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PhD Admissions
Eligible candidates, regardless of their previous academic background (international or French), must apply directly online.
Eligibility criteria
The PhD admissions procedure is open to applicants who have obtained or will obtain (by the end of this academic year) :
Degree within the European Higher Education Area
Candidates holding a degree obtained from an institution in a country belonging to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), within the framework of the Bologna Process, must have completed a minimum of 300 ECTS credits, in accordance with the Bachelor’s–Master’s–Doctorate (LMD) structure.
Degree outside the European Higher Education Area
For degrees obtained from an institution located outside the EHEA, the programme completed must correspond to Level 7 of the International Standard Classification of Education 2011 (ISCED), i.e. the Master’s level.
According to paragraph 241 of ISCED 2011:
“Programmes at ISCED level 7, or Master’s or equivalent level, are often designed to provide participants with advanced academic and/or
professional knowledge, skills and competencies, leading to a second degree or equivalent qualification. Programmes at this level may have a substantial research component but do not yet lead to the award of a doctoral qualification.”
Candidates Without the Required Degrees
Candidates who do not match the eligibility criteria required for direct admission to the first year of the PhD are invited to consult the admission procedures for the Master’s programmes offered by the School of Research..
Deadlines
The admission campaign for the 2027 intake will open in autumn.
Admissions timeline
To be assessed, your application must be complete and submitted no later than the deadline for the programme concerned (11:59 p.m., Paris time):
- 26 January 2027 at 11:59 p.m. (Paris time), for an admission decision at the end of March 2027. Candidates applying for the ENS doctoral contract must make sure to apply during this session.
- 18 May 2027 at 11:59 p.m. (Paris time), for an admission decision at the end of June 2027.
Interview schedule for doctoral contracts
As doctoral contracts are limited in number, only some candidates admitted subject to funding (SRF) who have applied for a doctoral contract may be invited to an interview as part of the doctoral contract awarding process.
Possible (online) interviews for Law doctoral contracts: 5 March 2027 for the first session and 9 June 2027 for the second session.
Possible interviews for Sociology doctoral contracts: 17 June 2027.
Possible interviews for History doctoral contracts: early June 2027, date to be confirmed at a later date.
Application assessment criteria
Applications are assessed with consideration for the diversity of academic backgrounds, disciplines and higher education systems.
Application expectations
Applications are assessed on the basis of academic excellence and strong research potential, which may in particular be demonstrated by:
- Highly developed research work (thesis, article, etc.);
- Academic distinctions or awards;
- Significant research experience.
The doctoral research project
Particular attention is paid to the quality and feasibility of the doctoral research project. Sciences Po’s School of Research seeks to admit candidates whose projects have strong prospects of being successfully completed.
The doctoral research project should in particular make it possible to assess:
- The research question: the topic must be clearly defined and the research question substantiated, particularly in light of previous research.
- Methodology: the candidate must present the methodology envisaged to address the chosen research question.
- Feasibility of the project: the planned research must be feasible from both a scientific and practical perspective. Particular attention is paid to the conditions of access to the field and to the data required for the research.
- Consistency of the academic and/or professional background: the doctoral research project must be consistent with the candidate’s academic and/or professional background. The academic trajectory should preferably be continuous and coherent, and academic results should be of a very high standard.
- Availability: the candidate must specify the conditions under which they will be able to devote themselves to completing the PhD. This information is particularly important for candidates who are employed. For further information, please consult the “Funding your studies” section.
- Funding: the funding arrangements for the PhD must be specified. For further information, please consult the “Funding your studies” section.
The doctoral research project may evolve during the first few months of the PhD. Nevertheless, candidates are expected, at the time of application, to have a sufficiently well-developed understanding of their topic, research directions and implications for their professional plans.
For candidates who are employed, their professional background must be presented in relation to the PhD research proposal. In particular, candidates should explain how their professional experience may contribute to the research project and, where applicable, to what extent the PhD forms part of a professional development plan.
Before you apply
Choose your programme
Check the list of our doctoral programmes.
Please review
- The eligibility criteria for the PhD admission procedure
Consult
- The list of documents required to apply
- The specific deadlines
How to apply
To submit your application, you must complete the following steps:
Create your account
During the opening period of the admissions campaign, connect to our application portal. Then, create an account, log in with your email address and fill out your application. It may take up to two hours before receiving the activation link. If, after this period, you still haven’t received anything, please follow the procedure indicated in our FAQ.
The email address used to create your account must remain valid and functional throughout the entire admission process. You must ensure that you check it as often as necessary.
Please note :
- You cannot use the same application form twice. If you already applied in the past, you must create a new application form.
