The Institut Pasteur with its 130 research units is truly a higher-education hotspot for many young scientists. Each Institut Pasteur research laboratory is affiliated to a Doctoral school accredited by a Parisian university and involved in supervision and training for doctoral students. Some 220 doctoral students conduct research projects in Institut Pasteur laboratories.

Doctoral students are an integral part of the Institut Pasteur community. They enjoy a particularly stimulating and dynamic environment and have access to 13 technological platforms, an outstanding Media library, and a Conference Center that holds over a hundred conferences and seminars annually. They can also attend a wide selection of departmental seminars at which scientists from all over the world present their latest work on topics related to the research interests and programs developed at the Institut Pasteur. These include Structural Biology and Chemistry, Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Cell Biology and Infection, Immunology, Infection and Epidemiology, Genomes and Genetics, Microbiology, Neuroscience, Parasitology and Mycology, and Virology.


Registration for a PhD at a French university is open to all students with

- a Masters, or equivalent, typically awarded on completion of five years of higher education;

- funding for the entire PhD program (3 years).


Different types of funding are available through either the university, the laboratories' own resources from regional, national or European themed programs, or non-governmental organizations.


The first step for young scientists wishing to undertake a PhD program at the Institut Pasteur is to identify a potential host laboratory that is also willing to recommend them for funding.


Specific doctoral programs

- In partnership with Paris-Diderot, Paris-Descartes and Pierre et Marie Curie universities, the Institut Pasteur developed the "Pasteur-Paris University International Doctoral Program". The program is open to Masters graduates (or equivalent) from a foreign university wishing to complete their PhD work in a laboratory based on the Paris campus.

- Each year, the Institut Pasteur International Division awards doctoral grants for the pursuit of PhDs in an International Network institute (outside mainland France).


A ceremony for the PhD students who have defended their thesis during the year is organized in the presence of an honorary guest lecturing on general themes such as the practice of science, the processes of discovery in research and his/her personal career.


Updated on 20/03/2014