In an interview with reporters, Mr. Solidor of the French University Affairs Management Center said that among French doctoral students, there are very few students who study for the purpose of finding a job. Nine times out of ten they will engage in academic research after graduation. Therefore, schools pay more attention to students' professional level and scientific research ability when enrolling students. Different universities have different majors, and the same major has different sub-majors. Unified doctoral entrance examination can not only reflect the needs of different universities, but also show the professional level of students applying for doctoral studies. In addition, in France, the number of students who choose to pursue doctoral degrees is limited, so it will be a great waste to organize a national examination for this small number of students, both in terms of manpower and financial resources. For these two reasons, French universities always adhere to the principle of "zero examination" in doctoral enrollment.
However, "zero test" does not mean "zero test". Mr. Solito explained to reporters that although they are all "zero exams", the doctoral enrollment in France is very different from the undergraduate enrollment of "lenient entry and strict exit". The enrollment of doctoral students in France is quite strict, not seeking "more", but seeking "more". Only truly high-level students can get the opportunity to study for a doctorate. In France, if students want to study PhD, they must go through three levels: thesis level, tutor level and school level.
Because it eliminates the pain of exams, students who apply for doctoral degrees don't have to prepare for exams aimlessly, and they don't have to memorize what they have learned before. However, in order to examine a student's professional level and research ability, French universities will require students applying for doctoral degrees to write a professional paper of about 20 pages. If students want to be admitted, they must show the "essence" of their knowledge structure to their tutors through these 20 pages. In order to pass this level, students need to determine their major and tutor first, and then write papers according to the tutor's opinions by consulting relevant materials and books. A French friend who is studying for a doctorate in literature at the Sorbonne University in Paris told reporters that a 20-page paper doesn't look long, but he borrowed more than 100 books for it.
After the paper is finished, the students have to go through the tutor first. In addition to the preliminary evaluation of the papers submitted by the students, the tutor should also interview the students. The main purpose of the interview is "not to decide success or failure by papers". Those students with excellent papers but slow response to the interview will be eliminated, while those students with average papers but excellent interview performance may also be admitted. In addition, for some foreign students who can't go to France for an interview, the tutor will take pains to conduct telephone interviews, and at this time, some students with poor spoken French may be eliminated.
Although tutors have a great say in doctoral enrollment, they can't say who to recruit. After passing the tutor's pass, the students applying for doctoral degree will have to face the final examination of the school. The evaluation of the school is the responsibility of the jury, whose members include both school representatives and professors of other related majors. Mr. Solito told reporters that school assessment is actually a supervision mechanism, not only to prevent the unintentional deviation of doctoral tutors in enrollment, but also to warn tutors not to intentionally "release water" when enrolling students.
For this kind of supervision mechanism of the school, several French university professors contacted by the reporter all think it is necessary to exist. They told reporters that there are very few students who are really "in love" but are rejected by the school. The main reason is that doctoral supervisors will be more cautious when choosing students, and they will not want students who are not sure about the school. In France, a professor must write many books to be a doctoral supervisor convincingly. Once the students he chooses are rejected by the school, his prestige in the school will be greatly reduced. In addition, because a doctoral supervisor only takes three or four students, they don't want "parallel imports" among their disciples.
Throughout the whole process of doctoral enrollment in France, tutors and schools have highlighted the word "specialty". Students applying for doctoral studies will be admitted even if they are biased, but as long as their professional level is excellent. For example, the literature department of a French university will never ask for an assessment of students' English level when enrolling students. However, this does not mean that this student can have the opportunity to study for a PhD as long as his major is outstanding. A teacher of a major art department in Paris jokingly told reporters: "Even if a student's painting level exceeds Picasso's, if he only has a primary school education, then he can only be our honorary student at most."