- Should you already have an email @sciencespo.fr, you do not need to create a new account: just login to our application portal by using your usual Sciences Po username (firstname.lastname) and password.
Choose your programme
Any questions concerning your choice of PhD programme or its academic content should be addressed to the Director of Doctoral Studies or the administrative coordinator of the programme concerned. Their contact details can be found on the page of the programme to which you are applying.
You may apply to only one PhD programme at Sciences Po per recruitment campaign. It is not possible to apply both to a PhD programme and to a Master’s programme.
PhD supervisor’s agreement
By discipline
Sociology: an application can only be considered if the name of a PhD supervisor is provided and if they have given their initial agreement. This agreement must be attached to the application in the form of a letter or email, under the “Academic
background” section. Without prior agreement, the application cannot be considered.
Economics, Law and Political Science: prior agreement from a research supervisor is not required in order to apply.
History: the name(s) of the prospective PhD supervisor(s) must be indicated in the “Motivation” section. No prior agreement letter is required.
Identifying a research unit
Candidates must have identified the research unit to which they wish to be affiliated. Consult the list of Sciences Po research units and the faculty members affiliated with them.
Request your references
Two academic references are required for your application.
We advise you to start early filling out the references subsections in the Academic background section and if applicable in the professional experience section. This will ensure referees have adequate time to reply.
If you obtained your most recent degree more than five years ago (before 1 June 2022) and are unable to obtain academic recommendations, please contact the Admissions Office via the admissions form.
In certain cases, one of the two letters may be replaced by a professional recommendation letter or by any other relevant supporting document providing evidence of your skills and research potential.
For an application to be considered, it must be submitted online AND include all required documents before the deadline for the programme to which you are applying.
Once your application has been submitted, no documents subsequently attached will be taken into consideration, unless we expressly request them.
Complete the fields in your application
You will be required to provide a certain amount of information. Several sections must be completed, including:
- Personal information: Id details
- Correspondence: addresses, emergency contacts, etc.
- Academic background:
In this section, you must enter information for each academic programme/institution in which you have studied. They should be listed in chronological order, starting from most recent to oldest.
You will be required to do the same with your academic exchange programmes. Please note that dual degree programmes should not be entered in the “academic exchange programmes” section.
For each academic programme/institution, please make sure to give us the following information:
- Name of the degree : specify if it is a bachelor's, master's, or PhD degree, before indicating the name of the degree
- If you withdrew from this programme, please specify. Example: Bachelor in Social Sciences and Humanities – withdrawn after Semester 1
- If it is a dual degree, please specify it as well. Example: Bachelor in Social Sciences and Humanities – DD - Type of study
- Specialization
- Language of study
- Programmes start/end dates. If you are currently enrolled in an academic programme that is not yet completed, please specify your expected date of graduation.
- Include your average grade
- State whether you have already obtained the corresponding diploma (If you are enrolled in a non-degree programme—such as CPGE—you must indicate “no”)
- Name of institution, country, town of the institution.
We also require two academic references
- Professional experience:
Please indicate and describe ALL of your past and/or ongoing work experience of more than one month (professional experience and internships included). Do not include any volunteering or charity work here; those experiences can be added in the “Personal background” section. If you are currently working or doing an internship and your contract runs beyond next summer, enter September 1st of the current year in the “Professional experience” section.
An optional professional recommendation may be added.
- Personal background: extracurricular activities, etc.
- Languages: A sufficient command of French and/or English is expected in order to undertake doctoral studies and conduct research under appropriate conditions. Knowledge of the languages required for the research project is taken into account when assessing the application.
- Motivation:
You must write a motivation letter in the dedicated section of the application.
Write your motivation letter in the dedicated section of your online application.
You must also complete the form If you have a potential supervisor in mind, please indicate his/her name after your Thesis project title (+ specify whether this is a cotutelle).
Please note:
- Sociology: prior written agreement required.
- History: support from a PhD supervisor strongly recommended.
- Economics: identifying a PhD supervisor recommended, with no formal agreement required.
- Law: no prior identification necessary.
- Political Science: identification optional; contacting faculty members may be considered.
- Financial information: funding for your PhD, application for a doctoral contract, etc.
To apply for a doctoral contract, it is essential to select the corresponding box in your online application.
For all PhD applications, you must upload the following documents . All uploaded documents must be in PDF format (maximum 2 MB per document).
We expect an application file of exemplary quality, that is, one comprising fully legible documents and labelled strictly in accordance with our instructions.
Please do not overload your application with non-requested documents. Should you decide to submit optional or non-required documents, please do so judiciously and sparingly, ensuring that they enhance—rather than dilute—the key strengths of your application.
