Funding your PhD
Examples of funding dedicated to doctoral programmes:
Each year, Nantes Université offers approximately fifty doctoral contract funding positions (three years, funded at €2,300 gross monthly as of 1 January 2026). The institution’s laboratories determine which research subjects are available for applications, whilst the doctoral schools organise the recruitment process and propose successful candidates to the institution.
Vacancies for the 2025/2026 academic year will be published on Amethis.
Recruitment procedures can be consulted on the doctoral schools' websites.
Vacancies for the 2025/2026 academic year will be published on Amethis.
Recruitment procedures can be consulted on the doctoral schools' websites.
The call for applications is structured around four strands, namely co-funding of doctoral contracts:
- with national research organisations(1) (all disciplines);
- in Humanities and Social Sciences disciplines;
- known as "tandem theses" on an exploratory topic complementing an applied research topic supported by a Cifre thesis (or a private-law doctoral contract), all disciplines;
- targeted at strategic societal challenges defined each year by the Region, in response to regional priorities.
Where the funder permits, it is possible to fund a doctoral student through a research contract (for example: ANR, European funding, etc.) and offer them an employment contract. In all cases, the positions open for application can be consulted on Amethis or TEBL.
The Eiffel Scholarship Programme is a scholarship of excellence offered by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs to attract the best international students to master’s and doctoral degree programmes.
Eiffel excellence scholarship – PhD level
NB: All applications must go through Nantes Université, which centralises all requests and submits applications to Campus France. Scholarships do not allow employment contracts to be put in place.
Eiffel excellence scholarship – PhD level
NB: All applications must go through Nantes Université, which centralises all requests and submits applications to Campus France. Scholarships do not allow employment contracts to be put in place.
Key figures
- Approximately 250 Nantes Université doctoral contracts (including 140 from the Ministry of Higher Education and Research) per year
- Approximately 80 CIFRE contracts per year, with around fifteen established each academic year
Nota Bene
Permanent or long-term fixed-term employees may, upon request, benefit from an extension of the doctoral preparation period of up to 3 additional years.
Depending on the funding, different types of employment contract are available:
The doctoral contract lasts for three years and provides all the social guarantees of any other employment contract under public law, ensuring a guaranteed minimum remuneration. The doctoral contract may include additional research-related activities chosen from:
- Teaching responsibilities
- Consulting or expert services for companies or public authorities
- Scientific and technical information dissemination
- Research promotion activities
Other schemes contribute to the development of doctoral employment in businesses, such as CIFRE contracts (Industrial agreements on training through research).
The CIFRE scheme enables doctoral students to prepare their thesis within a company or certain local authorities by conducting a research and development programme in collaboration with a research team external to the company.
A collaboration agreement is established between the company and the laboratory, specifying the conditions for conducting research and the ownership clauses of results obtained by the doctoral candidate.
For more information, contact the SPIE.
When you sign a CIFRE contract, you will hold dual status as both a student at Nantes Université and an employee of Nantes Université as a young researcher.
The CIFRE scheme enables doctoral students to prepare their thesis within a company or certain local authorities by conducting a research and development programme in collaboration with a research team external to the company.
A collaboration agreement is established between the company and the laboratory, specifying the conditions for conducting research and the ownership clauses of results obtained by the doctoral candidate.
For more information, contact the SPIE.
When you sign a CIFRE contract, you will hold dual status as both a student at Nantes Université and an employee of Nantes Université as a young researcher.
Following the establishment of an agreement between the two universities, the doctoral student enrols at both institutions. They pay tuition fees at the institution of their choice and are exempt from paying them at the other.
The doctoral student conducts their research in both countries through alternating periods, with a minimum of 30% of the total thesis preparation time spent in each country.
The doctoral student carries out their work under the dual supervision of a thesis supervisor in each of the two countries concerned.
The thesis is defended once only, in a defence recognised by both parties. The defence panel must comprise a balanced proportion of scientific representatives from both countries, with both thesis supervisors serving as panel members. Each university awards the corresponding doctoral degree.
The doctoral student conducts their research in both countries through alternating periods, with a minimum of 30% of the total thesis preparation time spent in each country.
The doctoral student carries out their work under the dual supervision of a thesis supervisor in each of the two countries concerned.
The thesis is defended once only, in a defence recognised by both parties. The defence panel must comprise a balanced proportion of scientific representatives from both countries, with both thesis supervisors serving as panel members. Each university awards the corresponding doctoral degree.
Updated on 16 October 2025.