Every year around January, a call for proposals for thesis subjects is made to the research teams affiliated to the doctoral school. Thesis directors (researchers or teacher-researchers holding an HDR or equivalent, or benefiting from an exceptional authorization for doctoral supervision without HDR issued by Sorbonne University) submit their proposals to the ED through their ADUM account. A thesis supervisor can only propose one project.

These projects are examined by the ED board office, which ensures that they meet the training and supervision requirements of the ED. Once validated, the thesis subjects are published on the ED website.

Eligibility rules for the ED "Complexité du vivant" competition:

To be eligible to deposit a phD project for the ED competition the phD supervisors:

1: must be assigned to a research team affiliated to the ED "complexité du vivant" since, at the latest, December 31, 2023. Remembering that it is not possible for the same HDR to be affiliated with more than one school doctoral studies. If you request and obtain your affiliation to another ED, you will no longer be eligible for the competition, even if this change of affiliation occurs after the submission of the project. In the case of co-direction or co-supervision, the second partner does not need to be affiliated with CDV.

2: must hold an HDR or equivalent (e.g. an exceptional authorization for doctoral supervision without HDR issued by SU or PSL).

3: must not have recruited a doctoral student in 2023 on a doctoral contract funded by PSL or SU. This includes recruitment made through the ED CDV competition, the competition of another SU or PSL ED via co-direction with a colleague from this ED, an SU or PSL doctoral program or under the scientific policy of SU or PSL.

4: must not supervise, on the end date for submitting projects (1st of March 2024), more than one doctoral student who has received funding from the competition (SU or PSL doctoral contract), d funding for an SU or PSL doctoral program or funding under the scientific policy of SU or PSL. This includes 4th year doctoral students even if they are currently funded otherwise. Co-directions are counted as a half-direction.

5: must not supervise a total of more than 3 doctoral students on the date of recruitment of new doctoral students from the 2024 competition (i.e. 01/10/2024). Co-directions are counted as a half-direction (50%). Co-supervisions with colleagues who do not have HDR count 100% for the HDR owner.

6: can only recruit a single doctoral student in the same academic year via the scientific policy programs of the parent institutions or partners of the ED (competition of the ED, doctoral programs SU and PSL or Curie and Pasteur international programs)*. Consequently, a thesis director or a co-director recruiting a doctoral student in 2024 through a doctoral program from SU, PSL, or Pasteur or Curie institutes will not be able to present another candidate for the auditions for the ED competition in July 2024. On the other hand, if the application fails for the doctoral program, it will be possible for the candidate to be presented for the ED competition, provided that the project meets the eligibility rules of the competition and that it has been submitted to the competition before the deadline indicated in the kick off e-mail of the call.

*Note that it is possible for an HDR to recruit two doctoral students in the same year, but only one of them can be funded on an SU or PSL doctoral contract. The second doctoral student recruited must therefore be recruited with another source of funding (ANR, ERC, grant from a charity or a foreign government, etc.) and go through the out-of-competition application procedure described on our website.

7: must respect the deadline for sending the project and check that it is complete (no project received after the deadline or incomplete will be considered).

Note that rules 3 to 7 also apply to the co-director, in the case of a project co-directed by two HDRs.

CDV teams located at the Institut Pasteur are still eligible for the CDV competition in 2024.

If you have any doubts about the eligibility of your project, do not hesitate to ask us the question by sending an email to edcdv@sorbonne-universite.fr

If you wish to recruit a doctoral student through the 2024 competition of the Complexity of Life Sciences Doctoral School, you must submit the completed project through your ADUM account no later than March 1, 2024 at 11:59 p.m.  We strongly recommend that you follow the guide that was sent to you by e-mail. While depositing your project on ADUM, do not forget to upload the "publications et historique" complementary file that you also received by e-mail. The validaiton of your DU on ADUM will be required (he or she will receive an automatic e-mail for that just after you submit the project).

Any incompletely completed or insufficiently detailed project form will not be considered. After validation by the ED office, the projects will be posted on the ED website and you will then be informed by email. The criteria taken into account for the validation of the projects are the criteria of supervision (duration of the thesis and publications of the previous doctoral students) and of scientific quality (project meeting the criteria of a doctoral project, feasibility of the project, publications of the thesis director ).

Below is the information concerning the complete selection procedure for the 2024 competition:

1. Submission of thesis projects: deadline March 1, 2024 at 11:59 p.m.

2. Validation of projects by the ED office: March 08, 2024

3. Submission of student application files: deadline June 7, 2024 at 11:59 p.m.

4. Depending on the number of candidates, the ED office may make a pre-selection on file (end of June 2024).

5. Hearing of candidates: July 1 and 2, 2024

6. Deliberation: July 3, 2024