Thesis defence

In addition to the rules described in the decree of 25 May 2016 establishing the national framework for training and the procedures leading to the award of the national doctoral diploma, the conditions for the defence of the enrolment institution and those specific to the SVS doctoral school must be respected. In particular, the following rules must be respected, unless an exception is duly justified and accepted by the doctoral school :

- The rapporteurs are external to the doctoral school, and in all cases to the institution where the thesis was prepared (including the institution, unit, laboratory, team, company of the thesis director) and they must not have participated in the work of the thesis, nor have any links of interest or co-publication prior to the thesis work with the doctoral student, nor with the thesis director over the last ten years.
- At least half of the jury must be composed of professors or equivalent staff within the meaning of Article 6 of Decree No. 92-70 on the National Council of Universities and Article 5 of Decree No. 87-31 for health disciplines, or of teachers of equivalent rank who are not under the authority of the Ministry of Higher Education.
- In accordance with Article 18 of the Order of May 2016, the composition of the jury must allow a balanced representation of women and men. As a minimum, at least one woman and at least one man must be on the jury.
- The members of the jury shall designate from among themselves a chairperson and, if necessary, a rapporteur for the defence. The chairperson must be a professor or equivalent or a teacher of equivalent rank.
- In the jury, the thesis director is taken into account in the ratios considered within the doctoral pole for members internal or external to the institution. He or she may not be the president of the jury, nor the rapporteur for the defence. He or she is therefore not entitled to lead the debates. If he or she attends the deliberation, he or she does not take part in the final deliberation. The thesis director therefore does not sign the minutes of the deliberation but does sign the defence report. When the defence report mentions the deliberation, it must be stated that this decision was taken by the members of the jury, excluding the thesis director.
- The members of the ISC may neither be the rapporteur nor the president of the jury.

During their doctoral training, doctoral students must follow a minimum of 100 hours of training or equivalent. As doctoral students are employed outside of their thesis, they are required to complete 60 hours of training.

It is also required to have at least one publication accepted as first author, in an international peer-reviewed journal or equivalent (IEEE conferences, etc.). In the event that the publication is submitted to such a journal, the authorisation to defend the thesis will be subject to the presence of the submission pdf in the thesis manuscript and to the opinion of the referees on this unaccepted work. It will also be taken into account the deposit of the doctoral student's work in a preprint server (such as BioRxiv, https://www.biorxiv.org/); in this case, an opinion will also be requested from the thesis referees. The proposed reporters and jury must comply with national regulations and the recommendations of the doctoral school. A first author patent and/or software may also be considered for authorisation to defend.

The doctoral student's work is examined beforehand by at least two rapporteurs appointed by the head of the institution, who are qualified to direct research or belong to one of the categories mentioned in 1° and 2° of article 16 of the 2016 decree, on the proposal of the doctoral school management, after receiving the opinion of the thesis director.

The rapporteurs have no involvement in the doctoral student's work.
The rapporteurs make their opinion known at least fourteen days before the date scheduled for the defence, in written reports.
written reports; on this basis, the head of the institution authorises the defence. These reports are communicated to
to the jury and to the doctoral student before the defence.

Rapporteurs are external to the doctoral school and to the institution where the thesis was prepared (including the institution, unit, laboratory, team, company of the (co)supervisors). They may belong to foreign higher education or research institutions or other foreign organisations. They must not have participated in the work of the thesis nor have any interest or co-publication links with the doctoral student or the thesis management team.

Members of the ISC may participate in the defence jury but may not be a rapporteur prior to the defence.

When a doctoral student and his/her thesis director consider that the work deserves to be defended, the thesis director sends a proposal for a jury and a rapporteur, any publications, the list of training courses followed and the thesis. On this basis, the management of the doctoral school gives its opinion to the head of the registration institution.

The thesis jury is appointed by the head of the institution after receiving the opinion of the doctoral school director and the thesis director. The number of jury members is between four and eight. At least half of the jury members must be French or foreign personalities from outside the doctoral school and the doctoral student's enrolment institution, chosen for their scientific or professional competence in the field of research concerned, subject to the provisions relating to international co-supervision of the thesis as defined in Title III of the 2016 Order.
Its composition must allow for a balanced representation of women and men. At least half of the jury must be composed of professors or equivalent staff within the meaning of article 6 of decree n° 92-70 relating to the National Council of Universities and article 5 of decree n° 87-31 for health disciplines, or of teachers of equivalent rank who are not under the authority of the ministry responsible for higher education.
The members of the jury appoint a chairperson from among their number and, if necessary, a rapporteur for the defence. The chairperson must be a professor or equivalent or a teacher of equivalent rank.
The thesis director participates in the jury, but does not take part in the decision. When several institutions are accredited to award
are accredited to award the doctorate jointly, the jury is appointed by the heads of the institutions concerned under the conditions laid down in the agreement mentioned in article 5 of this decree.

Since 1 September 2022, at the end of the defence and after the award of the title, the doctor takes an oath committing to respect the principles and requirements of scientific integrity in his or her subsequent professional career, whatever the sector or field of activity.