person).
Here: LaTex template of the cover page
The appendices can be downloaded from the doctoral student's ENT.

 

The other members of the jury (examiners) are designated by the director of the ED upon proposal of the thesis director. The corresponding form (Annex B on the doctoral student's ENT) must be submitted to the ED at the latest 4 weeks before the thesis defence. The validation of the Annex B can only take place after reception of the rapporteurs' reports.
The number of jury members is between 4 and 8. It is composed of :

NB: The people involved in the management of the thesis participate in the jury. They are therefore taken into account in the rules for the constitution of the jury (ratio of rank A to rank B, ratio of external to internal, M/F balance) and take part in the discussion of the jury with the doctoral student. However, they do not take part in the deliberation behind closed doors and do not sign the minutes of the deliberation (appendix D).
They sign the defence report, which must however specify that the final decision was taken by the members of the jury, except for those involved in the direction of the thesis, the information sheet on your defence must be returned to the ED manager at least two weeks before the planned defence date.

Some information:

The defence is public, unless an exception is granted by the head of the establishment if the subject of the thesis is of a proven confidential nature.
In its deliberations, the jury assesses the quality of the candidate's work and oral presentation, as well as his/her ability to discuss his/her results and their extensions in response to the jury's questions.
Exceptionally, and with the exception of its chairman, the members of the jury may take part in the defence by videoconference.

Admission to the doctoral degree or deferral is then pronounced.
Corrections to the manuscript (to be made within three months of the defence) may be requested from the candidate before the authorisation of reproduction and the delivery of the diploma.

The president draws up a report of the defence countersigned by each member of the jury. There is no longer any mention. The defence report is sent to the candidate within one month of the defence.

At the end of the defence and in case of admission, the doctor takes an oath, individually committing himself to respect the principles and requirements of scientific integrity in his future professional career, whatever the sector or field of activity.

The doctoral oath of scientific integrity is as follows:
"In the presence of my peers.
Having completed my doctorate in [xxx], and having thus practised, in my quest for knowledge, the exercise of demanding scientific research, cultivating intellectual rigour, ethical reflexivity and respect for the principles of scientific integrity, I undertake, insofar as I am concerned, in the continuation of my professional career, whatever the sector or field of activity, to maintain integrity in my relationship with knowledge, my methods and my results.

• Who is affected?

Doctoral students
- who register from September 2022, sign the amended doctoral charter of their institution, which includes the principle and the text of the oath. At the end of their defence, these new doctors will take the oath.
- enrolled before September 2022 and concerned by a re-registration, will be offered, at the time of their re-registration, the signature of an amendment to the doctoral charter of their institution, in which the principle and the text of the oath are included. At the end of their defence, these new doctors, having signed the amended charter, will take the oath.
- registered before September 2022 and due to defend their thesis from that date, but not subject to re-registration (defence before 31 December 2022), do not have to sign the amended doctoral charter of their institution, but may take the oath on a voluntary basis, in the framework of the arrangements implemented by their registration institution

• How is an oath taken?

According to the terms of the decree, the oath is taken individually during the defence, once the candidate has been declared admitted.
This stage of the defence is recorded in the minutes, according to the procedures defined by the institution.
To this end, Annex D (minutes) has been amended accordingly.
The jury president must specify on appendix D (by ticking the dedicated box) whether the doctoral student has taken an oath.

The English version of the oath :
"In the presence of my peers. With the completion of my doctorate in [research field], in my quest for knowledge, I have
carried out demanding research, demonstrated intellectual rigour, ethical reflection, and respect for the principles of research
integrity. As I pursue my professional career, whatever my chosen field, I pledge, to the greatest of my ability, to continue to
maintain integrity in my relationship to knowledge, in my methods and in my results.

•  Request for an in camera defence

Exceptionally, a doctoral defence may be held in camera if the thesis is of a proven confidential nature. In this case, the thesis must be subject to confidentiality undertakings by the rapporteurs and members of the Jury and, where applicable, to confidentiality undertakings by the public invited to attend the defence. An embargo on the diffusion of the thesis, of a duration greater than or equal to the duration of confidentiality, must also be foreseen. The request for an in camera defence must be made to the head of the institution, the services in charge of the legal deposit of theses and their diffusion must be informed of the decision:

The thesis may be written in a foreign language. An authorisation must be requested by the doctoral student and addressed to the Director of his/her ED. Each request will be examined on a case-by-case basis.
If the application is accepted, the doctoral student must accompany his/her foreign language manuscript with a minimum 30-line abstract in French.

This individual prize of EUR 1,500 is intended to reward doctoral research of the highest quality within the framework of the EUR's multidisciplinary programme.
Only doctoral students with the Implanteus label are allowed to apply.How to apply
Within 2 months of the thesis defence, the candidate for the prize must send the following documents to the EUR Project Manager (sylvie.fayard@univ-avignon.fr):
- a letter co-signed by the thesis director highlighting the quality of the doctoral research
- the thesis manuscript in pdf format
- the defence report
- publications (pdf format) reporting this research in international peer-reviewed journals (if not already included in the manuscript).

At the end of the academic year, the EUR Executive Committee (possibly assisted by external experts) will select the winner of the prize.
The award will be officially presented to the winner by the EUR Director at the doctoral graduation ceremony.

Exceptionally,
- for 2022/2023 for a 3rd year doctoral student who holds the label and has defended before June 2023, the prize may be awarded in the same year.
- for 2023/2024 for a 2nd year doctoral student holding the label and having defended before June 2024, the prize may be awarded that same year.