Doctoral Studies
The École nationale des chartes - PSL offers a doctoral curriculum, awarded by PSL University, in its disciplines of excellence: history, art history, ancient and Romance languages and literature. Recruitment is open to graduates (‘Archiviste paléographe’ diploma, master's degree) as well as to students from other institutions, particularly international students. The École des chartes—PSL offers a special doctoral programme for French heritage and library curators and their foreign colleagues.
Contact
Write to the School office: etudes @ chartes.psl.eu
Curriculum and Admission
The École nationale des chartes doctoral programme is part of EPHE's Doctoral School 472 and the Sorbonne Université's Doctoral School of Modern and Contemporary History. Doctoral candidates at the École nationale des chartes are attached to the doctoral school of their future supervisor. The École des chartes doctorate is designed for students who wish to research medieval, modern, and contemporary history, diplomacy, book history, media history, text publishing, legal history, art history and archaeology, heritage history, philology, and linguistics.
Doctoral students are attached to the School's research laboratory, the Centre Jean-Mabillon.
The École doctorale 472 of EPHEP is an affiliate of the Translitteræ graduate programme.
Regulatory Texts
Registration fees
The registration fee for 2024-2025 is €391 (€260 at reduced rates).
Students must also pay a student and campus life contribution (CVEC) of €103 covering their health insurance.
In some cases, students (particularly those on grants) may be exempt from enrolment fees and the CVEC.
The CVEC is payable on the dedicated website.
Renewed enrolment
Administrative enrolment is compulsory and annual.
The certificate of payment (or exemption) of the CVEC must be downloaded from the CVEC website. When renewing enrolment online, you will need to provide the CVEC certificate number that has been issued to you.
In September, doctoral students will receive a message inviting them to log on to ADUM to update their personal details and pay their registration fees.
Submission of the thesis monitoring committee form is a prerequisite for re-enrolment from the third to the sixth year.
University Transfers
Students must request a transfer from their home university. In all cases, they must have the favourable opinion of their former research supervisor.
Documents to enclose:
- Transfer request from home university
- Photocopies of all diplomas from the baccalauréat onwards
- Photocopy of the certificate of registration in the French Fichier Central des Thèses
- A favourable opinion from the former research supervisor is mandatory
Extension of a doctoral thesis (beyond 3 years)
A doctoral degree recognises the ability to carry out high-level scientific research. This diploma is awarded upon completion of a research project that usually lasts three years. Extensions may be granted, by way of exception, at the doctoral student's reasoned request and with the agreement of their supervisor and the research team. Order of 25 May 2016 on doctoral studies stipulates that doctorates must now be completed within a maximum of 6 years.
Gap year request
Doctoral students must fill out a gap year application form, pay the CVEC, and pay the reduced registration fee (€260 for a doctoral gap year). Doctoral students must re-enrol through the ADUM application.
Dropping out of a doctoral thesis
Students who wish to discontinue a doctoral thesis must confirm their decision with their thesis supervisor and notify the Director of Studies.
Gap year request
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Joint supervision and co-supervision
A doctoral thesis may be supervised jointly by two supervisors. However, it is important not to confuse joint supervision with co-supervision.
For joint supervision, both thesis supervisors are attached to one or two French research establishments.
In the case of co-supervision, each supervisor is attached to an institution in a different country.
Joint supervision or co-supervision? Different objectives
Joint supervision is primarily designed for doctoral students wishing to benefit from dual expertise, particularly to combine two separate research fields.. Doctoral students are placed under the supervision and responsibility of a thesis supervisor. The scientific supervision of the doctoral project may be carried out jointly with a supervisor from another French institution.
A thesis co-supervision aims to initiate and develop scientific cooperation between French and foreign research teams. It is also meant to promote the cross-border mobility of doctoral students.
Admission requirements
To apply for joint thesis supervision or co-supervision at the École nationale des chartes—PSL, are required to hold at least a Master’s degree.
Joint supervision enrolment procedure
In the case of joint supervision, students enrol for a doctorate under the authority of a professor from the École nationale des chartes, indicating the name and university of the proposed joint supervisor. The École nationale des chartes draws up a joint supervision agreement with the secondary institution, respecting the practical arrangements for dual direction per the principles of the primary doctoral school (while ensuring agreement with the secondary doctoral school where relevant). This simple agreement is binding only on the primary establishment and not on the joint supervisor's establishment unless the joint supervisor is attached to the same establishment.
Joint supervision must be set up during the first year of the doctorate.
Typically, a jointly supervised thesis lasts three years. Students must justify any additional re-enrolment request, which will be subject to the agreement of the doctoral school's thesis monitoring committee. It shall be covered by an amendment to this agreement.
Co-supervision application procedures
The terms and conditions for international co-supervision of a thesis are defined by the Doctoral Decree of 25 May 2016.
Each co-supervised thesis is managed under a specific agreement drafted by the École nationale des chartes' international relations department. Among the items specified in this agreement are the language in which the thesis will be written (preferably French), the timetable and locations for doctoral enrolments, the distribution of enrolment fees between the institutions concerned, and the location of the defence.
Students under a co-supervision arrangement must enrol both at the École des chartes and at another higher education establishment abroad. Tuition fees are waived at one of the two establishments, but student must pay registration fees at least once in each institution.
We recommend that students prepare their project by notifying the École nationale des chartes studies department as early as the spring or summer before official enrolment in the autumn, so that an agreement can be drawn up between the two institutions. This is required so both co-contracting institutions may approve the agreement prior to administrative enrolment.
