Franco-British Joint PhD

Jointly-directed PhD students prepare their PhD in two different complementary laboratories, under the guidance of two Principal Investigators (PIs). They follow the lectures and specific courses in place in both universities. At the end of their training, they write only one dissertation in one language, with a substantial summary on the other language and present one Viva voce to a common examination committee. Since January 2005 (French decree dated 6 January 2005), providing the appropriate standards are met for both written and oral works in the thesis presented and in the examination, both universities agree to award a Joint PhD with the title of Docteur / Doctor of Philosophy. British universities today favourably receive this Joint PhD, while they had generally been opposed to the old scheme that awarded two separate diplomas for one single piece of work.

The Joint PhD programme between France and the UK is still at an experimental stage and the Science and Technology Department of the French Embassy in the United Kingdom enters into negotiations for each proposal.

The format of the Joint PhD resembles that in use within the bilateral agreements between France and other countries. The difference comes from the introduction of the principle of a “lead university”, French in the case of students registered in France and British for students registered in the UK.

Although students are fully registered in both universities, generally only the lead university receives fees. Because the higher education policy in the UK is responsible for increased registration fees in British universities, it seems important to establish a balanced exchange of students between the two partner laboratories, right from the start.

The Examination Committee (Jury) includes one examiner from each of the collaborating institutions, one external examiner from each country, and the two supervisors. It is therefore quite different form the normal PhD examination committee in force in British university (i.e. two examiners, behind closed doors, generally in the absence of the supervisor).

Added value for the student

A stay abroad for several months is clearly a challenge for a student who must leave a research team in which he generally feels safe (in France, most of the time, he entered that team during his Master), get used to new lab habits and working methods, a new way of life in a foreign country, and a language whose practice is quite often far from fluency!

However, this challenge has globally been a real success for all students concerned: such an immersion in a foreign country for one or two years is the sign of an open mind and of adaptation abilities, which will be seen as a strong positive point in a Curriculum Vitae. It also initiates scientific collaborations, which could prove very fruitful for the student’s career development.

Added value for the research groups

PhD students and post-doctoral scientists are the living forces in a laboratory: having no pressure from administrative duty, eager to discover a new world of research and activity, challenged by new lectures and courses provided by the Doctoral School and/or the post-graduate Department, they can be fully involved in benchwork, spend long periods of time in the libraries or work on old archives.

Therefore, in addition to the personal benefits gained by the student, this latter provides a real bridge between the two research groups, and facilitates the bilateral collaboration.

Details of implementation

Franco-British scientific collaboration is well developed, but our Science and Technology Department at the French Embassy in the United Kingdom is generally not informed of these bilateral collaborations. Yet, all students involved in a Joint PhD so far have come from existing links between research teams.

Because of the case by case approach in setting up the scheme in each university, we request that interested PIs contact Dr. Jacques Chevalier, in charge of the scheme.

It is of the utmost importance that no preliminary contacts were made with the registrar offices of both universities: these approaches would be, most probably, interfere with the official talks lead by Dr. Chevalier directly at the upper level of the universities (Principal and/or Vice-Chancellor, Vice-Principal for International affairs, Provost for post-graduate studies, Assurance Quality office), both in the UK and in France, as past experience has shown that it slows down the entire process.

Dr. Jacques CHEVALIER, Science and Technology Department, French Embassy, 6 Cromwell Place, London SW7 2JN. UK. Phone : +44(0)20 7073 1399 Mail : jacques.chevalier@ambascience.co.uk