Doctoral studies
[CHAPO] At the crossroads of higher education and research, doctoral studies provide candidates with both research training and professional research experience. After successfully defending their thesis, candidates are awarded a doctoral degree, which is the highest university degree in higher education.
Undertaking doctoral studies
Undertaking a PhD entails a personal and original research work, carried out in the communal setting of a research unit and a doctoral school, thus ensuring that the doctoral project of every young researcher runs smoothly. Doctoral students generate knowledge using innovative scientific methods and tools, while undertaking an ambitious professional project.
Education through research enables doctoral students to develop scientific expertise and acquire a wide range of skills, which are not limited to academic research and can be applied to other fields. Thus, after defending their thesis, doctors will be able to access high-level management positions in all socio-economic sectors, anywhere in the world.
Becoming a doctor means becoming a leading professional in a given discipline, able to manage complex projects and to grasp and understand the challenges of an ever-changing, globalised world. Thanks to their skills and scientific expertise, PhD holders will be able to provide innovative answers to the main issues of our world.
Doing a PhD programme at Sorbonne University allows students to be trained in and through research at one of the best universities in the world, and to be mentored by renowned researchers to become a scientific expert with a wide array of generalist skills. It also means building a strategic vision of the world, allowing doctors to become key players in society.
Application process
The preparation of a PhD is based on a doctoral research project. This project defines the framework and contents of the training of doctoral students and specifies the conditions of completion. The project must enable doctoral candidates to aquire high-level scientific and professional skills.
In order to apply for a PhD, applicants must hold a master's degree, an engineering degree or an equivalent qualification, and need to submit a doctoral research project.
To start building a doctoral research project, you can:
- visit the websites of the doctoral schools related to the scientific field you are interested in,
- look up our doctoral programmes,
- get in touch with a researcher or professor at Sorbonne University who is working in your field of interest.
Once you have defined a doctoral research project, it needs to be validated by a researcher or professor (your future thesis director) from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. Then, you need to submit all the documents necessary to build your application file on the ADUM website.
Doctoral admission procedures follow an open, fair and transparent recruitment process. It is a priority for Sorbonne University to recruit excellent and motivated doctoral candidates who will commit themselves to an original scientific research project offering the best career prospects.
Once your application has been accepted, you will need to proceed with your administrative registration, first on the ADUM platform, and then on the IAWEB platform (the common administrative registration platform for all students at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities).
The full procedure is described on the webpage dedicated to registration procedure for doctorate candidates.