Applications for co-supervision are submitted at the same time as applications for the first year of the doctorate. Students wishing to switch from a simple doctorate to a co-supervised doctorate may only do so during the first year of their doctorate.
Typically, a co-supervised thesis lasts three years. Any request to extend the duration of the thesis preparation work must be approved by both establishments’ competent authorities. It shall be covered by an amendment to this agreement.
The Thesis Defence
In the case of co-supervision, the thesis is defended only once. The location of the defence must be specified in the co-supervision agreement.
Under co-supervision, the thesis is defended during a single examination recognised by the two co-supervising institutions. The location must be specified in the co-supervision agreement. An oral summary in French is required if the thesis is written in a foreign language. The jury will be mixed and include at least four members.
Diplomas Awarded
In the case of joint supervision, only one doctoral diploma is awarded.
In the case of co-supervision, the defence leads to the award of two diplomas reflecting the completion of doctoral studies in both countries: the degree of doctor for the École nationale des chartes -PSL and an equivalent for the foreign university.
Call for applications for doctoral contracts at the École nationale des chartes - PSL
The École nationale des chartes - PSL invites applications for three three-year doctoral contracts starting in autumn 2024.
Eligibility Requirements:
- Choose a thesis supervisor from the École des chartes attached to ED 472 of the École pratique des hautes études or ED 188 of Sorbonne University
- Hold a master's 2 or equivalent degree, or be enrolled in a Master's 2 programme during the 2023-2024 academic year (obtaining a doctoral contract is then conditional on obtaining the master's degree)
Procedure:
- The student must approach the director of studies at the École des Chartes whom he or she chooses as thesis supervisor
Schedule:
- Applications must be submitted to the Director of Studies by 27 May 2024(by e-mail)
- Notification of candidates selected for the audition:17 June 2024
- Audition and selection of candidates:8 July 2024
- Validation of results before 14 July 2024
Call for applications for doctoral contracts in 2024
TéléchargerInformation form- 2024 doctoral contracts
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Contact
Write to the School office: etudes @ chartes.psl.eu
Doctorate based on work experience for curators
The École des Chartes awards doctorates to curators through two doctoral schools: ED 472 of the EPHE and ED 188 of Sorbonne University.
Presentation
The doctorate based on work experience for curators is designed for scientific staff who wish formalise and expand the research carried out as part of their duties. The programme is meant to facilitate their international mobility to countries that recruit curators at the doctoral level. It strengthens contacts between the academic world and conservation circles.
In France, the scheme applies to heritage and library curators (State or local civil service).
The doctorate is open to foreign curators. Admission requirements are the same as for French candidates, subject to the production of documents attesting to the heritage curator status specific to the system in force in the country concerned. As with French candidates, international candidates must demonstrate proven experience in conservation.
The doctorate lasts one year. No extensions are allowed, save for special cases, at the motivated and justified request of the doctoral student, following the opinion and agreement of the thesis supervisor, the director of the doctoral school and the director of the École nationale des chartes - PSL.
Admission requirements
Curators, whether of French or foreign nationality, must apply for the doctoral programme by submitting a dossier (in duplicate) consisting of a detailed CV, a summary of their previous research career, a letter explaining why they are applying for the doctoral degree and a copy of their most outstanding work, whether published or not. The scope of their work must be significant and include at least:
- A book and/or a research dissertation of a higher level than a master's 2 dissertation, such as, for example, an École des chartes thesis or a research dissertation from the Enssib
- Exhibition catalogues or collection inventories
- Articles
The application must also include a letter of commitment from the future thesis supervisor.
List of professors qualified to supervise a doctorate based on work experience at the École des chartes: Mr. Patrick Arabeyre, Ms. Christine Bénévent, Mr. Frédéric Duval, Mr. Christophe Gauthier, Mr. Olivier Guyotjeannin, Mr. François Ploton-Nicollet, Mr. Olivier Poncet, Mr. Nathan Schlanger, Mr. Marc Smith, Mr. Edouard Vasseur, Ms. Katia Weidenfeld.
This type of doctorate is eligible for joint supervision. Doctoral students who envisage a co-supervision must check early enough before enrolment that the foreign partner institution has approved the co-supervision in principle.
The application is submitted to two rapporteurs who hold an HDR and are not members of the École des chartes. These rapporteurs are appointed by the Director of the École des Chartes, on the recommendation of the Director of the doctoral school, from a list of four names put forward by the thesis supervisor.
The Director of the École des chartes, on the recommendation of the Director of the doctoral school, approves admission to the doctoral programme. The École des Chartes handles administrative enrolment and registration of the thesis subject.
Registration fees are the same as those set out in the regulations for standard doctoral studies.
The application deadline for 2024-2025 is 28 June 2024.
Application form - Doctoral thesis based on work experience for curators
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Curriculum
Candidates submit their doctoral thesis, presenting a portfolio of work (books, articles, post-graduate dissertations, etc.) and a research summary.
The dissertation (30 to 100 pages) must be written during the year of registration in close collaboration with the thesis supervisor. It must coherently summarise all the research work carried out and provide a scientific overview.
Students will not be allowed to re-enrol for a 2nd year, barring a case of force majeure at the discretion of the doctoral school board.
The rules governing the procedure for defending and distributing the thesis are set out in the current regulations on doctoral studies, i.e., the Order of 25 May 2016.