The content of the doctoral training is flexible and is adapted to the needs of the PhD student. The PhD student, in close collaboration with his/her supervisor(s) and the members of the PhD committee, draws up the programme which is presented to the Subject Specific Doctoral Committee (CDD) for approval. The CDD supervises the progress of the doctoral training and validates the activities undertaken in its framework.
The doctoral training evolves around three key-elements:
- The scientific training, consisting of a number of advanced courses and attendance of scientific congresses and conferences;
- Development of scientific communication skills, both oral and written (scientific publications, research reports, …);
- Development of transferable skills (knowledge of foreign languages, project management, teaching skills, intellectual property)
The doctoral training is acquired within one or several FNRS graduate college(s) or a graduate school approved by the FNRS.
F.R.S.-FNRS Graduate Colleges
The Bologna Declaration provides for the acknowledgement of only one graduate college per area of study in the French-speaking Community of Belgium. The purpose of the F.R.S.-FNRS graduate colleges is to group together, coordinate and promote the theme-based “graduate schools” and to stimulate their creation.
Graduate Schools
The study programme of the theme-based graduate schools is co-organised by the various university academies in order to favour interdisciplinary research and exchange between PhD students from the different universities of the French-speaking Community of Belgium.
A graduate school falls under the jurisdiction of one or several F.F.S.-FNRS graduate colleges. It is possible for graduate schools and graduate colleges to coincide.
So far, about fifty graduate schools have been approved by the F.R.S.-FNRS for a period of five years.
