Individual Monitoring Committee
An Individual Monitoring Committee oversees the proper pursuit of each PhD student’s doctoral training, by relying notably upon the Doctoral Charter and the student’s doctoral training agreement. The Individual Monitoring Committee is made up of two persons not involved in the student’s thesis, including at least one person holding HDR accreditation to direct research and one person from outside the BS Doctoral School; these two supervisors are named at the time of registration by the Doctoral School Director, upon the recommendation of the research team head/directorate. The two committee members cannot also serve as the student’s thesis reviewers (rapporteurs). Upon the recommendation of the research team, a committee member could also be named as a tutor, to assist and guide the PhD student outside the Monitoring Committee meetings.
In the event of a committee member resigning, he/she will be replaced according to the same procedure.
This meeting must take place at least 1 month prior to the anniversary of the PhD student’s first registration. Each meeting must include an interview of the PhD student without his/her supervisors being present; however, part of the meeting can be held in the presence of the supervisors. The meeting will furnish recommendations and a detailed opinion regarding the student’s reregistration (transmitted to the Doctoral School Director).
These provisions are also specified by the doctoral school's Internal Rules and Procedures.
Downloading the Individual Monitoring Committee form
Provisions concerning administrative re-registrations are available via the website of your registration institution or by directly contacting your site administrator.
Missions
The individual monitoring committee meets with the doctoral student at least once a year and evaluates the conditions of the training and the progress of the doctoral student's research. This meeting must be held at least one month before the anniversary date of the first thesis registration. Each meeting must include an interview with the doctoral student without the thesis director. At the end of the meeting, the individual monitoring committee formulates recommendations and a detailed opinion on re-registration, which it sends to the doctoral school management.
Composition of the CSI
According to the internal regulations of the ED SVS, the two members of the ISC, specialist and non-specialist designated below, must be external to the doctoral student's research unit.
Reminder of the ISC composition rules:
- An ISC has at least one member who is qualified to supervise research (HDR)
- An ISC has at least one member who is a specialist in the discipline or related to the field of the thesis, outside the doctoral student's research unit and the thesis director. It is recommended that this person hold the HDR.
- An ISC has one non-specialist member outside the research field of the thesis work, outside the doctoral student's research unit and outside the thesis director. This person must not belong to the same field as the thesis director AND the co-director, if any. If a thesis subject is mainly related to more than one ED SVS research area, the person must not belong to these areas. See the table below.
- An ISC has at least one member who is external to both the doctoral student's research unit and either his/her institution of registration or his/her doctoral school
- No ISC member may be part of the doctoral student's supervisory team
- ISC members may participate in the defence jury but may not be a prior rapporteur
Before the CSI
- The doctoral student must send an activity report of 2 to 5 pages maximum to the committee members at least 1 week before the ISC.
- The doctoral student must download the confidential annex "Doctoral student" and fill it in.
- The thesis director must download the confidential annex "Thesis director" and fill it in.
During the CSI
- An oral presentation allows the doctoral student to review the progress of the doctoral project in all its components: training plan, maturation of the professional project, working environment and means, dissemination of results (publications, conferences), progress of the research project and objectives for the following year.
- A discussion is then held between the doctoral student and the ISC members after this presentation.
- Each meeting must include an interview with the doctoral student without the supervisory team and an interview with the supervisory team without the doctoral student
- At the end of the ISC, the committee chairperson must fill in the document "Rapport du Comité de Suivi Individuel" (Report of the Individual Monitoring Committee), in which the ISC gives an opinion on the application for re-registration in the thesis and makes recommendations.
Documents for organising the CSI for 1st year registrants
After the CSI
- The doctoral student sends the confidential "Doctoral student" appendix directly to the doctoral school's site manager
- The thesis director sends the confidential appendix "Thesis director" directly to the site manager of the doctoral school
- The chair of the ISC forwards the report of the individual monitoring committee (completed and signed by the members of the ISC, the doctoral student and the thesis director), to the site manager of the doctoral school.
Tutor or tutoress
A tutor may be appointed, at the time of registration or during the course of the thesis, on the proposal of the supervisory team, the doctoral student or the Doctoral School. This person's mission is to help and advise the doctoral student outside of the ISC meetings. The tutor may be a member of the ISC, or external to the ISC.