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Foreign PhD students

You wish to undertake a PhD thesis in France and you are not of French nationality ?

You will find below all the information you need to help you carry out your project.

How to apply for a PhD ?

You can apply for a PhD in the same way as a French national.
However, if you do not hold a Master's degree, you must be able to prove that you have a diploma or equivalent degree that has enabled you to acquire a research ability.

Foreign applicants are also eligible for all funding offered in our section 'to fond a financial aid. If a foreign student does not receive funding from his/her government, he/she may benefit from a PhD contract or another employment contract framing his/her PhD (e. g. CIFRE contract) like any other French national.

> More information about the PhD application

Assistance during the installation in Lyon

The Espace ULyS, the host service for foreign scientists at the University of Lyon, can help you in your efforts to come to France and for your installation in Lyon.

> To read more

French language

French language courses

French courses are offered free of charge to PhD students by some higher education institutions and by the University of Lyon during the doctoral program. Participation in these courses can be validated as part of the training program required by the doctoral school.

We advise PhD students whose French is not their mother tongue to take these courses from the first year.

> More about FL training


PhD report writing

If you are not fluent in French, it is possible to conduct your research work and write your thesis in English, provided that you have received permission from the Director of the EEA Doctoral School. Authorization is given in one of the following 3 cases.

  • The thesis is carried out in co-supervision with a non-French-speaking foreign university, provided that this is explicitly stated in the co-supervision agreement.
  • The thesis is part of an international program involving a non-French-speaking doctoral student funded by a non-French-speaking foreign institution (e.g. CSC scholarship).
  • A tolerance is applied in the case where at least one thesis reviewer is a foreign scientific personality who does not speak French.

To be authorized to write in English, the request must be made to the EEA Doctoral School secretariat . If permission is obtained, the thesis must include a summary text (written in French) at least 25% long of the text written in English, detailing the original contributions of the thesis placed in the context of the research.

> To know more about the thesis and the defense