Find out all about IFPEN's doctoral theses
IFP Energies nouvelles, a French public research organization, welcomes many doctoral students to its laboratories. The vast majority of our doctoral students have an IFPEN doctoral contract, but we also have doctoral students with other statuses, such as a university contract or a doctoral contract with an industrial company under a French CIFRE agreement.
Our PhD subjects evolve with the orientations of our research and innovation (R&I) programs. Each year, new thesis subjects are proposed after an internal selection process based on evaluation by IFP Energies nouvelles' Scientific Board and internal prioritization. The list of new subjects is published at the beginning of the year, and theses generally start at the beginning of November, following a competitive selection process of candidates.
All our doctoral students are enrolled in a French or foreign university, which will issue the doctoral degree on completion of the research work carried out by the doctoral student. This work is generally carried out under the co-supervision of IFPEN researchers and university researchers. Doctoral students are also enrolled in a doctoral school. In France, doctoral training is governed by various legal texts, in particular the « Arrêté du 25 mai 2016 fixant le cadre national de la formation et les modalités conduisant à la délivrance du diplôme national de doctorat » (Order of May 25, 2016 setting the national framework for training and the procedures leading to the award of the national doctoral diploma).
Most of our doctoral students' research work is carried out at IFP Energies nouvelles' research departments in Rueil-Malmaison (near Paris) and Solaize (near Lyon), as well as in university laboratories linked by agreement to IFP Energies nouvelles. Some PhDs may also be carried out at more than one site.
IFPEN doctoral students are also part of the IFP School Doctoral College, which offers them additional training opportunities to improve their scientific and technical knowledge in IFP Energies nouvelles' fields of activity, as well as non-technical training. About 18 months after starting their thesis, they present the progress of their work to a jury composed of members of IFP Energies nouvelles’ Scientific Board. The jury gives its opinion on the orientations to be taken and recommends whether or not the thesis should be continued.
Finally, each year, the Yves Chauvin Thesis Prize is awarded to the best thesis defended during the previous year by a jury chaired by the Chairman of the Scientific Board of IFP Energies nouvelles. Yves Chauvin, Honorary Research Director at IFP Energies nouvelles, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2005 for his work at IFP Energies nouvelles on olefin metathesis.