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ED BMIC FAQ

 EDBMIC FAQ


Can I Subscribe to BMIC?

The vital formalities required to subscribe to our Doctorate School are the following:
1/ To have a Reception/Researcher Team and a thesis topic:
We strongly suggest to initiate contact with one of BMIC’s Researcher team, which information, lists, and topics are detailed on this Website.

2/ Founding :
It is necessary to have the ability to prove your financial support, which has to be of at least 1380 (net of fees) monthly, lasting for a three-year time-span. Thus, the applicant needs to submit the source, amount, and duration of his financial support.

3/ Does an Engineering Degree open the access to the contest?
An engineering degree confers a Master’s Degree, therefore allowing every Graduate to pursue his studies with a PhD, provided that he meets the ED’s requirements (the last Engineering School year’s ranking or grades), and to have acquired his diploma at the date of the contest.
As for the nominee’s likelihood of success, they only depend on his ability to defend a thesis project in front of a jury, formed by a large majority of Biologists, acting for all of BMIC’s speciation’s.

Are there mandatory professional training modules for Doctoral-Students?

No, there is no imperative. There are however other more interesting courses that exists for Doctoral Students in ACE.

Is it my lab that has to take in charge professional training modules?

The courses proposed by BMIC are taken in charge by the UDL. You will find those on SIGED, by following the link and logging into the website :
https://www.univ-lyon1.fr/formation/offre-de-formation
Or by doing the same operation on the UDL website :
https://www.universite-lyon.fr/formation/formation-doctorale/la-formation-doctorale-2496.kjsp
You will find the complete catalog of the professional modules taken in charge by UDL, and SIGED will sort the courses available for each Doctoral Student by their thesis year, for example.

Can I apply for a course that are is not listed by the UDL, will it be retained as one of the two modules?

For us to be able to decide if your formation can be admitted as one of the two modules we require, you need to communicate various information to us:
-Who is in charge of organizing this formation?
-The program.
- Proof that you are participating in this course.
We will then, basing ourselves on those documents, decide if this formation meets our standards.

Is it possible to obtain a Doctorate by validation of the acquisition of experience ?

Yes, since the law passed the 17 January 2002, it is possible to obtain a Doctorate by validation of the acquisition of experience, as it is equally possible to obtain a License or a Master’s Degree using this method.
Thus, following Law No. 2016-1088 of 8 August 2016 on work, modernization of the social dialog and safeguarding of professional careers, all person that has plied a professional research activity for at least one year, employed, non-employed or voluntarily, can ask for the validation of his abilities to justify his knowledge and the aptitudes required to obtain the Doctorate. The practice of the professional activity does not have to be continuous.
The nominee submits a file including documents reporting his experience, his research studies, and the length of the diverse activities in which he acquired them. If so, the forms should match to the followed courses and to the diplomas previously obtained.
The jury includes a majority of Teacher-Researchers, as well as qualified personnel having a main activity other than teaching, and the skills to appreciate the nature of the assets acquired, mainly professional, whose validation is required.
The legal provisions for graduation of the Doctorate diploma by validation of the acquisition of experience are stipulated in article 6411-1 of the labor code and in the articles L.613-3, R613-35 and R613-36 of the Educational Code.

Is it possible to obtain a Doctorate without a Master’s Degree?

Yes, the decree of May 25th 2016 did not change anything, because “To be registered in a Master’s degree, the applicant has to hold a Master’s degree, or another equivalent diploma bestowing a Master’s degree, as a result of a training course or a professional experience establishing the nominee’s research aptitudes”.
Provided those requirements are met, the head of the establishment can, by derogation and on proposal from the Doctoral School’s council, register the individuals having finished studies of equal level, or that have been granted the validation of the acquisition of experience under Article L. 613-5 of the Education code. The list of the individuals that beneficiate from those measures is reviewed by each year at the Doctorate School Board and the Academic research board commission, or by the instance that holds the power to do so in the concerned establishment. (article 11 of the order of May 25, 2016)).

Can the jury assign a mention during the defense thesis and on the parchment?

No. The 25th of May 2016 decree stating down the course’s national requirements and the procedures leading to the deliverance of the Doctorate Diploma did not modify the state of the previous decree that references only a mention in the Defense Thesis’ report and therefor did not provide any mentions on the diploma.The jury’s assessments are reported on the Defense Thesis’ report.

Does the thesis’ director have to be accounted as one of the jury members? Does he need to sign the minutes? Can he take part in the deliberation ?

