Doctoral students follow-up
Completing a PhD takes at least 3 years. Students should register every year.
From the 4th year of doctoral studies, registration requires an authorization.
NOTE: All e-mails for organizing the CSI must be cc-ed to ed393@sorbonne-universite.fr.
CAUTION! The CSI report is mandatory each year for registration.
Students follow-up
Doctoral students follow-up is guaranted by:
- the PhD progress committee (or CSI), and the DS follow-up committee for the doctoral students who registered since 2022;
- the tutor and the DS follow-up committee for the former PhD candidates.
1) The Doctoral School Follow-up committee (DSFC) is composed of the head of the DS follow-up committee, the director of the doctoral school, representatives of the supervisors of the DS, a representative of the doctoral students, and the administrative assistant of the DS. Additional participants may be invited by the members of the DS follow-up committee when the need is expressed.
2) The PhD progress committee (PPC) is composed of a specialist in the field, i.e. competent to judge the scientific content of the doctoral student's work, and a non-specialist chosen from among the DS supervisors. The specialist member is proposed by the doctoral student and his/her supervisor and must be approved by the doctoral school.
The role of the PPC is to establish, through direct exchange with the doctoral student and the supervisor, the possible difficulties encountered and the means implemented to overcome them. It ensures that the doctoral student is thinking about his or her career and that he or she is seeking or benefiting from training adapted to his or her research project and professional project. He/she ensures that the student is aware of research ethics and scientific integrity. If necessary, he/she informs the doctoral school and the competent authorities of any form of conflict, discrimination or harassment.
Follow-up procedures
The CSI (=PhD Progress Comittee) must be constituted in the semester following the 1st registration. A guide written by the Réseau National des Collèges Doctoraux is available here.
The doctoral student should contact the members of his/her CSI each year to organize a meeting.
The CSI meets during the first year of registration (between March and June) and then every year until the defense. The CSI meets for an indicative duration of one hour, in which three sequences (20' each indicative) are mandatory: 1 - a presentation of the progress of the doctoral student's work in the presence of the doctoral student and the supervisor, 2 - a discussion with the CSI and the supervisor alone, 3 - a discussion with the CSI and the doctoral student alone. In order to prepare for the meeting with the CSI, the doctoral student fills out a "CSI booklet" which gives an overview of current and future publications as well as teaching credits. No other written report is required in preparation for the CSI meeting - we expect that filling up the booklet should be the matter of one or 2 days, not more. The presentation of the results by the doctoral student during the session can be based on the classic scientific communication tools (slides, poster, etc.) . Videoconferencing is possible and encouraged.
At the end of this interview, the CSI sends a report to the doctoral school's Monitoring Committee using the dedicated space in the CSI booklet (it may be sent by the CSI directly, it may be sent by the PhD student, it may be placed directly in ADUM).
The evaluation carried out by the CSI allows the DSFC to judge the progress of the thesis and ensures equal treatment of all doctoral students. On the basis of the CSI recommendation, the DSFC can then schedule an interview with the PhD student. This interview will always be carried out: if it is requested by the doctoral student or his/her supervisor, if it is a 2nd re-registration (3rd year) in the absence of an article submitted during the 2nd year or if few teaching credits have been validated during this period, and for any re-registration starting from the 3rd year. If necessary, the DSFC will also hear the supervisor. The opinion of the DS Follow-up Committee is finally distributed to the doctoral student, his/her supervisor and the members of the CSI.
After this meeting and the interviews, the docotal school committee authorizes or not the re-enrolment of doctoral students in the 2nd and 3rd years, and any exemptions in the 4th year and beyond.
In addition to this regular follow-up, doctoral students and supervisors can meet with the doctoral school management at their convenience to discuss the progress of a PhD project.
In order to avoid conflicts of interest, CSI members cannot be part of the thesis jury. An exemption may be granted upon a justified request to the doctoral school.
A tutor is assigned to each doctoral student during the first year of registration. Each year, the doctoral student writes a yearbook describing the progress of his/her work until the defense.
Doctoral students must contact their tutors between April and June of the current year.
Before the interview, they must fill in the header of the tutor form and send it to their tutor, attaching an updated CV and the yearbook form (copy ed393@sorbonne-universite.fr).
The tutor form must be sent to the doctoral school, as well as the opinion of the thesis director on the doctoral student's re-registration.
The DS follow-up committee meets in July to examine the progress of each doctoral student's thesis.
At the end of this meeting, a personalized letter is sent to each doctoral student (with copies to the thesis director and the tutor).