In France, doctoral training is regulated by law and complies with EU Bologna agreements http://www.recherche.gouv.fr/cid20185/doctorat.html

 It takes place within doctoral schools organized and supported by higher education institutions, and recognized as such by the minister in charge of higher education . A Master's degree is requested to apply for admittance to any doctoral school. Doctoral studies take three years. The degree is granted following a successful public defence of the thesis. The thesis defence is authorized after approval of the thesis manuscript by external reviewers, nominated by the thesis granting institution.

Open to applicants holding a Master's degree and accepted by IFP-School admissions board, thesis research projects are completed:

   1 – within IFP's research divisions, at two locations:www.ifp.fr/IFP/fr/contacter/fh01.htm

The Rueil-Malmaison Research Center, at Rueil-Malmaison near Paris,

The IFP-Lyon Research Center, at Solaize, near Lyon.

   2 – within university laboratories linked by agreements with IFP

Various financial supports are available: to date, most of our 180 doctoral students benefit from a CIFRE contract : www.anrt.asso.fr/index.jsp

Doctoral students register yearly as students of the thesis granting institution to which their thesis director's doctoral school is belonging (3 registrations at least). A thesis chart is signed by the student, the thesis director and the director of the doctoral school. The latter offers the student a choice of compulsory or optional doctoral training sessions.

Moreover, IFP doctoral students enter the IFP-School Doctoral College, which offers them additional training opportunities and conferences  in the petroleum sciences and techniques or in the world of business. The course so constructed is recognized by a specific IFP-School diploma.

Thesis supervision at IFP takes the following forms:

   The research work is supervised jointly by the IFP thesis promoter and by the thesis director belonging to the doctoral school;

   The student reports regularly on the progress of his/her work to both supervisors;

   At the half-way point, approximately 18 months after starting work on the thesis, the student presents the progress of his/her work before a jury including members of IFP's Scientific Council. This jury provides guidance and decides whether the work can be pursued.

The "Association des Doctorants et Anciens Doctorants de l'IFP" is a living and effective relational network: http://www.adifp.net/

Every year, the Yves Chauvin Thesis Prize rewards the best thesis defended in the course of the previous calendar year. This prize is awarded by a jury presided by the Chairman of IFP's Scientific Council. Yves Chauvin, honorary director of research at IFP was awarded the 2005 Nobel prize in chemistry for his research on olefin metathesis performed at IFP http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2005/

In the context of IFP's Training and Research/Development missions, the preparation of PhDs has a fourfold objective:

   to train research engineers and so constitute a hiring pool for the industries concerned (energy, chemicals, car manufacture) and also, of course, for IFP,

   to conduct fundamental, cognitive, or exploratory research,

   to strengthen ties with outside research centers and laboratories,

  in the fields of energy and hydrocarbons, to contribute to the international influence of French scientific and technical research.

The research themes evolve with IFP's R&D programs, within the disciplines covered by IFP's Research Divisions and IFP School's Centers.

Every year, IFP's Scientific Council selects about sixty thesis topics among those proposed by the research divisions. The list of topics selected is published in january to be opened in the course of the year. Thesis research projects generally begin early october.

This list is displayed here

IFP Doctoral College groups the IFP doctoral students. It is supported by a network of doctoral schools in partnership with IFP-School.. Under the aegis of the director of doctoral studies, and advised by a council including eminent outside members, the doctoral college performs the following missions:

    maintain the excellence of the thesis supervision and guidance system,

    assist the doctoral students to build their professional projects,

   open the doctoral students to the oil and automotive industry,

   complete the scientific, technical and economic culture of doctoral students, in particular in the fields of oil and gas.

The doctoral college diploma recognizes the whole constituted by the thesis defended, on the one hand, and the training taken in the context of the College, on the other.

IFP's Scientific Council, selected the following subjects from among the proposals submitted by IFP's thesis promoters.

Applicants are invited to contact by e-mail the promoters of the subjects in which they find interest. This e-mail supporting your application should be accompanied by a Curriculum Vitae in Word (*.doc or *.rtf) or PDF format, and copies of both sent to the secretariat of the IFP School's Doctoral Education Division Martine.Durante@ifp.fr