Thesis defense

The procedures for the thesis defense are defined by the decree of May 25, 2016, as well as by the specific rules of each institution. Doctoral candidates must therefore refer to the regulations in force at their home institution in order to prepare their defense application file.

You can consult the university’s official website to learn about the procedure.

Authorization to defend the thesis is granted by the administration of the home institution, following the opinion of the Doctoral School.

The criteria required by CanBioS to authorize the defense are as follows:

Completion of the required training;
At least one publication related to the thesis topic. Patents are considered publications. However, review articles are not considered as publications resulting from the thesis work. Exceptionally, a submitted or in-preparation article, for which the doctoral candidate is the first author, may be accepted if it is included in the manuscript.

The proposed jury and reviewers, established by the institution, are validated by the CanBioS Doctoral School only if the training and publication requirements are met. The composition of the jury must also comply with the rules of the home institution, which ensures final validation.

To be eligible to defend your thesis, several criteria and steps must be fulfilled.

Tip: check all your documents and prerequisites several weeks before the deadline to avoid delays or refusal of the defense.

1. Mandatory criteria before the defense
Before submitting your defense application, you must meet the following conditions:

• Training: 60 hours of validated training (except VAE), including mandatory training in scientific integrity and ethics.
• Conference: proof of participation in at least one international conference.
• Publication: submission or publication of an article as first author.

⚠️ Make sure that all supporting documents and certificates are available before registering on ADUM.

2. Restricted periods for defenses

• Defenses cannot take place from the evening of July 24, 2026, to the morning of August 17, 2026.

3. Timeline and preparation steps on ADUM
Here is the schedule to follow when organizing your defense:

• 16 weeks before (for September and October defenses) / 12 weeks before (other defenses): registration on ADUM with validated prerequisites and defense dates
• 10 weeks before the defense: proposal of reviewers and jury members
• No later than 8 weeks before the defense: submission on ADUM of the electronic manuscript (PDF version sent to reviewers)
• Submission of CVs of all members external to Université Lyon 1, including reviewers

4. Jury procedures
For all thesis defenses, the jury must comply with the following rules:

• Two external reviewers are mandatory.
• Strict compliance with the procedures provided by Université Lyon 1 (see the official guide on ADUM).

Information regarding thesis defenses is not published directly on doctoral school websites.

You can consult the university’s official website to learn about the procedure.

For defenses in 2025

• Before the end of September: the current year’s registration is sufficient, except for students from INSA and VetAgro Sup, for whom re-registration is mandatory from September 1.
• Between October and the end of December: re-registration is required (without registration fees or CVEC for UCBL).

On ADUM:

• Select “I initiate my re-registration request” and upload the required documents.
• Click on “I wish to submit my defense request.”
• This request can only be made from June 3, 2025.

For defenses from 2026 onwards:
Re-registration is mandatory, including payment of registration fees and the CVEC.

After CSI validation:

Go to ADUM, select “I initiate my re-registration request,” upload the required documents, and click “I submit my registration.”

If a personal email address has been provided on ADUM, you will be added to the doctoral mailing list and will receive:

Certificate of completion and diploma

• The certificate will only be issued once the institution has received all documents related to the defense.
• The diploma will be issued later by the institution.
• The doctoral school is not authorized to issue the diploma.
• Mailing lists: after the defense, your professional email address will be removed from doctoral mailing lists.