We only take into account the compulsory documents included in the application when it is ready for the first assessment. We will not take into account supporting documents provided later on (transcripts obtained at the end of the year, for example), unless we have specifically requested them.
If your documents are neither in French nor in English, please send them in the original language AND provide a translation (which you may do yourself).
- ID : passport, National ID or residence permit only
- CV/Résumé
- Academic transcript(s) for the entirety of your time in higher education.
- Acceptable formats include scanned copies of paper transcripts produced by the institution, electronic transcripts produced by the institution, and web-based academic records produced by the institution and containing your name and the name of the institution. The Admissions Office reserves the right to request official transcripts at any time during the application process.
- Please provide us with proof of enrollment for the current academic year if you are not able to provide an academic transcript AND you are enrolled in a higher education institution. - Academic transcripts for the semesters spent abroad on exchange programmes during your time in higher education. If you have completed an exchange and did not obtain grades during this period, please attach a certificate of attendance from the host institution.
- Most recent Master’s degree (or equivalent) obtained: a copy of the diplomas for the programmes declared in your application, if you already hold them.
- Doctoral research project: Maximum 5,000 words, i.e. approximately ten pages, excluding bibliographical references. For the History PhD only, the research project must not exceed 3,000 words, excluding the bibliography (maximum 20–25 titles).
- Doctoral research project summary: two pages, in PDF or Word format.
- Language test: a language test is optional for admission to a PhD. the ‘Required languages’ field is a mandatory field in our application interface; if you do not have a CEFR test or self-assessment result to upload, please select the default option ‘two years of study in the language’.
- Proof of funding: If already obtained, proof of doctoral funding as part of an external funding arrangement.
- PhD supervisor’s agreement: for Sociology only, an email or short letter from the prospective PhD supervisor, authorised to supervise doctoral research, indicating their agreement to supervise the thesis is mandatory.
Pay the application fee
The application fee is €100.
In case of an incomplete, withdrawn or unsuccessful application, the application fee is not refundable.
We do not offer fee waivers, unless :
- you are a CROUS scholarship holder for the current academic year (your “attestation définitive” must be included in your application file);
- you are an applicant with disabilities and can provide one of the following documents: RQTH, Allocation Adulte Handicapé, Carte "Mobilité Inclusion" portant la mention "Invalidité”, Allocation Éducation Enfant Handicapé;
- you can provide proof of refugee status. In this case, please email direction.engagement@sciencespo.fr and be sure to attach an official document confirming the validity of your status to both your email and your application. The validity date must be included on the document, except for countries whose official documents do not include a validity date. The list of these countries is as follows: Bangladesh, Colombia, Ecuador, Israel, Iran, Mali, Mexico, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Palestine, Peru, the Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Chad, and Turkey. If necessary, a translation into French or English will also be required. Asylum seeker status does not entitle you to a waiver of the application fee.
Please note: Paying the application fee does not mean that your application file has been submitted. Make sure to submit your application file by clicking on the Submit button.
If you are unable to pay the application fee by credit card, please contact the Admissions Office to obtain our bank details. Your payment will be validated upon receipt of a copy of the bank transfer confirmation.
Submit your application
Do not wait until the last day to submit your application: as soon as your application is complete, submit it!
To be assessed, your application file must be complete and submitted before the deadline of the programme you are applying to.
All deadlines always refer to Paris time (11.59pm).
Important:
- As our platform does not automatically invalidate incomplete files, it is your responsibility to submit an application that includes all required documents (including references and proof of language proficiency). Incomplete applications will not be assessed. You may apply again during the next admissions cycle.
- Once you have submitted your application, no new document or element will be accepted, unless requested by the Admissions office.
After submitting your application
Check your application status
Once you submit your application, you can access your dashboard and track its status.
The admission offer is valid only for the PhD programme to which you applied.
Please note: in accordance with applicable French and European regulations on data protection, Sciences Po is legally required to communicate admission or eligibility results only to the candidates concerned, in accordance with the principles of confidentiality and personal data protection.
Admission decisions
The decisions made by the admission panels are final and binding, and no further review will be offered.
Newly admitted
Find out the first steps (calendars, access your online student account, register, choose your courses, etc.) and check our page for international students.
Admitted subject to conditions
External funding is accepted, provided that it does not come from personal resources (salaries, savings, etc.).
When admission is conditional upon obtaining funding, the funding must be confirmed no later than 1 September of the year of admission. For CIFRE and COFRA funding, this deadline is 1 December of the year of admission.
A waiting list for Sciences Po doctoral contracts may be established.
Unsuccessful candidates
The Sciences Po decision in no way calls into question the quality of your academic background. Sciences Po does not establish a waiting list.
