Doctoral program 2023

The call is closed. See the results.

Presentation and objectives

The purpose of eNSEMBLE (Future of Digital Collaboration) is to fundamentally redefine digital tools for collaboration. The pandemic has demonstrated both the possibilities and limitations of current tools for computer-mediated collaboration. Whether it is to reduce our travel, to better mesh the territory and society, or to face the forthcoming problems and transformations of the next decades, the challenges of the 21st century will require us to collaborate at an unprecedented speed and scale.

The PEPR eNSEMBLE launches a transparent and fair call for Ph.D programs for the year 2023. The laureates have a Ph.D. grant over three years of the same salary as a Ph.D. grant from the ministry as well as 10K€ of support for the purchase of equipment and mission expenses.

We accept applications for joint funding (half-grant) if the other half-grant has already been acquired.

Summary of the process and deadlines
The process takes place in 5 steps:
  1. Announcement of the priority themes of the PEPR ENSEMBLE - 27 March 2023
  2. Submission of Ph.D. projects - 11 April, 2023
  3. Pre-selection of candidates - 12 May, 2023
  4. Candidates interviews - 1-2 June, 2023
  5. Start of the Ph.D. program - October - December 2023
Quick links

Planning

Step Who Action Deadline
1 Project leaders Definition of priority themes 27 March 2023
Executive board Validation of the priority themes 27 March 2023
Executive board Announcement of the priority themes 27 March 2023
2 eNSEMBLE members with a Ph.D. project Definition of a Ph.D. project proposal From 27 March 2023
eNSEMBLE members with a Ph.D. project Submit Ph.D. project proposal 11 April 2023
Project leaders Selection of Ph.D. project proposals 11 April 2023
Executive board Decision notification 14 April 2023
Executive board Announcement of selected Ph.D. projects 14 April 2023
3 Future doctoral candidates Contact the authors of the Ph.D. projects From 14 April 2023
eNSEMBLE members with a Ph.D. project Selection of maximum two future doctoral candidates 12 May 2023
eNSEMBLE members with a Ph.D. project Submit the selected candidates for each Ph.D. project 12 May 2023
4 Project leaders Pre-selection of future doctoral candidates invited for an interview 17 May 2023
Executive board Decision notification 17 May 2023
Executive board Announcement of the interview schedule 19 May 2023
Future doctoral candidates Interviews 1-2 June 2023
Project leaders Selection of the future doctoral candidates / Ph.D. projects 2 June, 2023
Executive board Decision notification 3 June, 2023
5 Selected candidates Starting of the Ph.D. projects Oct. - Dec. 2023

Application campaign and selection process

Step 1

  • The project leaders define the priority themes for each PC (targeted project) for the current year.
  • The executive board check the adequacy of the themes with the scientific policy of PEPR eENSEMBLE.
  • The project leaders announce the priority themes on the PEPR website and informs the community

Step 2

  • eNSEMBLE members find out about the priority themes on the PEPR eENSEMBLE website They elaborate a Ph.D. project proposal (see the instructions) for one of the five PCs. The Ph.D. project proposal does not necessarily have to be part of the priority themes as long as it is relevant to the PC. The author of the Ph.D. project proposal must have the french habilitation (or equivalent) and his/her institution must be in the list of the partners of the PCs (list of partners by PC: CATS, PILOT, MATCHING, CONGRATS, PC5).
  • The author submits the Ph.D. project proposal on the website for the call (website is now closed). The author receives a confirmation email that will be useful to update their proposal at Step 2.
  • The project leaders check the relevance of the Ph.D. project proposal with regard to the scientific policy of the corresponding PC.
  • The executive board notifies the authors, announces the Ph.D. project proposals on the PEPR eENSEMBLE website, and informs the community.
  • The project leaders share these offers using their networks.

