Please note : For PhD students at the end of their first year, please declare the members of your CSI on ADUM before the 1st April 2026.
For all PhD students, you must organise your CSI before the 3 July 2026. You are authorised to use a partial videoconference.
The Individual Monitoring Committee (CSI) is governed by the Decrees of 25 May 2016 and 26 August 2022 setting out the national framework for training and the procedures leading to the award of the national PhD diploma, as well as the rules of the UGA and the Physics Doctoral School.
Role of the CSI
The Individual Monitoring Committee (CSI) plays a monitoring and advisory role to ensure the smooth progress of the thesis and, where necessary, acts as a mediator. The Individual Monitoring Committee supports the doctoral student throughout the duration of the doctoral program. It must meet before enrollment in the second year and then before each new enrollment until the end of the doctoral program. Its organization is entrusted to the supervisory team.
The PhD student participates fully in the choice of members of their individual monitoring committee, in consultation with their thesis supervisor : for example, they have the option of adding a former Master's or Bachelor's degree teacher, whether in France or abroad.
Composition of the CSI
The CSI will be made up of
a minimum of two people, including at least one HDR. The members of the committee must be chosen from
outside the host team's laboratory. As far as possible, the PhD student's individual monitoring committee will include
a member from outside the institution. It also includes
a non-specialist member from outside the thesis research field. The members of this committee do not participate in the supervision of the PhD student's work. In very large units with several departments and teams, one member may belong to the same laboratory, but the CSI will then include at least one member from outside the laboratory to which the PhD student belongs. The thesis supervision team is not part of the committee, but its members will be invited to take part in the CSI and express their opinions. The president of the CSI must hold an HDR. The name of the president should be indicated on the PhD student's ADUM account. As far as possible, the composition of the CSI should remain the same throughout the duration of the thesis.
Organisation of the CSI
To prepare for future meetings with the members of the CSI,
the PhD student is advised to prepare a document of around ten pages, a copy of which can be sent to the members of the CSI prior to the meeting.
Each session of the CSI must include a plenary hearing in the presence of all parties, during which the PhD student must present in detail the results of his(her) personal work, followed by two separate interviews in the presence of the PhD student alone and the supervisors alone. It will conclude with a deliberation by the CSI alone, in the absence of the PhD student and the supervisors. During the interview with the PhD student, the committee assesses the conditions of his(her) training and the progress of his(her) research.
During this same interview, it is particularly vigilant in identifying any form of conflict, discrimination, moral or sexual harassment or sexist behaviour. The CSI makes recommendations and sends a report on the interview to the doctoral school director, the PhD student and the thesis supervisor.
The CSI must be held before each PhD student's re-registration. At the very least, the CSI should examine the progress of the thesis work in relation to the timetable and programme established the previous year, the PhD student's personal scientific production and the training followed in relation to the gradual development of a personal professional project. At the end of the first year, the ED asks that a very rigorous evaluation of each PhD student's aptitude for research be carried out, requiring at least one oral presentation and one written document personally (publication, conference proceedings, thesis progress report, etc.) by the PhD student as part of his(her) research activities. These follow-up elements must be included in a short report, which must be written by the CSI president (
the report must not include any elements written by the PhD student him(her)self).
If the CSI identifies any difficulties encountered by the PhD student, it is asked to pass this information on to the Doctoral School.
Finally, when a certain amount of vigilance is required from the start of the thesis, the Doctoral School of Physics may set up a reinforced monitoring programme. In this case, the PhD student's aptitude for research is assessed at the end of the 1st year, by requiring at least one oral presentation or written publication (in the broadest sense) by the PhD student. At the end of the 2nd year, a binding writing plan and timetable will be required for the 3rd registration.
