Individual Monitoring Committees (CSI)

Article 11 of the Order of 26 August 2022, establishing the national framework for doctoral training and the procedures leading to the award of the national doctoral degree, states that: “An Individual Monitoring Committee” (CSI) oversees the proper progress of the doctoral programme, based on the doctoral charter and the training agreement. During an interview with the doctoral student, it assesses the conditions of their training and the progress of their research. It makes recommendations and submits a report of the interview to the Director of the Doctoral School, the doctoral student, and the thesis supervisor.

The committee is also responsible for helping to prevent any form of conflict, discrimination, or harassment. The composition, organization, and operating procedures of the committee are determined by the Doctoral School Council.

• The CSI must meet before each new registration. The CSI report includes recommendations that are submitted to the Doctoral School following each meeting.
• No re-registration for the PhD will be possible without a written report.

The composition of the Individual Monitoring Committee must remain unchanged throughout the doctoral student’s registration, except in exceptional circumstances.

In consultation with their thesis supervisor, first-year doctoral students (D1) submit the proposed composition of their CSI to the Doctoral School. The research area coordinators approve these committees. If the composition of the committee changes, second- and third-year doctoral students (D2 and D3) must submit their new committee for approval.

The CSI must include at least two members who hold an HDR and are external to the doctoral student’s site. They must not have co-authored any publications with the doctoral student’s host team during the previous five years.

• One member with expertise in the relevant discipline or in a field related to the thesis topic;
• One non-specialist member from outside the research field of the thesis.

One of the members must be affiliated with the MIcrobeS Doctoral School (but not with the doctoral student’s institute/campus) or be affiliated with a Doctoral School of Université Paris Cité. The list of HDR-qualified researchers affiliated with the MIcrobeS Doctoral School is available here.

The other member must be from outside the institution (i.e. neither from Université Paris Cité nor Institut Pasteur).

One additional — OPTIONAL — “expert” may be invited from the first year onwards. This person does not necessarily have to hold an HDR, may change during the course of the PhD, and may be based on the doctoral student’s campus/site. They will not sign the CSI report and will not participate in phases II and III of the meeting (see Step 4 below).

CSI members cannot act as referees for the thesis defence but may serve as examiners or chair the defence.

The procedure for submitting the composition of CSI committees will be announced at the end of 2026.

Doctoral students will be notified by email whether their committee composition has been approved.

• Each year, when the campaign opens (in April), doctoral students will receive an email inviting them to complete their annual reports.
• Before completing the CSI form, please make sure that the composition of your committee has been approved by the Doctoral School (Step #1).
• Report content: You will need to complete the CSI form by providing details on the training courses you have attended and the progress of your PhD research. Your report (2–3 pages maximum) must include: background, hypotheses/objectives, results, and perspectives/conclusion.

You may also make corrections to the pre-filled information, which will be updated in our database at the end of the annual CSI campaign.

Instructions for submitting your report will be provided at the end of 2026.

Once the CSI form has been submitted, doctoral students are invited to organize the meeting with their committee, with the support of their thesis supervisor.

Logistics: Find a date that is convenient for all committee members and your thesis supervisor, and communicate the date and exact location to all participants. If one of the members is participating remotely, you must create and send a videoconference link.

Interview duration

Although the exact duration is left to your discretion, we recommend scheduling a 90-minute time slot. Except in exceptional circumstances, the meeting should take place in person, with the member from outside Université Paris Cité potentially participating by videoconference.

The scientific discussion must last a minimum of 45 minutes.

Deadlines

When scheduling your meeting, please keep in mind the deadlines for the Doctoral School to receive the final report:

• D1 and D2: 30 September
• D3 (request for a 4th year with new funding): end of July
• D1, D2 and D3 (visa renewal): end of July (prefectural procedures may take a long time).

• The CSI committee members — excluding the additional expert — complete the report at the end of the meeting using the link provided in the email accompanying the pre-filled CSI form sent to the doctoral student.
• The committee makes recommendations regarding re-registration and provides an assessment of the doctoral student’s research progress and training.
• Once members #1 and #2 have approved the report — one report per committee — each member receives a copy.
• The report — one report per committee — is sent to the Doctoral School at: ed.microbes@u-pariscite.fr
• Committee members are expressly requested not to forward the report to either the doctoral student or the thesis supervisor.
• If the committee identifies any difficulties, these must be reported directly to the Doctoral School.

The report submitted by your committee is received by the Doctoral School.

• If no issues are reported, the final reports are sent by the Doctoral School to the doctoral students and their thesis supervisors.
• If an issue is identified, the Doctoral School takes any necessary measures regarding the doctoral student’s situation and the progress of their PhD.