The decree of the 23rd of April 2009 gives the possibility of recruiting doctoral students by doctoral contract. This is a 3-year public law fixed-term contract issued by public higher education or research establishments. As of September 2009, UPMC (previous name of SU) decided to apply the doctoral contract to all doctoral students for whom UPMC is an employer, regardless of the source of funding. It concerns in particular doctoral students funded by the ministerial budget or by the Ile-de-France region. The EPSTs also establish doctoral contracts. The decree of the 25th of September 2021 allows private or semi-private organizations such as the Curie Institute or the Pasteur Institute to establish private law doctoral contracts.

The contract doctoral student's service may be exclusively devoted to his or her research activities but may also include, by amendment, a doctoral mission. Four types of mission are offered by SU or PSL: teaching mission, scientific dissemination and mediation mission, European valorization and cooperation mission and expertise and advice mission in business or community. Doctoral missions are coordinated by le collège doctoral de Sorbonne Université or le collège doctoral de PSL.

The decree of the 26th of December 2022, modifying that of August 2016, sets the minimum remuneration of the doctoral contract. As of January 1, 2023, the minimum gross monthly remuneration for a 100% research doctoral contract is €2,044. It will be revalued each year to reach €2,300 gross from January 1, 2026.