Accreditation to Supervise Research

What is accreditation to supervise research?

In France, accreditation to supervise research (Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches, HDR), is the highest academic qualification, earned after obtaining a PhD.
It is statutorily defined by the Order of 23 November 1988.

The obtaining of this qualification confers official recognition of the high scientific level of the candidate, the originality of his/her approach in a field of science, his/her capability to optimally manage a research strategy in a sufficiently wide scientific or technological field, and his/her ability to supervise PhD students.

This qualification allows for formally supervising PhD students as PhD supervisor.

Obtaining accreditation to supervise research

Procedure for obtaining accreditation to supervise research, jointly awarded by Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University and INSA Lyon under the Agreement of 8 July 2005.

The framework for obtaining accreditation to supervise research (HDR), jointly issued by Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University and INSA Lyon, is specified in the "Applying for the HDR" procedure validated by the INSA Scientific Council of 11 May 2007.

The procedure is as follows:
All attached documents are in French.

• Stage 1: Registration application
  • A .doc file:  HDR_dossier-inscription.doc
• Stage 2: Assessment by the Advisory Board of Doctoral Studies (C.C.E.D) ("Applying for the HDR") - Timetable of the next C.C.E.D
• Stage 3: Drafting of the thesis (thesis content and title page template in .doc format (HDR_modele_page_titre.doc) or in .tex format (hdr_INSALyon-UCBL.tex).
• Stage 4 Viva: Date (D)
  • D -8 weeks: Registration upon submission of the thesis and rules for the constitution of the committee (involvement of the different INSA departments) - (vival proposal)
  • D -3 weeks: Receipt of the reviewers' reports
  • D: Viva (notification form, viva examination report template, viva report instructions, report template)
  • D +8 days: Return of the viva documents for establishment of the HDR qualification certificate