Thesis defense

The PhD student must enter his thesis defense and the composition of the jury on the ADUM information system at least 2 months before the scheduled date.

Practical advice

To write your thesis manuscript: https://college-doctoral.u-bordeaux.fr/en/The-doctorate/Writing-the-thesis. For double degree students (cotutelle): The formatting instructions are exactly the same as those for University of Bordeaux theses, with the exception of the cover pages. The thesis manuscripts submitted to the two institutions must be strictly identical.

In ADUM

You must declare and organize your thesis defense in ADUM (at least two months before the provisional date): https://college-doctoral.u-bordeaux.fr/en/The-doctorate/Thesis-defense For double degree students (cotutelle): Wherever the defense is to be held, you must declare and organize it in ADUM. At the same time, you should be aware of the conditions and deadlines set by the partner institution, which you must respect in order to guarantee that you receive your double degree. For the composition of the jury, you should refer to the dedicated article in the Cotutelle contract. As a reminder, members of the partner institution in the double degree agreement are considered as internal members.

Thesis defense Jury

The thesis supervisor must agree that the thesis can be defended. He can attend the defense, either as a member of the jury, or as an invited member, but does not participate in the final deliberation. Information about the composition of the jury (names, degrees, institution of affiliation, etc.) must be checked very carefully when the PhD student and the supervisor make the thesis declaration. Requests to make changes will not be accepted after the thesis defense has been authorized.

In the event of a jury member notifying his absence, it is then the responsibility of the thesis supervisor to take all the necessary measures to ensure the regulatory compliance of the jury as a result of this absence, and to inform the Graduate Research School before the defense takes place.

Apart from videoconferencing, which is possible under certain conditions, the jury member who is absent on the day of the defense will not be mentioned on the PhD diploma or on the certificate of achievement.

PhD students are authorized to hold the thesis defense outside the University of Bordeaux and its attached Research Units, provided that there is an internal jury member participating, in addition to the thesis supervisor.

The ED encourages equal representation of men and women on juries.

In accordance with the Order of May 2016, the theory behind the assessment of the thesis defense is to form a jury with a minimum of pre-existing links with the candidate, and to limit the participation of the thesis supervisor in the final assessment process.

In all cases:

- The number of jury members must be between four and eight

- A thesis supervisor or joint-supervisor cannot be Chairman of the jury

- At least half of the jury must be composed of professors or similar staff in the sense of Article 6 of Decree no. 92-70 relating to the French National Council of Universities (CNU) and Article 5 of Decree no. 87-31 concerning health-related disciplines, or lecturers of an equivalent grade who do not come under the Ministry responsible for Higher Education.

- More than half of the members of the jury must be external to the University of Bordeaux, and to all institutions linked to the university by agreements and, in the case of a double degree doctorate, external to the double degree partner institution

- A national or international joint-supervisor who has been duly declared throughout the doctoral studies, and is attached to an institution other than the University of Bordeaux, cannot be considered as an external member

- Reviewers (rapporteurs) must be external to the University of Bordeaux (and, in the case of a double degree doctorate, external to the partner institution) and hold at least an HDR (authorization to supervise research). They must not have any direct link, or have signed any publications with the PhD student.

In exceptional circumstances there may be justification for an exemption regarding the choice of reviewers (members from abroad, specialists who do not hold an HDR, etc.). Any request for an exemption must be submitted by the thesis supervisor when the jury members are declared to the doctoral school and must be validated by the academic council.

The jury members appoint one of their number to be chairman for the thesis defense and, where applicable, they appoint a reviewer. The chairman must be a professor or similar or a lecturer of an equivalent grade.

When several institutions are accredited to award the doctorate jointly, the jury is appointed by the heads of the institutions concerned under the conditions set by the agreement mentioned in Article 5 of this order.

Authorization to defend the thesis

The reviewers make their opinions known via written reports on the basis of which the President of the University of Bordeaux authorizes the defense to take place, with the agreement of the director of the doctoral school. These reports are sent to the jury and the candidate before the defense.

Deliberations

After deliberation, the jury announces their decision to grant the doctorate or defer it.
Obtaining the national diploma of doctorate confers the title of ‘Doctor’.

After the defense

On receipt of the official documents after the defense, the PhD student is informed of the formalities involved in making the final submission. He must submit the manuscript via ADUM and contact the thesis documentation department via an online application (link).

The final submission must be made within one month after the thesis defense or no later than three months if major corrections are requested by the jury.

The dissemination contract signed when the thesis is submitted determines the way the thesis is published on internet. If there is an embargo or a refusal to disseminate, the thesis remains accessible within the University of Bordeaux and all of the university community.

Only the condition of confidentiality (in the event of a defense behind closed doors) can protect the thesis from dissemination of any kind until the date that confidentiality, as decided by the institution and/or the jury, comes to an end.

This final submission is compulsory in order to receive the certificate of achievement (attestation de réussite) and the PhD diploma.

https://bibliotheques.u-bordeaux.fr/Soutien-a-la-recherche/Theses-et-memoires-numeriques/These-de-doctorat/Deposer-sa-these-de-doctorat