Each PhD student following a CREAD programme is affiliated to the university their thesis supervisor depends on (i.e. Rennes 2 University or Brest University -UBO) and is attached to the Social and Human Sciences doctoral School (SHS ED 507).
Registrations are supervised at the beginning of the academic year by a Profesor (Professeur des Universités or PU) or a Senior Lecturer/ Reader (Maître de Conférences or MCF) who has to be entitled to advise doctoral students (HDR). PhD applicants should contact their supervisor several months before registrations to make sure that their research proposal is consistent with the unit scientific orientations.
If not yet affiliated to the unit’s research when first contacting a thesis supervisor, applicants must provide the following documents:
- A short CV (1 to 3 page-s);
- A cover letter defining a research project in Educational Sciences and presenting the candidate’s expected material conditions (e.g. financial support)_ (1 to 3 page-s) ;
- A short written proposal, which indicates the aims and justification of the thesis regarding a social and scientific context, the main research questions, literature, methodology and investigated work covered (4 to 6 page-s).
- The candidate’s Master’s dissertation.
The research supervisor might need further contents and also ask the candidate to fill in funding application forms. The project the applicant is aiming for might imply joint directions or an international jointly supervised “co-tutelle” agreement .
Once your supervisor has approved your project, the application must be accepted by the unit’s directors and the Doctoral School’s director, whose decision will be based on the candidate’s scientific project.
Once the application has been fully accepted, the doctoral student enrols a three-year research project and has to organise his/her work time rigorously. Once a year s/he will present the progress of his/her work in front of a committee to check that the project is advancing as it should.
The doctoral student also takes an active part in the unit’s life and activities (seminars, PhD students’ Day, meetings, etc.). With approval of his research director(s), s/he is required to give national and international lectures.
For further information on the UEB (Université Européenne de Bretagne) International Doctoral College