A doctorate at IFSTTAR

Doctoral training is an essential part of IFSTTAR’s scientific strategy. The presence of doctoral students in its laboratories enables the Institute to tackle new areas of research and reinvigorates its teams. It increases the scope of the Institute’s scientific output (publications and patents) and fosters links with the academic world. The acquisition of new skills while working on their thesis provides doctoral students with what is frequently an extremely valuable initial experience of research and good employability skills for the future. As a result of the Institute’s involvement with applied research, it’s newly qualified PhDs are free to move either into the academic or professional spheres.

The different types of doctoral training available at IFSTTAR

IFSTTAR’s laboratories can train about 500 doctoral students. The Institute has an intake of more than 100 new doctoral students every year.

Candidates must satisfy a number of criteria before they can become an “IFSTTAR doctoral student” :

• The topic must be connected to the Institute’s goals contract,
• At least 50% of the supervision must be conducted by one or more person working in an IFSTTAR laboratory,
• More than 50% of the student’s attendance time must be spent at an IFSTTAR laboratory and the student must be registered at a French doctoral school,
• The student must be selected by an interview committee (drawn from IFSTTAR or the doctoral school),
• Dedicated funding must be obtained for the 3 years of doctoral research.

The main co-financers of our doctoral students are the ADEME, the CEA, and the Regions of Nord-Pas de Calais, Pays de Loire, Rhône-Alpes, Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur.