PhD defense at Sorbonne Université

Submission of the PhD manuscript

To submit the PhD thesis project to the committee, the candidate should contact the secretary:
Corentin Lacombe
Towers 15-25, 1st floor, office 117
Telephone: 01 44 27 79 88
E-mail: corentin.lacombe @ sorbonne-universite.fr (corentin.lacombe @ sorbonne-universite.fr)

The committee for PhD and HDR (CTH)

The role of the Sorbonne Université PhD and Habilitation committee, appointed by the École Doctorale 386, is to gather the reports that allow the defense in Mathematics. The meetings are monthly (except in August).

The next meetings of the committee will take place on:

• Tuesday 8 October 2024
• Tuesday 12 November 2024
• Tuesday 17 December 2024
• Tuesday 14 January 2025
• Tuesday 11 February 2025
• Tuesday 18 March 2025
• Tuesday 8 April 2025
• Tuesday 6 May 2025
• Tuesday 20 May 2025
• Tuesday 17 June 2025
• Tuesday 8 July 2025

Composition of the committee for PhD and HDR in mathematics

Outline of the procedure for a defense (then read the detailed description on this page very carefully):

1) sent in the final version of the PhD manuscript and the list of proposed referees to M. Lacombe by Thursday evening at the latest before a CTH meeting on Tuesday. M. Lacombe will send the manuscript to the referees selected by the CTH the day after the CTH meeting,

2) after receiving their acceptance (which may take some time), M. Lacombe will inform you of the names of the two referees, and you have to start the ADUM submission process, which requires, among other things, the names of the referees and jury, and the date of the defense.

NB: reports are requested in at most 6 weeks (10 weeks for theses submitted the 19th of June or the 10th of July), but have in mind that referees may take time to reply to Mr. Lacombe, that they may need more time than 6 weeks, that they may make preliminary reports requesting changes.

3) After receiving the final reports, the CTH must give its approval for the defense at a CTH meeting, and then generally 2 weeks are needed for administrative formalities before the day of the defense. In exceptional cases, the CTH can give its approval by e-mail within one or two days.

Conclusion: don't plan a too tight schedule. Any urgent situation (e.g. departure for a postdoc) should be mentioned to Mr. Lacombe from the beginning.

Choice of reviewers before starting the procedure via ADUM

The candidate gives to the secretary of the committee at latest Monday evening before a CTH reunion of Wednesday:

• a pdf file with a proposal list of at least 4 referees with their contact information. The position of the referees and their expertise in the different parts of the thesis must be specified. The referees must be qualified to lead research, outside the doctoral school (not belonging to the following laboratories: http://www.ed386.upmc.fr/fr/l_ecole_doctorale/unites_de_recherche.html) and Sorbonne Université, and not be in the immediate scientific neighborhood of the candidate and of the PhD advisor (for instance not be a former PhD student or recent colaborator of the PhD advisor). It is strongly recommended that two of the proposed referees work in France and two work abroad, in order to highlight the scientific quality of the work presented. The committee chooses the referees preserving this balance as much as possible. Candidates are expected to contact the proposed referees several months in advance to ensure their agreement in principle and their availability. The list of referees must be arranged in order of preference, and in general we expect a proposal of 2 referees practising in France and 2 abroad.
• an electronic version (pdf) of the final version of the PhD manuscript. Most of the PhD are written entirely in English. They can also be written in French, in full, or just the introduction, but foreign referees should be taken into account.
• the document requesting authorization to apply for defending the PhD, filled only on the first page and signed by the PhD advisor.

The committee appoints two referees, that the secretary communicates to the candidate.
The candidate can then start the dematerialized application via ADUM (https://www.sorbonne-universite.fr/recherche-et-innovation/le-doctorat/demarches-administratives/soutenance).

NB : The reports are requested from the referees within 6 weeks. Nevertheless, it is necessary to foresee possible delays due to the availability of the referees and to possible corrections required before the final report.

The thesis committee does not operate in August. The candidate must inform the secretary on changements of the email address. The candidate can contact the secretary at any time to know the status of his application.

Composition of the jury to be filled in on ADUM

The number of jury members is between 4 and 8. At least half of the jury members must be French or foreign personalities, external to the doctoral school and to the candidate's institution of registration and chosen for their scientific expertise, subject to additional constraints in case of international co-supervision of the PhD.

• At least half of the jury must be composed by professors or equivalent within the National Council of Universities meaning, or teachers of equivalent rank who are not under the authority of the ministry of higher education.
• It is desirable that the jury include a member affiliated to a research structure associated with Sorbonne Université, who is qualified to lead research, other than the PhD advisor.
• It must include at least one of the two thesis referees.
• Its composition must allow for a balanced representation of men and women.

For the equivalence of foreign qualifications, see: https://www.galaxie.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/ensup/pdf/EC_pays_etrangers/Tableau_comparaison_au_26_septembre_2012.pdf

Defense

The members of the jury choose a president and, if necessary, a referee for the defense, other than the PhD advisor. The president must be a professor or a teacher of equivalent rank.

The defense is public, except in the case of an exceptional dispensation granted by the head of the institution if the subject of the PhD is confidential.

Admission or deferral is pronounced after deliberation by the jury.

The president signs the defense report, which is then signed by all the members of the jury.

The defense report is sent to the candidate.