Objectives

In order to attract and support more ENS students towards a PhD thesis, the ENS Paris-Saclay created a high selective training in 2020: the PhD Track. This program enables the selected students to benefit from personalized support from a faculty member, to turn toward their research and intellectual interests in order to build their PhD project. They are awarded a PhD Track scholarship of €1000 per month during two years, and benefits from privileged access to a doctoral contract from ENS Paris-Saclay to carry out a thesis in one of the departments of the University of Paris-Saclay.

Organization and Application

In order to encourage the interweaving of training and research, the student selected for the PhD Track is integrated into the research group of his/her tutor. Therefore they participate fully in the life of the group (meetings, seminars, etc.).

The program starts on the 3rd year of the ENS Paris-Saclay Degree, while the selection usually occurs during the second semester of the Master 1. All ENS students are qualified to apply for the PhD Track. Selection proceeds in two steps: first based on the application, second on an admission interview.

The application consists of

• A CV
• A cover letter
• The grade transcripts from the two last years.
• The current transcript for the ENS Paris-Saclay Degree.
• A research proposal 2 + 3 years, including the Master Research, the ASP (specific year of study) and 3 years of PhD.

The selection is based on the

• The consistency, relevance and quality of the academic choices
• The quality of the research proposal
• Motivation
• The relevance and the good match between the research project and research topic at CEPS

Additional information is available here.
Interested students are invited to contact Olivier Bos, by the end of January.

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