Requirements to a PhD registration

To be eli­gible to enrol for a the­sis, can­di­dates must hold a master’s degree from a French uni­ver­si­ty or an equi­va­lent master’s‑level qua­li­fi­ca­tion awar­ded fol­lo­wing an edu­ca­tio­nal pro­gramme demons­tra­ting an abi­li­ty for research. 

Can­di­dates who have achie­ved an equi­va­lent level in a forei­gn uni­ver­si­ty and can­di­dates bene­fi­ting from accre­di­ta­tion for work expe­rience (VAE) may enrol by pro­vi­ding evi­dence of master’s‑level stu­dies appro­ved by the Direc­tor of the Doc­to­ral School (request for a spe­cial dis­pen­sa­tion to make at the application). 

Can­di­dates must have a cer­ti­fied B1 level of pro­fi­cien­cy in English (Com­mon Euro­pean Fra­me­work of Refe­rence for Lan­guages). Ce niveau est attes­té par la pré­sen­ta­tion du résul­tat à un test offi­ciel (voir la liste des tests recon­nus par l’UTC). UTC stron­gly recom­mends that can­di­dates have a B2 level of pro­fi­cien­cy in English.

Sub­mit your application:

• for a spe­ci­fic the­sis topic (see the tab Fin­ding a the­sis sub­ject)
• a spe­ci­fic the­sis super­vi­sor (or super­vi­sors) from UTC Doc­to­ral School (see the tab Fin­ding a the­sis sub­ject)
• a UTC research unit (labo­ra­to­ry) (even if the the­sis is part­ly done out­side UTC)
• the doc­to­ral candidate’s fun­ding for the the­sis dura­tion (at least 3 years). (see Finan­cial sup­port for PhD studies)

Tuition fees

By deci­sion of the French Minis­try of Edu­ca­tion, the tui­tion fees for the aca­de­mic year 2023–2024 are set at:

• Doc­to­rate, HDR: 380 €.
• CVEC (contri­bu­tion to student and cam­pus life): 100 €
  Consult  https://cvec.etudiant.gouv.fr / to pay this contri­bu­tion. To help you with this pro­cess, the CROUS pro­vides free tele­phone assis­tance ser­vice on +33 1.40.51.62.00 or +33 1.40.51.37.35 (for English-spea­king inter­na­tio­nal students).

• Sports asso­cia­tion (optio­nal): €30
• The “Trem­plin” UTC alum­ni net­work (optio­nal): 14 €.
• Stu­dents’ Union BDE-RED (optio­nal): 20 €.
• The “Trem­plin” UTC alum­ni net­work (optio­nal): 14 €.
• Stu­dents’ Union BDE-RED (optio­nal): 20 €.

The awarding of a UTC doctorate

The condi­tions rela­ting to the awar­ding of a UTC doc­to­rate are set out in detail in the Doc­to­ral School Inter­nal Regu­la­tions (Règle­ment inté­rieur de l’école doc­to­rale), article 13:

• Wri­ting of a the­sis manus­cript and defence before a PhD exa­mi­ning board
• Having had some trai­ning courses vali­da­ted by the Doc­to­ral School (scien­ti­fic and tech­ni­cal skills, pro­fes­sio­nal skills and lan­guage skills)
• Having attai­ned the B2 level in English (cer­ti­fi­cate to be pre­sen­ted by the doc­to­ral candidate)
• Having had his or her research work reco­gni­zed, either through a patent or through the publi­ca­tion of work in at least one top-level jour­nal or inter­na­tio­nal confe­rence.

The award of a doctorate as a validation of professional experience (VAE)

On the basis of pro­fes­sio­nal research expe­rience and ori­gi­nal research work you might apply for a vali­da­tion of pro­fes­sio­nal expe­rience (VAE in French) to get a doc­to­rate. Research work can have hap­pen out­side aca­de­mia (i.e. in a R&D office in a com­pa­ny). Can­di­dates should contact UTC’s VAE office.