Call for applications – Handicap 2026 doctoral contracts

The national campaign « Doctorat Handicap » is one of the main pillars of the inclusion policy pursued by the Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de l’Espace, in partnership with higher education institutions.

It aims to promote access to doctoral studies for students with disabilities.

Presentation of the scheme

As part of this campaign, the ministry is funding 30 three-year doctoral contracts.

A quota of 180 months of extension is also planned. This is exclusively for doctoral students who have been awarded a disability doctoral contract during the 2023 campaign, in order to take into account specific professional and/or personal circumstances.

The scheme also encourages institutions to finance, from their own resources, one or more doctoral contracts specifically for students with disabilities, in order to support a policy of greater inclusion.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible, applications must meet the following criteria:

• The candidate must be enrolled at a public higher education institution under the supervision of the Ministry.
• The institution is the doctoral student's employer and signs the doctoral contract, which remains a common law contract. The institution's support is therefore essential.
• The doctoral contract must begin within one year of the first enrolment in the doctoral programme.
• If the master's degree has not yet been validated at the time of application, the grades for the first three semesters must be provided.
• The campaign is not open to doctoral students who have already started their thesis.
• The application must include the notification of Recognition of Disabled Worker Status (RQTH) issued by the MDPH. In the case of a pending application, the complete application receipt, certifying the admissibility and examination of the application, is accepted.

Application procedure

Initial contact

Interested candidates must contact their doctoral school directly, which will assist them in putting together their application.

Doctoral schools are responsible for:

• selecting applications;
• verifying the administrative admissibility of selected applications;
• carrying out the necessary checks relating to eligibility conditions.

Applicants applying for the first year of a doctoral programme

The application must include:

• the RQTH notification or MDPH receipt certifying that an application is pending;
• a curriculum vitae highlighting the link between the training and the doctoral project;
• a thesis project (maximum 4 pages, excluding bibliography) including:
  • the scientific presentation,
  • the motivation,
  • a provisional three-year timetable;
• a copy of the master's degree (or equivalent) allowing enrolment in a doctoral school;
• the corresponding transcripts.

Complete the application: 2026 doctoral contracts for disabled persons (DOCX – 80.4 KB)

Submitting applications

Complete applications for the “doctoral contract for disabled students” must be submitted before 30 March 2026 using the form below:

Applications will then be screened, including verification of their administrative admissibility and checking the eligibility conditions of the selected applications.

Submitting an application for a PhD at Sciences Po

Regardless of whether they submit an application for a ‘doctoral contract for disabled students’, candidates must submit their application for a PhD at Sciences Po via the admissions platform before 17 May 2026.

This step is mandatory for all doctoral programmes at Sciences Po.

Useful information

• More information on admissions to the School of Research's doctoral programme.
• For questions related to the application: ed.direction@sciencespo.f