A Ph.D. Program in a Privileged Environment
Research-based education is thus a major objective of Centrale Lyon. The quality of the material and human resources provided by the School, the breadth of its network, and the dynamism of its doctoral students directly contribute to the excellence of its doctoral research. École Centrale de Lyon has produced numerous PhD graduates who hold key positions in both the private sector (ranging from startups to major international corporations) and academia.
Thesis Opportunities at Centrale Lyon
The doctoral program is administered by a doctoral school, and research is conducted in a research laboratory, sometimes in partnership with a company, under the supervision of a thesis advisor.
When the thesis is not a continuation of a master’s or final-year internship, candidates apply for thesis opportunities. They go through a selection process, often involving interviews, before being accepted. Thesis opportunities are posted on the European Commission’s EURAXESS website.
- Hold a degree conferring the rank of Master's (foreign degrees are reviewed by the doctoral schools to determine their equivalence to a Master’s degree).
- Be supervised by a researcher authorized to supervise doctoral research (HDR) in a research unit at Centrale Lyon.
- Have thesis funding for a period of 3 years.
Enrollment in a doctoral program for any doctoral student at the University of Lyon therefore consists of two steps. Annual re-enrollment is then required.
- Step 1 - Academic registration with your doctoral school
This registration is completed on the ADUM application. After creating an account on this platform, you must complete an academic registration or re-registration form by filling out the various sections and uploading the required documents.
An ADUM tutorial is available for download at French and in English. If you encounter any difficulties, please email sos.adum@universite-lyon.fr
- Step 2 - Administrative enrollment at Centrale Lyon
The Centrale Lyon Thesis Committee reviews all ADUM applications approved by the doctoral school. Students are notified by email that their application has been approved by the committee and that they may proceed with administrative registration at Centrale Lyon.
Enrollment must be renewed annually according to a schedule set by the Registrar’s Office. Enrollment in the 4th year and beyond is only possible with a waiver granted by the director of Centrale Lyon.
A thesis contract may be funded by a public agency or a private company. It is entered into for an initial term of 3 years and may be extended twice by amendment, for a maximum of one year each time. There are several types of thesis funding, which are detailed on the website of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research.
Doctoral Schools
Doctoral schools organize doctoral training and prepare students for their transition into the workforce. They coordinate the recruitment of new doctoral students, the renewal of registrations, and authorizations for thesis defenses.
They also provide doctoral students with a multidisciplinary education within the framework of a coherent scientific project. They contribute to the consistency and international visibility of the institutions’ doctoral programs.
Close ties with businesses
Commercialization and industry partnerships are also a key strength of research at Centrale Lyon, through the long-term partnerships established between the School’s laboratories and companies, ranging from SMEs to major international corporations, as well as through the participation of its laboratories in umbrella organizations such as the Carnot Institute Ingénierie@Lyon, competitiveness clusters… This network of industrial relationships thus enables the School’s laboratories to offer numerous thesis opportunities directly linked to companies, for example within the framework of CIFRE agreements.
Skills for Business
Centrale Lyon offers doctoral students a training program titled “Skills for Business” designed to help them acquire a number of skills sought by employers and improve their chances of entering the private sector. This one-year program consists of a 70-hour “theoretical” component, which participants can customize from a wide range of modules (intellectual property, entrepreneurship, labor law, management, project management...) and a “practical” component involving a mandatory work placement of at least 30 hours, which must be completed during the three years of the doctoral program.