Doing a Doctorate in any country is an exciting, but challenging journey in the world of science, which takes a lot of time and effort. Despite the National differences, international knowledge and best practice sharing is highly relevant and help achieve the destination.
Therefore, the French National Association of Doctorate Holders (ANDès) and the Confederation for Early Stage Researchers (CJC, a member of Eurodoc) have recently announced the publication of online free access of the Guide to a Doctorate in France, which may also be of use to PhD candidates from other countries.
The Preface to the Guide to a Doctorate in France was written by Giulia Malaguarnera, the former President of Eurodoc (2020/2021).
Introduction to the Guide to a Doctorate in France
The Guide to a Doctorate in France aims at constituting the best reference source to the different actors of the doctorate program. This guide presents, among others, the conditions, procedures, practices and advice relating to the organisation of the doctoral experience in France. This guide allows the readers to navigate between proper and improper practices regularly highlighted by both associations - ANDès and CJC.
This English guide has several goals, one of which is to spread the good practices of the French doctoral process to a large audience, both European and international, including current and future non-French speakers doctoral candidates and the different related organisations and formal institutions.
This guide in English is the translation of the French version of a good practice guide from the same authors. It was translated and published in its online version in 2022 by Spartacus IDH.
Direct access to the Guide on Spartacus IDH website.
List of the 23 chapters of the Guide to a Doctorate in France
Part 1 - Before the doctorate
- Challenges and actors of the doctoral programme
- Motivations: from idea to project
- Elaboration of a doctoral project
- Funding plan of the doctoral project
- Validation and selection of doctoral projects
- Publication and dissemination of the doctoral project
- Doctoral candidate recruitment procedure
- Finalisation of recruitment
Part 2 - During the doctorate
- Integration of new doctoral candidates
- Launch of the doctoral project
- Supervision and monitoring of the doctoral project
- Continuing professional education for doctoral candidates
- Activities beyond research during doctorate
- Duration of doctoral project and possible extension
- Conflict management during the doctorate
- Intellectual property and ethics
- Representation of doctoral candidates
- Thesis writing and defence
- Conclusion of the doctoral period
- Premature termination of doctorate
- Skills developed during the doctorate
Part 3 - After the doctorate
- Tracking the career development of doctorate holders
- Careers of doctorate holders
About the authors
The ANDès (Association Nationale des Docteurs) is a national association of doctorate holders. It is governed by the French law of July 1st, 1901. It was founded in 1970 and recognised as being of public utility in 1975. It brings together doctors of all disciplines, regardless of their age or professional status, whether they live in France or abroad. ANDès has three main missions:
- to promote the doctorate: to highlight the added value of the professional experience of the doctorate to reveal the skills of doctorate holders;
- to put the talents of doctors at the service of society: to contribute to the compartmentalisation of professional spheres by positioning doctors as ”cross-boundary assets”, taking advantage of their expertise and know-how in meeting the challenges of tomorrow’s world;
- to create and synergise networks of doctorate holders: to increase the collective visibility of doctors, enable each one to develop their professional network and encourage interactions between network creators.
The CJC (Confédération des Jeunes Chercheurs) is the confederation of early-stage researchers, a national and multidisciplinary association governed by the 1901 law. It gathers twenty associations of doctoral candidates and non-permanently employed doctorate holders, voluntarily involved in the valorisation of the doctorate and its recognition as a professional experience. At the national level, due to its expertise on the doctorate, it is a privileged interlocutor of the public authorities (Government, Parliament, National Council for Higher Education and Research ...) and of any structure wishing to exchange on the subject (associations, companies, unions ...). At the European level, it participates in the reflection on the doctorate and early-stage researchers through the federation of associations, Eurodoc, of which it is a founding member.