Frequently Asked Questions About PhD Admissions
The PhD admissions procedure is open to applicants who have obtained or will obtain (by the end of this academic year) :
Degree within the European Higher Education Area
Candidates holding a degree obtained from an institution in a country belonging to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), within the framework of the Bologna Process, must have completed a minimum of 300 ECTS credits, in accordance with the Bachelor’s–Master’s–Doctorate (LMD) structure.
Degree outside the European Higher Education Area
For degrees obtained from an institution located outside the EHEA, the programme completed must correspond to Level 7 of the International Standard Classification of Education 2011 (ISCED), i.e. the Master’s level.
According to paragraph 241 of ISCED 2011:
“Programmes at ISCED level 7, or Master’s or equivalent level, are often designed to provide participants with advanced academic and/or professional knowledge, skills and competencies, leading to a second degree or equivalent qualification. Programmes at this level may have a substantial research component but do not yet lead to the award of a doctoral qualification.”
Candidates Without the Required Degrees
Candidates who do not match the eligibility criteria required for direct admission to the first year of the PhD are invited to consult the admission procedures for the Master’s programmes offered by the School of Research..
Yes, you may submit your application even without a master’s thesis. In this case, it is recommended that you provide any significant academic work that you believe demonstrates your research abilities (article, research report, in-depth case study, etc.).
Your research thesis is the preferred document. If you do not have one, you may submit any other academic work that you deem relevant and consistent with your doctoral project.
This depends on the discipline:
- Sociology: yes. Prior written agreement from a PhD supervisor is required to submit an application.
- History: support from a PhD supervisor is strongly recommended.
- Economics: where possible, candidates are advised to identify a PhD supervisor, but no formal agreement is required.
- Law: it is not necessary to identify a PhD supervisor before applying.
- Political Science: identifying a PhD supervisor is not mandatory. However, you may contact faculty members whose expertise is related to your doctoral project.
Interdisciplinary profiles are welcome, provided that the thesis project is consistent with the discipline of the intended doctoral program.
There is no particular advantage to applying in the first round, whether in terms of admission chances or the awarding of a doctoral contract.
In order to be admitted to the PhD without conditions, beyond successful completion of the Master’s degree, candidates must have obtained funding, whether through a doctoral contract (Sciences Po, Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Space, etc.) or external funding. Funding from personal resources (salaries, savings, etc.) is not accepted.
To apply for a Sciences Po doctoral contract, it is essential to select the corresponding box in your online application under the “Financial information” section.
External funding is accepted, provided that it does not come from personal resources (salaries, savings, etc.).
When admission is conditional upon obtaining funding, the funding must be confirmed no later than 1 September of the year of admission. For CIFRE and COFRA funding, this deadline is 1 December of the year of admission.
A waiting list for Sciences Po doctoral contracts may be established.
The PhD program at Sciences Po is full-time and is incompatible with full-time professional work. The first few years, in particular, require regular attendance on the Paris campus and active participation in the research center’s academic activities.
However, it is possible to teach or engage in part-time professional research alongside the PhD program. In specific cases, full-time employees may pursue the PhD if their research project is directly related to their job and if their employer has granted the necessary time to conduct their research.
Two academic letters of recommendation are required for your application. If you have been away from academia for several years, one of these letters may be replaced by a professional recommendation or any other relevant reference attesting to your skills and research potential.
The email address used to create your account must remain valid and functional throughout the admissions process. You should make sure to check it regularly.
If, despite this, you are not receiving emails from Sciences Po, here are some steps to follow:
1. Check your spam or junk email folder
Automated emails are sometimes mistakenly filtered.
Look for messages from domains like @sciencespo.fr.
2. Add Sciences Po to your contacts
Add official Sciences Po email addresses (domain like @sciencespo.fr) to your address book.
This helps prevent their emails from being blocked or redirected.
3. Test your email account
Send yourself a test email from another address to confirm your inbox is working.
Try receiving an automated email from another website (like a password reset) to see if it arrives.
4. Check your email security settings
Some providers (like Gmail, Outlook, etc.) may block emails they consider suspicious.
Review your spam filters or advanced security settings.
5. Contact the Admissions Office
If none of the above work, reach out directly to the Admissions Office via the contact form.
We kindly ask you to submit any request for documents while respecting a 15-business-day notice period. Requests that do not meet this deadline cannot be processed.
Any questions concerning the choice of PhD or the doctoral program or the academic content should be addressed to the Director of Doctoral Studies or the administrative coordinator of the relevant program. You will find their contact details on https://www.sciencespo.fr/ecole-recherche/en/about-us/contact/.
Fees & Financial Aid
Limited financial resources are not a barrier to receiving a Sciences Po education.
Nearly one in three students receives a full-fee scholarship.