The Application Process

Preparing a thesis, supposing successful performance in the competitive entrance process, depends upon the optimal association of three criteria :
•    The doctoral student
•    His/Her funding
•    A thesis profile (subject, laboratory, and thesis director)
Based on the freedom left to VAS to create these associations, there are three possibilities:

The 3 Possibilities

1)    Individual application with VAS financing
The VAS Doctoral School has received funding and chooses amongst its students the profile and the student which form the best match. (Essentially MRT Research Allocations)

2)    A Fellowship is proposed for a specific thesis profile
The VAS Doctoral School chooses the student who fits the profile best. (MRT Research Allocations, profiles specified by the University or MRT, Fellowships from the Brittany Region, and most other funding which delegates this selection process to the VAS school.

3)    A grouping of student-funding-profile
This is often the case for CIFRE fellowships, in which a company pays for and recruits some fellowships from specific research institutions, co-financed fellowships, and other special cases. In these cases, the VAS Doctoral School can only accept or reject the students.

The Procedure

An application can be made throughout the year, but statistically speaking, the month of June sees the highest portion of students accepted, and the last trimester of the year makes up for 2/3 of admissions.
Every application for the annual competitive entrance process is examined by a jury, made up of 4 sub- juries designated each year and made up of 7 scientists who are trained to direct students (HDR).

Aside from the annual competitive entrance process, these juries meet once a month during the rest of the year to examine applications which were not evaluated in July. They determine whether the applicant may be accepted and rank applications if necessary.

The director of the VAS Doctoral School makes the decisions, in accordance with the structures put in place, about who is or is not accepted.

The choice of whether to be enrolled at the University of Rennes 1, AGROCAMPUS West or the University of Rennes 2 is considered: the match between the institution and the professional goals of the student as well as maintaining a balance between institutions are both important criteria.