Principles

• The thesis advisor is primarily responsible for regularly monitoring the progress of the doctoral student.
• However, monitoring thesis progress is also an essential mission of the doctoral school (ED).
  The ED, in remaining relatively light in its expectations, aims to reduce the risk of leaving without a degree or studying for an excessive length of time. Its modalities are framed by official texts. Our approach gives each student the opportunity to take stock of their training program, their scientific progress, and their professional development. Each board member is responsible for monitoring the students registered in his/her respective institution.

Modalities

Specifically, the monitoring procedure is organized as follows 

(the actual schedule may vary slightly from one institution to another):

Constitution of the individual monitoring committee

During the first six months of their thesis, each doctoral student chooses, in agreement with their supervisors, a mentor (internal to the establishment, external to the host team, non-specialist in the thesis research field) and a tutor (a researcher familiar with the scientific field but not publishing with the supervisors, imperatively external to the laboratory and as far as possible to the establishment).

If the laboratory has a monitoring system in accordance with the texts, the laboratory procedure may replace the committee requested by the ED, after agreement of the latter.

Mentor and tutor constitute the monitoring committee. This committee is not intended to substitute for the advisor. The thesis advisor and co-advisor, if any, and the mentor are collectively responsible for monitoring the thesis progress. The student is encouraged to make regular contact with his/her mentor or the member of the board attached to his institution, and share any potential difficulties associated with the progress or the supervision of his thesis.

Committee meetings

Before the end of each registration year:

• A meeting, the general format of which is left to the student's discretion, is organized with the supervisors and the monitoring committee to review the progress of the thesis, planned training courses and future plans. This meeting must include an interview with the doctoral student by the monitoring committee, without the supervisors, and conversely an interview with the supervisors without the doctoral student.
• Following this meeting, the monitoring committee draws up a short report using the form proposed by the doctoral school, which may vary from one institution to another.
• The committee's report must include a recommendation for re-registration the following year. Re-registration is not automatic, and will only be authorized by the ED following the opinion of the monitoring committee, as required by official texts.
• The report is submitted in the manner and on the dates specified by the institutions, and validated by the doctoral school. This validation is a prerequisite for the registration for the next year.

Specifically:

• At the end of the second year: Discussions will focus in particular on project start-up, integration into the laboratory and communication with supervisors.
• At the end of the second year: Prior to the monitoring committee meeting, the doctoral student and his/her supervisors draw up a provisional timetable for the end of the thesis, its writing and defense. These aspects are discussed at the committee meeting, along with the doctoral student's future career plans.


In case of difficulties...

A monitoring committee, consisting of the thesis advisor, any co-advisor and/or co-supervisors, the monitoring committee, and a representative of the ED and/or an expert in the field outside the laboratory, if needed, will be set up for any PhD:

• presenting specific problems, regardless of the nature;
• extending, exceptionally, to all or part of a fourth year. The committee will meet with the PhD student and make a progress report every 4-6 months.
  
  

Meetings with the doctoral school

Mandatory meetings with the doctoral school's assistant directors' office are also scheduled to complement the work of the individual monitoring committee, according to the procedures and dates set by the establishments.