Physics Doctoral School

ED PHYS PhD contracts competition

The results of the 2026 competition will be announced by email on Friday, 19 June 2026, starting at 2 p.m.

Calendar for 2026

Allocation of 2026 PhD contracts

Selection criteria

Competition organization

First step : The thesis supervisor submits his or her thesis topic for the competition, before Monday March 30, 2026, 12 noon.

See the procedure for HDR supervisors under the heading Submit a candidate for the PhD contract competition.

Second step : Candidate applies for one thesis subject (and one only) before Wednesday May 13, 2026, 6pm.

Applying for a thesis subject on ADUM

Once you have entered your application on ADUM, you can either be contacted directly by the future thesis director, if he or she is interested in your profile, or you can take the initiative of contacting the future thesis director yourself, to inform him or her of your interest in his or her subject. Don't forget to click on ‘submit my application’ to ensure that your application is taken into account before the deadline of Wednesday 13 May (you will be blocked if you don't submit your application in time).

Once the future thesis director has confirmed his or her choice for your application, you will be able to print out the ‘Application form’ for signature by the future thesis director and the future laboratory director.

The application file must then be submitted in PDF format to ed-phys@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr and must include :
  •     The signed application form (by you, your future thesis director and your future laboratory director)
  •     A Curriculum vitae
  •     A cover letter
  •     A summary of your thesis proposal (simply print out the topic from the website; you do not need to write a new document)
  •     Copies of all your academic transcripts and diplomas from the last five years (including your ranking and the number of students in your cohort).  
 
Please note : Any application sent and/or incomplete after 6 p.m. on Wednesday 13 May 2026 will be considered inadmissible for the competition.

Candidates must send the Doctoral School all their Master 2 or engineering school results (semester 4 transcripts) as soon as possible.

An initial selection based on the candidate's file will determine which candidates will be called for an audition.

They will be notified by e-mail no later than Tuesday June 2, 2026.

Third step : Candidates are auditioned.

Auditions will take place on June 15, 16 and 17, 2026, at the Maison du Doctorat Jean Kuntzmann, on the Saint-Martin-d'Hères campus.

The purpose of these auditions is to complete the evaluation of the candidate's skills and motivation, over and above the examination of academic results.

Candidates will have 10 minutes to present their background, their recent research activity, their thesis topic, and their motivation to pursue a thesis (powerpoint or PDF presentation, bring a USB key, NO laptop). The presentation should be accessible to non-specialist physicists.

It is advisable to devote more time to the presentation of research activities already carried out than to the subject of future research.

This presentation will be followed by 10 minutes of questions. Some of these questions may relate to the thesis project.

Results

The results of the 2026 competition will be announced by email on Friday, 19 June 2026, starting at 2 p.m.

Candidates on the main list must immediately confirm their acceptance of a doctoral contract, and inform the Doctoral school (ed-phys@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr and nedjma.bendiab@neel.cnrs.fr) of any withdrawals as soon as possible.

In the event of withdrawal, contracts will be awarded in the order of the complementary list.
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