Regulations of the doctorate in economics

This is an informal translation, the French version is the only official version.

These regulations are applicable to PhD students registered for the first time to the PhD program in economics before academic year 2005-2006.

This Regulation was adopted by the Council of the Département des Sciences Économiques at its meeting on 3 December 2001, and was approved, with certain amendments, by the Executive Committee of the ESPO Faculty on 11 March 2002.

1. This Regulation complements that of the Faculty of Economics and Social and Political Science adopted by the Faculty Council on 12 November 1984, and approved by the Academic Council on 4 March 1985.

2. The Council of the Département des Sciences Économiques is the managing committee of the PhD Programme, and as such is assimilated into the Doctoral Commission. It appoints the Director of the PhD Programme, who must be a full-time permanent member of the academic or scientific staff, and will take responsibility for preparing the files.

3. All PhD Programmes include a research skills and methods assessment stage (épreuve théorique), a confirmation stage (épreuve de confirmation), which will include completion of courses run by the Inter-University Graduate School of Economics, a thesis stage (épreuve de thèse), and a study or research trip abroad. Students with a 3rd cycle degree in Economics from a foreign country may be exempt from this latter obligation.

4. The aim of the research skills assessment stage is to enable the candidate to acquire methodological and theoretical knowledge before s/he defines his/her research proposals and follows courses at the Inter-University Graduate School of Economics.

4.1. It consists of a DEA (Master of Arts) programme, or exceptionally a ‘special’ programme known as a pre-Doctoral programme, the content of which must be approved in each individual case by the Director of the PhD Programme.

4.2. Anyone with an undergraduate degree in Economics with distinction may start the research skills assessment stage. Other degrees deemed by the Doctoral Commission to be of the same standard may be considered.

4.3. Students who follow the ‘special’ pre-Doctoral programme shall be enrolled at the University as PhD students.

5. The aims of the confirmation stage are to complement PhD students’ methodological and theoretical education through courses of the Inter-University Graduate School of Economics linked to their fields of research, and to place them in research teams with a view to enabling them to define their research proposals.

5.1. To move on to the confirmation stage, students must pass the research skills assessment stage with distinction. There shall be no exceptions to this rule.

5.2. The confirmation stage begins when the Council of the Department is informed by the Promoter or Co-promoters that the candidate intends to hand in his/her research proposal. At that point, the Departmental Council shall appoint a Supervisory Committee consisting of two members in addition to the Promoter and the Co-promoters. One of these two additional members must be a member of the Department’s academic staff, or a co-opted member of the Department Council with a PhD. 5.3. The confirmation stage involves:

a. following four courses, and passing the examinations, at the Inter-University Graduatel School of Economics during a period not exceeding two years commencing on the date the student embarks on the confirmation stage; the programmes of the courses to be followed must be discussed with the Promotor or Co-promotors, and approved by the Director of the PhD Programme;

b. presenting a research proposal during the Department’s annual doctoral days (Journées doctorales du Département), and in the presence of the UCL members on the Supervisory Committee;

c. handing the research proposal in to the Council of the Department no more than two years from the date of embarking on the confirmation stage;

d. the research proposal being accepted by the Council of the Department on the basis of reports written by each member of the Supervisory Committee; these written reports must be forwarded to the Director of the PhD Programme no more than three months after the research proposal has been handed in.

5.4. After the research proposal has been accepted, and on the proposal of the Doctoral Commission, the Director appoints a Thesis Committee comprising the Promoter, the Co-promoters and additional members, making it a five-member panel altogether. A scientific expert from outside the University must also be a member. UCL committee members have to be members of the permanent academic or scientific staff, or a co-opted members of the Department Council with a PhD. The Committee must include a majority of members of the UCL permanent academic or scientific staff.

5.5. A student whose research proposal has been rejected once may enrol again for the confirmation stage.

5.6. Students on the confirmation stage are compulsorily enrolled at the University as PhD students. There shall be no exceptions to this rule.

6. The thesis stage is the stage at which the thesis is formally assessed. The thesis must represent an original scientific contribution. Some research outcomes may be published. In these circumstances, various earlier studies must be incorporated into a coherent text, which must itself be published separately.

6.1. All students who have completed the confirmationr stage satisfactorily are enrolled for the thesis stage.

6.2. The thesis stage involves:

a. presenting an account of the progress made in research for the PhD once a year during the Departmental Doctoral days. The Promoter, the Co-promoters and the UCL Panel members must attend this presentation;

b. a ‘pre-defence’ given over to an in-depth scientific examination of the thesis by members of the Committee, and based on a text that must be made available at least one month before the pre-defence takes place. The date of the pre-defence shall be fixed by the Doctoral Commission on the proposal of the Promoter and Co-promoters. After the pre-defence, the Thesis Committee shall send its decision, together with a written report, to the Director of the PhD Programme within 15 days. The Director shall give authorisation for the dissertation to be printed after receiving the written agreement of the Promoter or Co-promoters;

c. a public defence including an oral presentation on the subject of the thesis and a viva voce examination with members of the Thesis Committee. This may take place no earlier than one month after the final text of the thesis has been sent to Committee members. The date of the public defence shall be fixed by the Doctoral Commission on the proposal of the Promoter or Co-promoters.

6.3. The title of Docteur ès Sciences Economiques shall be conferred after the public defence, and when the thesis has been published. The thesis may be published in the Faculty's collection of theses.

| 19/09/2011 |