The thesis’ director(s) are accounted as (a) jury member(s). He attends the discussion and deliberation, and his attendance is precious so that the works he has overseed are fully understood. He is not intended to lead the deliberations, and if he attends to it, does not take part in the final notations. The thesis’ director(s) is therefore included in the facultative ratios within the Doctoral College as one of the affiliated institution’s internal or external members.
He does not sign the minutes of deliberation, but does sign the Thesis Defense’s report. When the Thesis Defense’s report acts as of the deliberation, it does need to mention that the decision was taken by all of the jury members, with the exception of the Thesis’ Director.
The thesis’ director appears on the jury member’s list, including for the thesis’ legal deposit.
Provided that the 24th of March 2016 circular relative to the confections and deliverance’s modalities of national diplomas and some of the State’s diplomas by the Higher Studies Establishments falling within the scope of the Ministry of National Education, of the Higher Studies and of research does not indicate that, due to his anteriority to the 25th May 2016’s decree, it is therefore preferable to complete the thesis” parchment with the thesis’ director’s mentions. The circular and the parchment’s mold will soon be modified to follow this direction.

Do guests has to appear on the thesis defense’s project?

Yes

Are guests accounted for as jury members?

No

Can the invited members intervene and take part in the deliberation?

They have the right to ask questions but are not allowed to deliberate.

Can we invite guests at the last minute?

No, the defense’s minutes has to fall under the same model as the PST.

Can an establishment deliver a Joint Doctorate Diploma ?

The D613-20 Article of the Education Code allows, in case of an international collaboration, deliver one or two Joint Doctorate diplomas.
“As part of the professional partnership, the concerned establishments can :
1/ Deliver the same diploma in a joint manner
2/ Or deliver simultaneously two separate diplomas to each of the PhD students.
The delivered joint diploma’s is recognized in France, under the condition that it is too in the partner countries. The convention that is mentioned in decree D. 613-18 stipulates the modalities of the diploma’s acknowledgment.”
Furthermore, the 23rd article of the 25th of May 2016’s decree acts as a reminder as this possibility as part of a cotutelle “the Doctorate diploma(s) are delivered by academic authorities authorized to do so, on conform proposition of the jury, after the thesis defense.
Lastly, the circular stipulates in title number 3 “National diplomas delivered as part of an international partnership” brings more details on the parchment and puts forward two Master’s degree formats delivered by several establishments which can be relevant to the Doctorate diploma.

How is the thesis transmitted to the jury members ?

The PhD student sends his thesis in a numeric format, according to the requirements of the Defense’s establishment. He also needs to provide paper instances of his thesis, when one of them asks for it. “The establishment therefore assures the printing of the thesis from the numeric format” (Article 24 of the 25th of May 2016’s decree).

Is the monitoring committee consulted before the reintegration of a PhD student?

A decree enforces the monitoring committee to do so as of the third integration, but his advice can be asked for as early as the 2nd integration if the Doctorate School’s committee decides to.

Is the caesura period law when a PhD student asks for it?

No. In exceptional cases, and on the firm demand of the PhD student, a caesura period of a maximum of a one-year duration can be acted once by the head of the establishment where the student is, after the employer’s consent, and the thesis’ director’s and Doctoral School’s director’s consent. Within this time-spam, the PhD student suspends temporarily his formation and his research work, but can stay integrated, if he wishes, in his establishment, according to the 22nd of July 2015’s circular. This gap is not accounted for in the thesis. The establishment guarantees to the PhD student suspending his formation his re-integration at the end of his caesura.
If the PhD student is a wage-earner, it is necessary the contract bounding him to his employer can provide for an interruption clause, to evade the contract’s rupture.

Is the portfolio’s accomplishment necessary?

Yes. Each PhD student has to make a portfolio including the individualized list of all the PhD student’s activities within his formation’s duration, including teaching, diffusion of his scientific knowledge or technology transfer, promoting the skills learned within the time-span of his Doctorate. It has to be updated in a regular manner by the PhD student.
The making of this file is therefore mandatory for every PhD student wishing to defend his thesis after the 1st of September 2016.

Is it possible to complete an internship as part of the Doctorate course?

Decree L. 124-3 of the Education code stipulates that “the formation periods in a professional environment and internships are part of the scholar or academic educational courses, under modalities dictated by decree.”, with a minimal educational volume of formation in adequate establishments. This volume is defined at two hundred hours of teaching yearly at least, as said under decree D124-2 of the same code, and thereby prevents, in the actual state of the law, all PhD students to complete an internship as part of his studies. However, a period of formation in a professional environment -as well as a residency for other research related work – can very well be completed by the PhD student as part of a reception agreement between his original establishment and the welcoming one.