Competition topics

Each thesis supervisor who wishes to do so should submit a thesis project topic at: www.adum.fr.

To do so, go to the “Thesis proposal” tab >> “Thesis proposal management” >> “Add a doctoral project proposal” and, towards the end, select the type of funding >> “competitive grants.”

Here are the competition rules:

- Be affiliated with the ED STEP.

- Hold an HDR (Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches, or accreditation to supervise research) or a one-off accreditation validated by the ED's HDR committee before the application deadline.

- The co-supervisors of the thesis project must not be involved in the supervision of another thesis already funded by the ED competition in the previous two years. A formal commitment must be signed in the single application file by all co-supervisors of the thesis project.

- Only topics entered on ADUM and approved by the laboratory directors will be posted online.

- The number of thesis topics submitted to the competition is limited to one topic per supervisor.

- We remind you that the maximum number of doctoral students who can be simultaneously supervised or co-supervised by one person is set at 5. In addition, the cumulative supervision rate must not exceed 300%. These two criteria apply from the submission of the thesis topic until the end of the competition.

- For each topic, the laboratory will ensure the eligibility of the thesis supervisor.

- The ED reserves the right to withdraw from the competition any topic that proves to be ineligible.

Published on  February 12, 2026
Updated on February 12, 2026