FAQ : International Dual PhD Degree

An international dual PhD degree is a programme which enables a PhD student to carry out their research work under the joint supervision of two thesis directors. The programme encourages international PhD mobility and the awarding of two PhD degrees (with mention of dual Phd) following a single defense in France or abroad.

Benefits : An international dual PhD allows students to be awarded a PhD degree from Université Paris Cité and a international partner university. This degree is approved by the partner countries involved in the dual PhD degree agreement, thus offering more opportunities and acquiring additional skills through a unique and multicultural experience.

Duration : An international dual PhD degree takes a minimum of 3 years (full time). However, it is possible to include a 4th year when signing the dual PhD degree agreement and extend it thereafter by an amendment. The PhD degree cannot exceed 6 years.

Eligibility requirements : You must have a Master’s degree or equivalent (or same education level) and be admitted in your first year of PhD at Université Paris Cité and the partner university.

Preparing an international dual PhD degree requires time and organisation. It can only be set up if the applicant has enrolled in the 1^st year of their PhD degree programme in the two institutions.

Applications for the 2026/2027 academic year will be open from June 18, 2026, to December 15, 2026. During this period, you must complete your admission process at Université Paris Cité and at the partner institution involved in the international dual PhD programme. You must then submit an application for an international dual PhD programme, which must be signed by your thesis supervisor and the director of your doctoral school.

If your application is approved, please allow a minimum of three months, and sometimes longer, for the negotiation and finalisation of your agreement. Plan ahead and stay organised! The international dual PhD agreement must be signed during the first year of your doctoral studies.

Please note that Université Paris Cité will be closed from July 27 to August 17, 2026.

Yes, Université Paris Cité allows an international PhD degree to be set up with one or two partner institutions.

No. In order to enable the establishment of an international dual PhD degree, the co-contracting institutions must be authorised to award a PhD degree. Otherwise, the PhD student may opt for a co-supervision which does not require double administrative registration. Read more on co-supervision : https://u-pariscite.fr/doctorat/faq/

You need to choose directors who are specialists in the field in which you wish to carry out your PhD thesis:

• One PhD supervisor at Université Paris Cité, chosen from among the teachers and researchers of your doctoral school.
• One PhD supervisor in the partner institution

Please note that both thesis supervisors must be authorised to supervise research in their respective institutions.

Regulations are very clear for international dual PhD degrees. It is generally agreed that registration fees should only be paid to one of the partner institutions (Ref: Article 21 paragraph 4 of Title III of the decree of 26 May 2016). The dual PhD degree agreement must indicate where the doctoral student will pay these fees for each year and which institution will exempt him/her from paying them. For the first year, you must then wait for the agreement to be signed or ask the Doctoral School College to register you and ask for a refund afterwards if the agreement indicates so. If you have to pay your registration fee in Université Paris Cité for the first year (doctoral contract, funding condition) and/or if you asked in your form to pay the registration fee here for the first year then you must pay the fee in Université Paris Cité even if the agreement is not signed yet.

If your dual PhD degree agreement stipulates an exemption from tuition fees this year at Université Paris Cité, you must present your certificate of tuition or proof of enrollment from the partner university and a copy of your dual PhD degree agreement to the enrollment service of the School of Doctoral Studies (CED).

When preparing the request form, you have to ask to pay the registration fees proportionally to the global duration of your stay(s) in each institution. Ex: If you spend 12 months at the partner institution and 24 months at Université Paris Cité, you have to pay two years at Université Paris Cité and one year at the partner institution.

If you have received other indications from the partner institution at this point, just follow their guidelines, the SRI and the CED will check afterwards if it is possible.

Step 1: Identify your thesis supervisors and start discussing your research interests and doctoral project with them as early as possible. Be sure to check the deadlines for submitting an international dual PhD application at both Université Paris Cité and the partner institution. When planning your research stays between the two universities, do not overlook visa requirements and housing availability in both cities.

Step 2: At the same time, do not delay! Contact your doctoral school to learn about the PhD admission process and submit your application. Administrative enrolment and the international dual PhD programme can only be arranged once you have been admitted to a PhD programme by your doctoral school.

Step 3: Have you been accepted by your doctoral school? Complete the international dual PhD application form. The form must be completed and signed by your thesis supervisor and by the doctoral school of Université Paris Cité to which you are affiliated. Please ensure that all sections of the form are completed carefully; otherwise, we will need to contact you for additional information.

