The doctorate is the highest university degree, recognized worldwide for its excellence, and takes 3 years to complete. Thanks to its 6 joint research units affiliated to the CNRS (UMR), the quality of its resources and the extent of its network, Centrale Lyon offers exceptional doctoral training.

A thesis in a privileged environment

Training through research is thus a major objective at Centrale Lyon. The quality of the material and human resources made available by the École, the extent of its network and the dynamism of its doctoral students have a direct influence on the excellence of its doctoral research. A large number of Centrale de Lyon doctoral students hold key positions in companies (from start-ups to major international groups) as well as in academia.

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235
doctoral students
6
UMR
5
doctoral schools
2
international laboratories

Centrale Lyon thesis offer

The doctorate is prepared within a doctoral school and research work is carried out in a research laboratory, sometimes in partnership with a company, under the directionof a thesis director.

When the thesis is not the continuation of a master's or final year internship, candidates respond to thesis offers. They go through a selection process, often accompanied by interviews, before being hired. Thesis offers are published on the European Commission's EURAXESS website.

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Doctoral studies at Centrale Lyon
  • Have a degree conferring the grade of Master (foreign degrees are examined by the doctoral schools to judge their equivalence with a Master's degree).
  • Be supervised by a researcher entitled to direct research (HDR) in a Centrale Lyon research unit.
  • Have 3 years' thesis funding.

There are therefore 2 stages to doctoral registration for all doctoral students at the University of Lyon. An annual re-registration is then required.

  • Step 1 - Pedagogical registration with your doctoral school

This registration is carried out on the application ADUM. After creating an account on this platform, a pedagogical registration or re-registration file is to be completed by filling in the various sections and submitting the requested documents.

An ADUM tutorial is available for download at French language and in English language. In case of difficulties, write to sos.adum@universite-lyon.fr

  • Step 2 - Administrative registration at Centrale Lyon

The Centrale Lyon Thesis Commission examines all ADUM files validated by the doctoral school. Students are informed by e-mail of the validation of the file by the commission and of the possibility of proceeding with administrative registration with Centrale Lyon.

Registration must be renewed each year according to a schedule set by the school. Enrolment in 4th year and beyond can only be made with a waiver granted by the Centrale Lyon director.

The thesis contract may be financed by a public body or a private company. It is concluded for an initial duration of 3 years and can be extended by amendment twice for a maximum duration of one year each. There are several types of thesis funding detailed on the Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche website.

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Doctoral schools

The doctoral schools organize the training of PhDs and prepare them for their professional integration. They coordinate the recruitment of new doctoral students, the renewal of registrations and authorizations for thesis defense.

They also provide doctoral students with a multidisciplinary culture as part of a coherent scientific project. They contribute to the coherence and international visibility of the institutions' doctoral training offer.

  • EEA - Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Automation - ED 160
  • EDML - Materials of Lyon - ED 34
  • INFOMATHS - Computer Science and Mathematics of Lyon - ED 512
  • MEGA - Mechanics, Energetics, Civil Engineering, Acoustics - ED 162
  • SIS - Sciences Engineering and Health of Saint-Étienne - ED 488
doctoral student at centrale lyon

Close ties with companies

+600
partner companies
120
research contracts
5
industrial chairs

Valorisation and relations with companies are also an asset of research at Centrale Lyon, through the lasting partnership relationships forged between the École's laboratories and companies, from SMEs to major international groups, as well as through the participation of its laboratories in federative structures such as the Institut Carnot Ingénierie@Lyon, competitive clusters... This web of industrial relations means that the École's laboratories can offer many theses with direct links to companies, for example as part of CIFRE agreements.

Competencies for the company

Centrale Lyon is offering doctoral students a "Skills for Business" training course to help them acquire a number of skills expected by companies and improve their professional integration into the private sector. This one-year training course consists of a "theoretical" part of 70 hours to be composed according to a wide range of modules (intellectual property, entrepreneurship, labor law, management, project management...) and a "practical" part with a compulsory experience in a company of 30 hours minimum, must be validated during the 3 years of thesis.