a guide for the doctoral student in brittany - Université de Rennes 1

Article 19of the ministerial orderof 7 August 2006The board of examiners is appointed by the head of the establishmenton the advice of the director of the doctoralschool and of the thesis director. There are between 3 and 8members of the board of examiners. At least half of it iscomposed of eminent academics, whether French or non-French, external to the doctoral school and the establishmentwhere the candidate is registered, and who are chosenbecause of their scientific skills and expertise, subject tointernational joint supervision-related procedure. Whenseveral establishments are accredited to jointly grant thedoctorate, the board of examiners is appointed by the headsof the establishments concerned according to the termsand conditions stipulated in the agreement linking them.At least half of the board of examiners must be composedof professors or academics of similar status conforming tothe procedures relating to the Conseil National desUniversités regulations on the appointment of members,or of lecturers of an equivalent level who are not responsibleto the French higher education minister.The members of the examining board themselves appointa Chair from among their number, and, if the need arises,a thesis defence rapporteur. The Chair must be a professoror person of similar rank or a lecturer of an equivalent levelin the sense of the preceding paragraph. If the thesis directoris a member of the board of examiners, he cannot be choseneither as a thesis defence rapporteur or as the board’s Chair.265THESIS DEFENCE /ORAL EXAMINATION5.1 Thesis defence authorisation & the board of examinersIn order to obtain authorisation for thesis defence, the doctoral student must:>> contact their doctoral school>> deposit at the Research Service or at the Academic Registrar’s Office(depending on the establishment):The title and a summary of their thesis, a list of thesis-related work, communications,and publications, a list of the members of the board of examiners and of the tworapporteurs, giving details of their addresses and positions, and 4 bound copies of thethesis.>> have obtained a certain number of credits from the doctoral training coursesattended during their thesis preparation or a certain number of training hours.Information can be obtained from each university.>> It is compulsory to have details of articles submitted for publication. Exemptions willbe made in exceptional cases on an individual basis, especially for particular doctoralschools, such as mathematics, and will be examined by the officers of the doctoralschool.Authorisation to present a thesis defence is granted by the President of the university,after consultation with the director of the doctoral school, and on the recommendationof the thesis director. The candidate’s work is examined beforehand by at least tworapporteurs entitled to supervise research work, and who must be external to the doctoralschool and to the establishment where the candidate is registered. They make theiropinion known by means of written reports on the basis of which the President of theuniversity authorises the thesis defence, on the advice of the head of the doctoral school.These reports are communicated to the board of examiners before the thesis defencetakes place.5.2 Cover of the thesisCompulsory information>> Mention of the UEB: ‘Under the seal of the UniversitéEuropéenne de Bretagne’>> name of the establishment which is awardingthe doctorate and the name of the doctoral school.In the case of an international ‘cotutelle’ thesis,state the name of each of the establishments.>> research unit>> type of doctorate>> disciplinary field in which the thesis is being defended>> title of the thesis or of the main workThe choice of words of the title is particularlyimportant as each word is systematicallyindexed in catalogues and databases.>> the author’s first names (in lower case letters)>> and family name (in capital letters).According to the official rule, the family name shouldbe used first, followed, if appropriate, by the usual name,whether it results from marriage or filiation. The twonames are indexed and searchable in catalogues andthesis registry bases.The terms ‘wife’, ‘husband’, ‘known as’, or ‘born’ mustnot be used.To avoid any possible confusion between the author’sfamily name(s) and first name(s), all family namesmust appear in capital letters.>> first name(s) and family name(s) of the research directorIf there are two directors, place the principal director’sname first. For theses which are being defended withinthe framework of an international ‘cotutelle’, use the (/)slash to separate the names of the two thesis directors.>> possible volume numbering>> the date of the thesis defence, if fixed>> the composition of the board of examiners:family names and first names of the examiners.27