Doctor of Philosophy

=== France ===
==== History ====
{{See also|Doctorate#France}}
Before 1984 three research doctorates existed in [[France]]: the [[State doctorate]] (''doctorat d'État'', the old doctorate introduced in 1808), the third cycle doctorate (''doctorat de troisième cycle'', created in 1954 and shorter than the State doctorate) and the diploma of doctor-engineer (''diplôme de docteur-ingénieur ''created in 1923), for technical research. After 1984, only one type of doctoral degree remained, called "doctorate" (''Doctorat''). The latter is equivalent to the PhD.

==== Admission ====
Students pursuing the PhD degree must first complete a master's degree program, which takes two years after graduation with a bachelor's degree (five years in total). The candidate must apply to a doctoral research project associated with a [[doctoral advisor]] (Directeur de thèse or directeur doctoral) with a [[habilitation]] throughout the doctoral program.

The PhD admission is granted by a [[graduate school#France|graduate school]] (in French, "école doctorale"). A PhD candidate may follow some in-service training offered by the graduate school while continuing their research in a laboratory. Their research may be carried out in a laboratory,{{clarify|it appears that laboratory here is distinct from laboratories at universities, but in the next sentence it says that a candidate doing research at a laboratory may be hired by "the university"|date=July 2022}} at a university or in a company. In the first case, the candidates can be hired by the university or a research organisation. In the last case, the company hires the candidate and they are supervised by both the company's tutor and a lab's professor. Completion of the PhD degree generally requires 3 years after the master's degree but it can last longer in specific cases.

==== Funding ====
The financing of PhD research comes mainly from funds for research of the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research. The most common procedure is a short-term [[employment contract]] called doctoral contract: the institution of higher education is the employer and the PhD candidate the employee. However, the candidate can apply for funds from a company, which can host them at its premises (as in the case where PhD candidates do their research at a company). In another possible situation, the company and the institute can sign a funding agreement together so that the candidate still has a public doctoral contract but is works at the company on a daily basis (for example, this is particularly the case for the [[Foundation (nonprofit)|(French) Scientific Cooperation Foundation]]). Many other resources come from some regional/city projects, some associations, etc.