Step 3

  • Future Ph.D. candidates find out about the Ph.D. project proposals on the PEPR eNSEMBLE website.
  • Future Ph.D. candidates contact the authors of the Ph.D. project proposals.
  • The authors of the Ph.D. project proposal select one future Ph.D. candidate (exceptionally two candidates) and submit their choice to the PEPR eNSEMBLE jury by uploading the application on the Ph.D. application repository (see information about the content of the application below).
NOTE: In the event that a candidate is identified on a subject that was not proposed in the previous phase, the author may submit the application after checking its relevance with the coordinators of the relevant targeted project. In this case, the application must also include the information on the supervision and the thesis subject requested for step 2.

Step 4

  • The project leaders pre-select a set of future Ph.D. candidates for the interview stage (see the list of criteria).
  • The executive board notifies the Ph.D. project authors and the future Ph.D. candidates. For those who are selected, the email will contain the date and time of the interview as well as the instructions.
  • The interviews will take only by videoconference. The jury will be composed of at least two coordinators of each PC as well as the four program directors (14 people). The interview can take place by videoconference.
  • The jury ranks the candidates and defines a main list and an additional list for each PC.
  • The executive board informs the authors of the Ph.D. project proposals and the future doctoral candidates by email and announces the main list and the complementary list on the website.

Step 5

  • The Ph.D. projects start between October 1st and December 1st, 2023 (pending availability of ANR funding).

Application file

Description of the Ph.D. project (Step 2)
In Step 2, the description of the Ph.D. project will be specified on two pages maximum (including bibliography):
  • Acronym and title
  • Host institution and proposed thesis advisor
  • Context
  • Scientific and technical objectives
  • Approach / Challenges / Originality
  • Positioning regarding the literature as well as the priority themes of the PC (targeted project)
  • Project organization, duration, milestones
  • Partnership: presentation and role of co-supervisors
  • In the case of a half grant, indication of the source and the amount of the other half grant
  • In the case of a project covering two PCs, the proposal should only be submited in one PC.
Submission of the Ph.D. project proposal (Step 2)
In step 2, the authors submit two pdf files. The first file includes the description of the project (2 pages maximum including the bibliography). The second file includes a brief CV of the supervisors (2 pages maximum per CV). Both files should be sumbited on the submission form (website is now closed).
Submission of the future doctoral candidate (Step 3)
In step 3, if the Ph.D. project proposal has been selected, the author (not the candidate) must submit the proposed application(s) to the PEPR eNSEMBLE jury by uploading the application on the Ph.D. application repository. The application file must contain, in a single PDF file and in the following order:
  • CV of the candidate;
  • Letter of motivation from the candidate explaining the interest for the thesis topic;
  • Copy of diploma and grades from the last course of study;
  • Letter from the supervisor explaining the candidate's suitability for the research project;
  • Any other information deemed relevant.
The PDF filename will be as follows: PC<n>-<CandidateLastName>-<SupervisorLastName>.pdf (where <n> is the number of the targeted project).
Submission deadlines
Eligibility criteria
The eligibility criteria in step 2 are:
  • The Ph.D. project proposal should indicate the primary PC of the PEPR eNSEMBLE it contributes to. A secondary PC can be specified in the application.
  • The Ph.D. advisor must have an HDR (or equivalent)
  • The institution of the Ph.D. advisor must be part of the list of partners of the corresponding PC.
  • The Ph.D. project must start between September and December of the current year.
  • In the case of co-supervision where only one of the laboratories involved is a partner of the PEPR eNSEMBLE, the doctoral candidate must necessarily be assigned to this laboratory under the direction of a Ph.D. advisor with an HDR from this laboratory.
  • In the case of a half-grant request, the other half-grant must already be acquired.
Selection criteria
In step 3 (pre-selection) and step 4 (Interview), the main selection criteria include:
  • Relevance and originality of the Ph.D. project
  • Quality and complementarity of the Ph.D. advisors
  • Quality of the CV of the future doctoral candidate
  • Adequacy of the Ph.D. project with the scientific policy of the PCs (targeted projects) and the PEPR ENSEMBLE
The secondary criteria also include an equitable sharing of financial resources in space (geographical distribution), in time (from one year to the next), gender (male/female/non-binary), between partner institutions.

Attention: it is important to remind laboratories that no recruitment on a PEPR can be done without a referral to the FSD (Fonctionnaire Sécurité Defense).