Step 4: Once your application has been reviewed, the International Cooperation Department of the International Relations Office will contact the relevant partner institution(s) to negotiate, validate and sign the international dual PhD agreement.

This agreement is an essential document. It establishes the framework governing your entire international dual PhD programme, including enrolment procedures, tuition fees, duration of the PhD, research topic, supervision arrangements, language requirements, duration and schedule of research stays abroad, as well as the organisation of the thesis defence (language, location, composition of the examination committee, etc.).

Please note that several months may be required to negotiate and finalise the agreement. Once it has been signed, you will officially be enrolled in an international dual PhD programme.

If you need to complete your administrative enrolment before the agreement has been finalised, you may choose to pay the tuition fees at Université Paris Cité while awaiting completion of the agreement. If the agreement stipulates that tuition fees must ultimately be paid to the partner institution, a reimbursement procedure will be offered by the Doctoral Education Department once the agreement has been signed.

The refund of registration fees already paid is examined after the school of doctoral studies has reviewed the PhD student’s application.

Once your international dual PhD agreement has been signed, please contact your doctoral school and the enrolment office to regularise your registration, if necessary.

If your stay in France requires a visa, please contact the French consulate or embassy in your country of residence as soon as possible. Please note that the time required to obtain a visa should not be underestimated.

Yes. If your international dual PhD degree agreement has already been signed, the schedule of stays will have to be modified by an amendment in order to establish your new dates of stay. As a reminder, all students must stay at Université Paris Cité for the equivalent of 12 months.

The universities Paris Descartes and Paris Diderot merged and integrated the IPGP on 1st January 2020 to form Université Paris Cité. This newly formed university has since taken over the rights and obligations that were binding on its founding institutions, particularly, with regard to agreements. Thus, the international dual PhD degree agreements signed by Paris Descartes or Paris Diderot before the creation of Université Paris Cité remain in effect. At the end of your PhD you will receive a diploma from Université Paris Cité, even if your PhD began before the merger.

It is possible to change your thesis supervisor or the topic of your PhD research.

• Thesis supervisor: You will need to identify a new thesis supervisor within the institution concerned.
• PhD research topic: Any change to the thesis topic must be approved by both thesis supervisors and both doctoral schools.

To request a modification to your international dual PhD programme at Université Paris Cité, two steps are required:

1. Obtain approval for the proposed changes from your thesis supervisors and doctoral schools at Université Paris Cité and the partner institution(s).
2. Complete the Modification/Extension Request Form, have it signed by your UPCité thesis supervisor (or by the new supervisor in the event of a change of supervisor) and by the Director of your UPCité doctoral school, then send it to: cooperation.iro@u-paris.fr.

The International Relations Office will prepare the amendment reflecting the requested changes and submit it to the partner institution for approval.

It is the responsibility of the doctoral candidate to ensure that any parallel procedures required by the partner institution are also completed.

Yes. To do so, you will need to obtain the approval from your doctoral school and the university. As soon as you receive it:

• Make a request for special permission to your doctoral school manager.
• Meanwhile, submit a request for extension and add it to your special permission request.

At Université Paris Cité : If your extension and waiver requests are approved by the institution, you must submit your extension request form to the International Relations Department. An addendum to your international dual PhD agreement will then be drafted by the International Relations Departement. You have until mid-December to submit your extension request. The institution responsible for tuition fee payment will be specified in the addendum.

At the partner institution : Please ensure that you also obtain approval for re-enrolment at your partner institution; otherwise, the addendum to the international dual PhD agreement cannot be finalised.

To re-enroll at Université Paris Cité, please contact the administrative manager of your Doctoral School. Please ensure to re-enroll in your international dual PhD degree programme’s partner institutions. All the payment terms and conditions as well as tuition fees exemption are outlined and available in the agreement.

It is entirely possible for an international dual PhD degree student to take a gap year or a semester off. However, there are some conditions that are required to obtain an agreement:

• The request must be submitted on an exceptional basis. It must be justified and argued with the Doctoral school.
• A gap semester or year should only be made once in the course of the PhD. In other words, it is not possible to split it up into several periods.
• The request cannot be submitted before the 2nd year of the PhD thesis.
• It cannot be granted without the validation of the president of the institution, as well as the consent of both your PhD supervisors and the director of the doctoral school (and School of Doctoral studies’ commission).
• A modification request must be submitted to the doctoral school to set up an addendum to your agreement.

