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 2024. 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.
Update | 11.06.2024: The PEPR eNSEMBLE opens a second session of the call for doctoral theses 2024, with simplified modalities. This call is open to all (subjects and/or candidates previously interviewed, not interviewed, subjects who did not find a candidate, new subjects).
Schedule and procedure:
Friday 21 June at 13:00 (Zoom):Information meeting. Feedback from the 2024 session and recommendations for preparing an application for session 2 (link). This meeting is open to all (applicants and supervising teams). The slides and a recording of the presentations are online (see below).
Monday 1st July:Deadline for submitting applications (subject+applicant)on the online submission platform. Please use the "subject template" available here [ODT format / DOCX format]. The purpose of this template is to clarify as much as possible - and before the audition - the scope and expectations of the subject in terms of collaborative themes and candidate profile. If you have already submitted a subject for the first session, please reorganise it according to this template. As far as possible, and given the very short deadlines, please submit your applications as early as possible, without waiting until the last minute; please do not hesitate to contact the coordinators of the Targeted Project in which your subject falls (email address pc1, pc2, pc3, pc4 or pc5@pepr-ensemble.fr).
Wednesday 3 July:Feedback from the jury and invitation to the auditions.
Wednesday 10th - Thursday 11th July:Video Auditions (Candidates + Jury). To prepare for the audition, candidates are encouraged to use the "candidate template" available here [ODP format / PPTX format].
For supervisors: Please send an email to sebastien.dubos@universite-paris-saclay.fr if you are planning to submit a Subject+Candidate pair, including the candidate's name (if available) and Targeted Project (PC).
Do not hesitate to contact the Targeted Projects coordinators (pc1, pc2, pc3, pc4 or pc5@pepr-ensemble.fr) if you wish to discuss the suitability of the subject for the eNSEMBLE programme or the conditions of the call.
Selection of maximum two future doctoral candidates
17 May 2024
eNSEMBLE members with a Ph.D. project
Submit the selected candidates for each Ph.D. project
17 May 2024
4
Project leaders
Pre-selection of future doctoral candidates invited for an interview
23 May 2024
Executive board
Decision notification
23 May 2024
Executive board
Announcement of the interview schedule
27 May 2024
Future doctoral candidates
Interviews
4-5 June 2024
Project leaders
Selection of the future doctoral candidates / Ph.D. projects
5-7 June 2024
Executive board
Decision notification
5-7 June 2024
5
Selected candidates
Starting of the Ph.D. projects
Oct. - Dec. 2024
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 ("HDR", or equivalent) and be a member of a laboratory for which one of the supervisory authorities is on the list of partners for the targeted project (list of partners by PC: CATS, PILOT, MATCHING, CONGRATS, PC5).
The author submits the Ph.D. project proposal on the website for the call (login: admin, password: pepr2023). The author receives a confirmation email that will be useful to update their proposal.
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 (list of Ph.D. topics).
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.
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, 2024.
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 (login: admin, password: pepr2023).
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
Ph.D. Project proposal: 03 April 2024
Doctoral candidate(s): 17 May 2024
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 (CATS, PILOT, MATCHING, CONGRATS, PC5). A secondary PC can be specified in the application.
The Ph.D. advisor must have an HDR (or equivalent) and be a member of a laboratory whose one supervisory body is on the list of PEPR eNSEMBLE partners (list of partners by PC: CATS, PILOT, MATCHING, CONGRATS, PC5). This partner will fund the thesis.
The Ph.D. project must start between September and December of the current year.
In the case of co-supervision, the doctoral student must be assigned to a laboratory whose supervisory body is on the list of PEPR eNSEMBLE partners (and employed by this same partner), under the supervision of an HDR supervisor attached to 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).
