W
ithin the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the doctorate is defined by the Landscape Decree as a postgraduate university diploma leading to the academic grade of "doctor", and delivered after the defence of a thesis.
Although the official duration of the PhD is three years (180 credits), the thesis work actually represents four years of full-time work (on average) as a researcher: in total, 48 months of exploration and deepening of the job of researcher !
The doctoral challenge is broken down into three parts:
It is validated by a certificate in research training. This certificate gives a high scientific and professional qualification and highlights the skills acquired during the thesis, including the ability to carry out research and develop one's employability.
It may take the form of a dissertation in the discipline or of an essay demonstrating the coherence of a set of scientific publications ("article-based thesis") of which the doctoral student is the author or co-author (depending on the regulations of the doctoral college of the field considered, include the link to the doctoral college pages).
The public presentation of this work (the "thesis defence") highlighting its qualities, its originality as well as the candidate's capabilities in scientific popularisation.
After years of doctoral training, the oral examination, which is the thesis defence, enables PhDs in the making to speak to an audience and a jury of specialists. The opportunity to address with them a few topics addressed at the University of Liège.
Virginie CHRISTOPHE ; Evelyne FAVART
