Engage in doctoral research

Funding your research

The doctoral contract

The doctoral contract is a fixed-term contract (3 years) between the EPHE-PSL and a doctoral student in order to allow the doctoral student to be fully devoted to researching and writting the thesis

The recruitment campaign takes place in May-June of each year for the following year. Candidates must submit an application file and then are interviewed. A ranking of candidates is created by the PhD Program Council according to the quality of the candidate's curriculum, the quality of the thesis project and its oral presentation as well as the scientific balance of the project within the PhD Program. The recruitment of selected candidates occurs only after registration for a doctorate.

Other sources of funding exist depending on the research themes: the French Schools abroad offer their own doctoral contracts, as well as the INHA, the EFEO, etc. The information can be found in the Carnets de l'ED.

Financing of research costs (mobility, etc.)

The PhD Program can authorize one-off grants for the financing of a mission abroad, the organization of a study day, archival research, etc. The request, reasoned and quantified, can be made at any time of the year to the PhD Program using this form. It must be accompanied by a letter of support from the thesis director. The PhD Program grants aid in co-financing in equal parts with the doctoral student's home unit or with another structure. 

The DT office meets monthly to review applications. Dates of the next Doctoral School offices: Monday 12 February, Thursday 28 March 2024.

The Vademecum of financial aid for research gives you the information you need to submit an application.

For long-term research trips abroad, the ED offers a long-term mobility grant. Similarly, the Île-de-France region offers funding for this type of research trip.

Co-supervision, co-supervision, international co-supervision

If the research subject requires it, the thesis supervision provided by a member of ED 472 may be supplemented by another colleague from ED 472 or another institution, whose specific skills may prove useful to the supervision.

There are three types of solutions:

1. if the second thesis director is a lecturer or a research fellow, it is co-supervison;
2. if the second thesis director is a professor or is assimilated to this rank, it is co-directon;
3. If the second thesis director carries out his or her duties in a foreign institution, it is a co-supervision.

A co-supervision with a foreign second thesis director commits a foreign institution to award a second diploma. In contrast, a co-supervision in France only commits a colleague to supervise the thesis in collaboration with the thesis director at the EPHE, but does not commit the second French institution to a second degree; the doctorate thus obtained is awarded only by the EPHE-PSL.

Co-supervision and co-direction are formalized by an agreement set up by ED 472 and signed by the two supervisors and by the presidents of the two institutions. The agreement should be established in the first year of the doctoral training.

To establish an international doctoral co-supervision, an agreement must be signed between the EPHE - PSL and the partner institution, from the first year of the thesis or, at the latest, from the beginning of the second.

• Doctoral students enrolled for the first time at the EPHE-PSL can refer to the procedure for setting up "outgoing" international doctoral co-supervision accessible in the EPHE-PSL Students tab of the International Relations section.
• Doctoral students enrolled for the first time in a foreign institution can refer to the procedure for setting up "incoming" international doctoral co-supervision accessible in the International Students tab of the International Relations section.

Who to contact? International Relations Department

Individual Monitoring Committee (ISC)

As part of the ED training mission and preparation for professional integration as defined in art. 13 of the Decree of 25 May 2016 on doctoral training, the establishment of "Individual Monitoring Committees" (CSI) required for all doctoral students enrolled at PhD Program 472, regardless of the specialisation.

The CSI is compulsory from the second year of the doctorate, with a view to any re-enrolment in the third year or more, but it can take place from the first year, if the doctoral student and/or the thesis director so wishes.

The CSI's objectives include providing additional assistance in monitoring the doctoral student's research work through an external perspective, completing the support functions that the thesis director is responsible for, advising the doctoral student on research training and—at the end of the doctoral course—on professionalization.

In the event of scientific, material or relational difficulties, the CSI can also mediate or warm the director of the PhD Prohram 472 and the heads of the specialisation.

A CSI report must be sent in electronic format to the relevant manager to validate the registration. In all cases, the opinion of the CSI is advisory. The thesis director and the doctoral student make final decisions pertaining to academic matters. The head of the institution, or the director of the PhD Program, after consultation with the admission committees make final decisions pertaining to administrative follow-up, renewal of registration and the terms of the defense).

Doctoral career

The PhD Program of the EPHE-PSL (ED 472) has introduced a doctoral course. Currently, doctoral students enroll in this course on a voluntary basis. The Course is open to students who have enrolled in the first year of a doctorate from the start of the 2013-2014 academic year. Any doctoral student wishing to participate should complete this form and send it to the secretariat of the PhD Program.

The doctoral course is completed in three years (in accordance with the reference period for the preparation of the doctorate). During these three years, the doctoral student must acquire 180 ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) credits, of which 150 (= 3 x 50) are for the thesis itself and attending the thesis director's seminar, and 30 according to a course whose modalities are indicated on the form and the explanatory note.

To validate their doctoral career, the doctoral student must keep certificates of attendance or attestations of all activities relating to the theoretical or practical training followed, to the promotion, or to the organization of research and teaching. It is the responsibility of the doctoral student to keep the originals of these supporting documents and to send the scanned documents, once a year (before September 15 of each academic year of the doctoral course) and in a single PDF file, to the administrative department of the ED.

In addition to the scanned supporting documents, the file will also include a complete enumerative list of all these documents as well as the completed doctoral course sheet. In the second half of September, the PhD Program Office will check the forms completed and submitted by the doctoral student and validate them. The student will then receive a certificate obtaining ECTS credits for the academic year concerned.