Doctoral programs

The "Doctorate" (PhD) is a three year research program leading to a thesis. INPL awards around a hundred PhD's per year and 30 percent of INPL PhD's are awarded to foreign students.

Organization of Doctoral Studies

The training of Doctoral students takes place in “Doctoral schools”. Each Doctoral school has its own scientific training project. INPL has 4 Doctoral Schools. Each Doctoral School gathers between 10 and 26 laboratories common to INPL and Lorraine universities (Université Henri Poincaré in Nancy, Université Paul Verlaine in Metz, Université Nancy 2….). The students carry out their research in the research laboratories that are members of the Doctoral School :

The doctoral schools recognized by INPL are :

Biology, Health, Environment (BIOSE)
- Biological Engineering

Energy, Mechanics, Materials (EMMA)
10 laboratories
- Mechanics and Energy
- Physics and Chemistry of condensed matter
- Materials Science and Engineering

Resources, Process, Products, Environment (RP2E)
26 laboratories
- Process and Product Engineering
- Industrial system engineering
- Food and Biotechnological Process
- Civil Engineering, Hydrosystems, Geotechnics
- Agronomy
- Geoscience
- Subsoil and soil science

Computer Science, Automation, Electronics and Mathematics (IAEM Lorraine)
11 laboratories
- Architecture
- Electrical Engineering
- Computer science
- Automation and signal processing
- Medical Radiation and Imaging

The PhD Curriculum

The normal duration for the preparation of a PhD is three years.

In the first and second years of preparation of their doctoral degrees, doctoral students must take 4 modules of 20 hours (2 per year) organized by the Doctoral school. All Doctoral schools offer:

• 2 scientific modules in research laboratories: course selection has to be approved by the Director of the Thesis,
• 2 professional modules: not applicable to PhD students completing a jointly supervised thesis (“thèse en co-tutelle”).

Doctoral schools organize annual seminars to improve the employability of their students. These seminars, called “Doctoriales”, are run in co-operation with industry. Additional courses in foreign languages, economics, etc., are also offered with a view to preparing students for employment.

Jointly supervised PhD theses

Some theses can be prepared under the joint supervision of two institutions. One must be a French university, and the other must be a foreign university or institution. An agreement (pdf file) defines the procedures for the admission of doctoral students in such circumstances, the duration of the preparation in each institution, the language in which the thesis is to be written, as well as the procedures for the evaluation, the final defense, and the type of diploma that is delivered (either a joint or a double diploma)  by the two institutions. The principle of reciprocity is applied in such cases.

The student must spend at least 30 % of the total duration of the thesis at the French university. The stay  can be divided in successive periods of 3 to 9 months. Funding is only necessary for the actual duration of the stay at INPL.

Admission requirements

Applicants should contact the head of the laboratory (pdf file) in which they plan to do their PhD thesis and submit the following documents : 

• a resume (CV) and a letter of motivation
• record of studies including transcript of grades
• a letter of recommendation from the supervisor of the Master’s thesis (or from the supervisor of the graduate engineering program)

All candidates must have a funding to enrol as a PhD student at INPL.

Financing

Doctoral students have several possibilities for the funding of their theses:

• Grants (from French embassies, Lorraine Regional Council, Agence Universitaire pour la Francophonie, Country of origin, “Eiffel Doctorants” program for joint Phd Theses…). Applicants are expected to contact the funding organizations directly about the possibility of obtaining a grant.
  
• Funding by the laboratory (industrial contracts)
  
• Research allowances from the French Ministry to Doctoral students designated by the Universities (priority is given to French students and to students who have completed their Master’s studies in France)

Usual financing ranges from 1,200 € to 2,000 € per month before tax.