CIFRE Fellowships

Privileging Public/Private Research Partnerships

CIFRE Fellowships are made available by the National Association for Technical Research (ANRT) for the Ministry which handles research. The allow companies to take advantage of annual subsidies (indicated on the ANRT site) in exchange for employing the young doctoral student for 3 years.

The objective is to privilege public/private research partnerships and place doctoral students in real working conditions. This process involves four partners :
•    The business which recruits a student with a Masters degree for a specified (CDD) or unspecified (CDI) length of time and which gives the student a strategic socio-economic research mission. The starting annual salary may not be lower than 23,484 before taxes. The research will be the focus of the thesis of the employee-student.
•    The academic research laboratory which hosts the employee-student
•    The VAS Doctoral School
•    The ANRT which organizes the CIFRE Fellowship with the business. En 2009, the subsidy was for 14,000€ (not subject to the VAT). In addition to this subsidy is the Research Tax Credit (CIR), calculated based on the complementary non-subsidized costs of the research, which allows the company to obtain at least 14,294€ per year. The subsidies cover around 46% of total costs.

A Formal Contract Between Partners

The company and the laboratory establish a contract within the first six months of the CIRFE which stipulates the conditions of the partnership, the research methods, the place of research, confidentiality agreements, and intellectual property rights. An annual report, signed by the business, the laboratory, and the doctoral student, are submitted to the ANRT.

Requirements

The company must be in French legal jurisdiction.
The candidate must have a recent Masters degree. He/She must not have already completed more than 1 year of doctoral studies. This must be the first professional experience for the candidate. The CIFRE are open to students of all nationalities.
The academic research laboratory must be part of a public university, school, or other research establishment. The laboratory may be abroad. If so, a recognized sponsor French laboratory is necessary.

Acceptance

1. The VAS Doctoral School
The selection procedures are being validated with VAS partners :

2. ANRT
The process takes place year-round. The decision is generally made available within 2 months of the complete dossier/application being received.
The Technical Committee decides based on two criteria:
•    Technical and economical advise given by a regional research and technology delegate  (DRRT) from the region of the business, which takes into account the financial situation of the company, its implication, and its ability to give professional training to the candidate.
•    Scientific advise concerning the adequacy of the partnership and the doctoral training