Joint doctoral thesis

PhD candidates can conduct their research in the framework of a Joint PhD thesis, which involves two Universities or Higher Education Institutions from Belgium or abroad entitled to deliver doctoral degrees (3^rd cycle).

What's a joint doctoral thesis ?

The joint doctoral thesis favours international mobility of doctoral candidates, contribute to develop scientific cooperation between researchers as well as establish agreements with foreign higher education institutions.
The research activity and the conduct of the thesis will be carried out in both institutions, during alternative successive stay periods in both institutions, determined by both supervisors with the approval of the PhD candidate.

There is no budget available at ULiège to finance mobility in the context of a joint PhD. 

Admission and registration

There are two SEPARATE procedures to go through :

1. the admission/registration at the University of Liege. PhD candidates must also register and accomplish all administrative procedures at the partner university, but it's up to them to get the information from the services concerned.
2. the set up of the joint PhD degree agreement

The PhD candidate must satisfy the admission criteria to the doctoral degree.

• The PhD candidate will contact his/her supervisor and the doctoral school;
• The PhD candidate will follow the registration procedure detaled on the Registration Service Website.

Registration procedure

The registration procedure follows the rules and regulations of each partner institution.

Please pay attention : at the end of the first year of registration to the doctorate at the University of Liège, the PhD candidates will receive all necessary information regarding their registration for next academic year and terms of payment. They are invited to pay great attention to the respect of the current deadline. All relevant information will be sent by post as well as by email, to their "@student.uliege.be" address. Therefore, they are strongly advised to activate their ULiège email address and to check it on a regular basis. If they do not fulfill all necessary formalities before the deadline, their registration to the doctorate will be cancelled.

The first email reminder will also be sent to their promotor.

Tuition fees

The PhD candidate must register in both institutions during the whole period of his/her studies, but may be exempted from tuition fees in one of them.

In order to get a PhD degree delivered by the French Community of Belgium, the PhD candidate will pay tuition fees at the beginning of his/her research, the first year of registration as a PhD student at the University of Liege.

Moreover, the PhD candidate will pay administrative fees for the role and insurance each year at the University of Liège. Therefore, he/she will benefit from the social insurance due to every regular student as long as he/she is regularly registered in the partner institution.

Degree

In compliance with the regulation in each country, both universities will deliver the title of doctor and this by means of either a single joint diploma or a double diploma.

Practical information

The joint PhD degree agreement is available :

 In French        In English

PhD candidates must fill the electronic version of the agreement and send it to the contact person (see below). Please, don't send any paper version.

The University of Liege can work with the partner's agreement template, as long it can be adapted to fit with the rules applying to the University of Liege, and notably the rules related to the composition of the jury (5 members minimum).