Conditions for defending a thesis
The right to defend a thesis may be refused or postponed if the doctoral student has not regularly attended the compulsory doctoral or master’s courses, unless an exemption is justified.
To be authorised to defend a doctoral thesis, candidates must :
- have been registered for at least two consecutive years after obtaining the Master’s degree or diploma accepted as equivalent and be registered for the current academic year;
- have carried out at least one research stay in a partner laboratory;
- validate the 60 credits as specified in article 5.3. of these internal regulations;
- have at least one article from their thesis published in an indexed scientific journal. The doctoral student must be the first author.
- Have made a private pre-defence presentation before a jury composed of senior lecturers proposed by the head of the training office and validated by the Director of the EDP. After the pre-defence, the jury’s opinion is sent to the EDP to authorise the doctoral student to continue or not to continue the stages leading up to the defence.
Have made a private pre-defence presentation before a jury composed of senior lecturers proposed by the head of the training office and validated by the Director of the EDP. After the pre-defence, the jury’s opinion is sent to the EDP to authorise the doctoral student to continue or not to continue the stages leading up to the defence.
This procedure takes place in five (05) stages.
Step 1
At the request of the thesis director, the head of the URMI-SEA office submits the application file to the Ecole Doctorale Polytechnique (EDP). This file must include:
- A report on the thesis written by the thesis director.
- The request for authorisation to defend the thesis with a proposal for three (03) referees ranked in order of preference. (The referees must not be co-authors of publications with the doctoral student).
- One PDF copy of the thesis and three (03) paper copies containing the publications resulting from the thesis.
- Copies of publications with proof of indexing in the journals in which they are published.
Step 2
The doctoral school carries out an anti-plagiarism test and ensures that the authorship of the work is uncontested. The Doctoral School verifies the indexation of the journals in which publications have been made (publication of at least one scientific article published or accepted by a journal of recognized scientific standing in the SCOPUS catalog).
Step 3
- The EDP Director refers the matter to the EDP Scientific Council (SC), which is empowered to validate the list of rapporteurs submitted or to modify the list.
- The rapporteurs have 30 days to submit their reports to the Scientific Council. After this deadline, another rapporteur should be appointed on the proposal of the EDP Scientific Council, who must submit his report under the same conditions.
Step 4
- After receiving positive opinions from at least two rapporteurs, the Scientific Advisory Board sends a summary report and authorization to defend to the Director of the EDP.
- The thesis director proposes the composition of the jury to the Director of UMRI-SEA for validation, who forwards it to the EDP management for approval, with a proposed date for the defense;
- The number of jury members is between five (05) and seven (07), including at least two from outside the EDP. In the case of a strict minimum of five members, the jury must include a president, the thesis director, two rapporteurs and one examiner. The last three may not, under any circumstances, be co-authors of articles with the doctoral student or thesis director on the subject of the thesis.
- The defense jury must be composed exclusively of professors of magisterial rank or of a level deemed equivalent. It may, however, include research engineers with recognized experience and competence in the field of the thesis. It is chaired by a full professor or research director appointed from among the jury members by the EDP Director, on the advice of the candidate’s thesis director or co-directors.
- Authorization to defend a thesis is granted by the ENSEA General Manager upon request from the EDP Director. This request must be accompanied by four (4) reports (2 rapporteurs’ reports, the thesis director’s supervision report, the Scientific Council’s summary report), a copy of the thesis, a jury proposal and the date of the defense. This date must be at least 15 days from the date the application is sent to the ENSEA Director.
Step 5
After authorization by the ENSEA Director, the doctoral supervisor signs the cover letter and forwards a copy of the thesis to each member of the jury, together with the date of defense. This date must allow at least 20 days for each member of the jury to examine the thesis.
The pre-rapporteurs’ reports authorizing or refusing the defense must reach the Doctoral School no later than three weeks before the scheduled defense date.