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Apply for a PhD

Successful PhD applications require rigorous preparation. Most future PhD students begin this during the final year of their Master's diploma. It is then that they need to start taking the various steps in the PhD application process to build up their application. PhDs are admitted, or not, by the doctoral school on the basis of this application. Full information about the various steps you need to take can be found below.

PhD stakeholders at the Université de Lyon

Research laboratory

This research facility will host you and provide you with all the tools you need to conduct your work.

Thesis supervisor

As an experienced researcher, your thesis supervisor will advise you and guide you throughout your PhD.

Operator institution

One of the higher education and research institutions that is a member of the Université de Lyon, with which you are registering as a doctoral student and which issues the doctoral degree.

Université de Lyon

It provides interdisciplinary training programs for PhD students and promotes PhDs within socio-economic sectors.

Doctoral school

One of the 17 doctoral schools to which you will be affiliated. It organizes your discipline-specific training program and supports you to develop your career plan.

Steps in the PhD application process

1.Choose a laboratory, supervisor and thesis topic

So you can begin building up your application, you need to contact the doctoral school's partner laboratories to find a thesis supervisor who will agree to monitor you throughout your PhD. They will also help you to identify your thesis topic. In some cases, the laboratory suggests a thesis topic and in others, the student must suggest a topic and justify his or her project.

2.Find funding

Funding equates to a salary for the PhD student's research work. Each operator institution sets a compulsory minimum amount for each month so that your enrollment as a PhD student can be confirmed. In most cases, your research team will help you find funding.

1.Prepare your application

Once your thesis topic has been identified and you have found a thesis supervisor, you may submit your application to the doctoral school. The doctoral school then considers the admissibility of the application against educational criteria (the candidate's level and motivations) and administrative criteria (required diplomas), and on the basis of the l'Arrêté du 25 mai 2016. The application should be sent to the doctoral school's administrative office and include all the required supporting documentation.