How to prepare a successful master’s or doctoral thesis in France

Guide for international students

Yves-Frédéric LIVIAN and Robert LAURINI

126 p. – 12 € – ISBN : 979-10-90293-53-3

In France, you are now permitted to write a Master or PhD dissertation in English.

For international students, preparing a thesis requires many new skills and adapting to the French academic context. This practical guide, based on  long experience of teaching and accompanying foreign students at the CPU-Lyon – a non-for-profit association devoted to helping 650 students per year of 70 nationalities – , aims to answer the main questions they ask: what exactly is expected when we talk about « Research »? According to what criteria are they going to be evaluated? How do you find relevant documents, choose a methodology, validate, write and, present a defense? What plan should I adopt? Which timetable should I follow to finish in time?

This guide is supplemented by self-study questions and useful annexes including a summary of the regulatory texts defining French masters and doctorates, specialized vocabulary, current abbreviations, and a bibliography to take you further.

The authors: Yves-Frederic Livian, PhD in sociology and Robert Laurini, PhD in information technologies are both former professors at the University of Lyon, at IAE school of management and at INSA school of engineering respectively. They have a great deal of experience teaching abroad and have supervised many dissertations and theses in France and abroad. For ten years they have been accompanying international students from various disciplines within CPU Lyon. English adaptation has been made with the help of John Edmunson, ex British Council.