Our mission

A brief history

Under the guidance of its former director, Professor Patrick FOULON, and of the Pôle Universitaire des Universités de Strasbourg, the European Doctoral College (EDC) of the University of Strasbourg was launched in 1999 when its first cohort of 21 doctoral candidates from 10 different countries was accepted.
Since 1999, 11 other cohorts have joined the EDC. A total of 332 doctoral researchers have therefore been accepted and 135 are still members at present.

Right from the start, the EDC insisted that it should accept doctoral candidates from all disciplines. The EDC was therefore one of the inter-university services at a time when Strasbourg still had 3 universities. When the University of Strasbourg (UDS) joined all disciplines to become one in 2009, the EDC became a common service department. In September 2010, on the departure of its director Professor Patrick Foulon, it was decided that, alongside the 10 Doctoral schools of the UDS, the EDC would participate in the 'Collège des écoles doctorales de l'UDS' (a body equivalent to a Post Graduate school in charge of doctoral training and directly linked to the Research Department).

The idea of creating dedicated halls of residence to accommodate researchers likely to travel extensively between their various research centres emerged rapidly after the launch of the EDC in 1999. Ten years later, the Residence of the European Doctoral College opened its doors. It can now welcome EDC doctoral candidates as well as the EDC administrative team. Other doctoral candidates and researchers also live onsite and new administrative colleagues from the Research Department have also relocated to the EDC halls (Head Secretary of the Collège des Ecoles Doctorales, secretaries of various Doctoral Schools, Offices for Foreign researchers etc.)

Mission and objectives

The European Doctoral College (EDC) of the University of Strasbourg supports doctoral candidates undertaking research as a co-supervised thesis with  two supervisors, one at the University of Strasbourg (UDS) and one at a University abroad. All EDC doctoral candidates must previously have been accepted by one of the 10 doctoral schools of the UDS and a 'cotutelle' agreement must be signed or under preparation.

Candidates for admission at the EDC are selected through an application process and benefit from specific financial aids, as well as from a weekly doctoral training course on Europe presented in French or in English by international experts.

The objectives (*) of the EDC are the following:

• To gather talented European and non European doctoral researchers who wish to have access to doctoral training in research subjects identified as leading collaborative projects between Strasbourg and foreign institutions.
• To strengthen and further develop the above collaborative research projects.
• To substantially expand facilities directed to foreign, mostly European, academics.
• To develop academic and research networks between the University of Strasbourg and other, mostly European, research institutions abroad.
• To strenghten, at doctoral level, cooperation in the Upper-Rhine region, by actively participating in relevant networks and structures such as PRES Alsace, EUCOR etc.
• To improve professional insertion for doctoral researchers, i.e by offering general compulsory courses on European culture and institutions.
• To develop quality assurance for doctoral researchers and advertise their transferable skills to outside economic players in the outside world.
• The facilitate the coming together of doctoral researchers from all over the world whose projects might benefit from the rich European background found in Strasbourg.
• To serve as direct contact for international organisations such as the 'European Universities Association' within the framework of the Bologna process, in order to advertise relevant information and good practice.

(*) as per the 'EDC statutes' voted in May 2009 by the Management Committee of the University of Strasbourg.