The gap period is not recognized in the duration of the thesis. During this period, the PhD student must therefore temporarily suspend his/her training and research. However, the student will have to pay the registration fees unless the gap period covers the entire academic year.

In exchange, Université Paris Cité agrees to guarantee the registration of the PhD student on his/her return from the gap period. However, it is the responsibility of the PhD student to take all the necessary steps to re-enroll as soon as he/she returns.

Please note: it is recommended that the PhD student be vigilant and check with the partner institution whether it is possible to interrupt his/her thesis temporarily.

In fact, a student’s request for a break in international dual PhD degree programme implies the validation of both partner institutions, which are not subject to the same legislation.

The request for PhD defense must be made no later than 6 months before the deadline which is specified in the dual PhD degree agreement or amendment. Contact the manager of your doctoral school as soon as possible.

It all depends on your new defense date. If the new date is between September 30rd and December 15th, then it will not be necessary to re-enroll and you will not be required to pay the tuition fees for a new year at Université Paris Cité. (Réf : Arrêté du 19 avril 2019)

For this condition to be applicable you must also :

• No later than September 20: Inform your Doctoral School of your new defense date. This must of course be between September 30rd and December 15th.
• No later than one month before the date of the defense: Submit the complete defense file to your Doctoral School. The application is processed by the College of Doctoral Schools to which your Doctoral School is attached, then validated by the Presidency of Université Paris Cité.

In case of violation of any of these conditions, re-enrollment and payment of tuition fees will be MANDATORY. A special permission request must then be made to the Doctoral School. For a joint PhD, you also need to add a request for extension of your agreement.

Following validation of the doctoral programme and the thesis defence, two or more doctoral degrees will be awarded to the student, one by Université Paris Cité and one by the partner institutions. These diplomas will specify the student’s field of study and include the statement that “the thesis was carried out under a dual PhD.”

At Université Paris Cité, there are 2 types of financial aid:

• The IRO mobility grants for PhD students. Please note they are limited.
• Financial aid from the School of Doctoral Studies: This funding is also limited (not many) and is granted by mutual agreement between the CED and your home Doctoral School.

However, external institutions do offer scholarships. To obtain them, the PhD student will have to meet certain selection criteria:

• The Eiffel Scholarship
• The scholarship of the Université Franco-Allemande (UFA)
• The scholarship of the Vinci programme of the Università Franco Italiana (UFI)
• La Bourse Campus France
• The Scholarship from the French Embassy in your country of residence
• The Scholarship offered by the embassy of your country of nationality/residence
• Erasmus+ Grants
• Scholarships from the Île-de-France region

Please contact the above organizations for more information. Please note :

The costs of the jury’s visits will be covered in accordance with the rules and financial possibilities of each Doctoral School and laboratories.

The steps relating to the search for accommodation in Paris must be carried out as a priority and on an individual basis by the PhD student. However, the International Relations Department will, as far as possible, be able to direct/assist the PhD student in their research by offering (if available) a room at the CIUP or CROUS.

Please note that the CIUP (Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris) quota is very limited. Moreover, obtaining a comfort room is only possible at the beginning of the academic year, therefore please take prompt action.

Other options such as the Stud’appart platform is also an option that should not be neglected.

The doctoral school college can help you with the visa application process and establish a hosting agreement for the duration of your stay in France if necessary. The authorities in the Embassy are very likely to ask you for a copy of your dual PhD agreement.

If you are in a situation of disability, we invite you to contact the Disability Support Office (Pôle Handicap) at Université Paris Cité to assess the necessary accommodations.
Contact: relais-odeon@u-paris.fr
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At Université Paris Cité you have 3 dedicated contacts.

Elaboration, follow-up and revision:

The International Relations Office, international cooperation team is available to answer your queries.

Please send an email to : cooperation.iro@u-paris.fr

Administrative procedures and follow-up

The process steps related to application, enrollment, re-enrollment and defense should be taken with the manager of your doctoral school and the School of Doctoral Studies (registration or defense).

• To find the administrative manager of your Doctoral School
• Enrollment
• Defense / diploma

Pedagogical and research matters

The academic and research aspects, both before and during your international dual PhD degree, including your thesis topic and the supervision of your work, must be discussed with your thesis supervisors. It is your responsibility to contact them directly and, if they are not already acquainted, to put them in touch so that they can discuss their shared research interests and jointly define a thesis topic for your dual PhD degree.