LIFE PhD grants 2026

The LIFE Graduate School and the Academy of Excellence 4 are launching a call for proposals for interdisciplinary doctoral projects in 2026, combining biology with other scientific disciplines..

Do you have a thesis project based on a collaboration between an EUR LIFE-affiliated laboratory and a research team in another disciplinary field at Université Côte d’Azur (or elsewhere in France)?

This fellowship opportunity is for you!
Apply for financial support for innovative research on interdisciplinary topics in collaboration with two laboratories. This call for applications concerns 2 fellowships, fully funded by EUR LIFE and the Academy of Excellence 4 “Complexity and Diversity of Life,” covering 3-year doctoral positions.

Application deadline: May 11, 2026, at noon.

 

1. The hosting team must belong to Université Côte d’Azur and at least one of the supervisors of the hosting team must be a member of the Graduate School LIFE
2. The main supervisor must belong to the doctoral school ED85, or to ED364 when one of the supervisor belongs to ECOSEAS.
3. The main supervisor must be Habilitated to Direct Research (HDR) or equivalent. 
    

• The subject of research must be interdisciplinary.
• Scientific quality of the project (challenges involved, originality, feasibility within the time frame of the project).
• Quality of the supervision (CV of supervisor(s) including publications and project management in relation with the project, scientific and technical environment, availability of the supervisor(s) with respect to their supervision load, a recommendation letter of the supervisor).
• Excellence of the candidate (CV, academic records, motivation letter, recommendation letter…).
• Ability of the candidate to master the interdisciplinary aspects of the subject.
   

The application can be either in French or in English.

1. Research Project : a scientific presentation of the project (max. 5 pages) including:

1. Project summary (half a page), detailing: primary discipline, secondary discipline, primary Doctoral School.
2. Public summary (half a page)
3. Description of the project including scientific aim, context, methods, interdisciplinary impact, originality and feasibility (workplan).
4. The relevance of the interdisciplinary project.  

2. Documents about supervision:

1. Brief CV of supervisor (and co-supervisor, if applicable), including 5 recent publications over the past 3 years.
2. Feasibility statement: signed by the student, the supervisor and the head of the host team or laboratory, explaining that the material conditions for carrying out the project are secured, especially for aspects regarding experimental facilities.  

3. Documents about the candidate:

• CV of the candidate.  
• Cover letter (max. 1 page).
• At least 1 recommendation letter of previous supervisors/tutors.
• Master transcript including detailed marks and ranks (if the Master is not finished yet, a transcript of the grades obtained so far).

Applications will be examined by a Scientific Jury made up of members from the Conseil de l’École Doctorale Sciences de la Vie et de la Santé (ED85)/LIFE Graduate School and experts covering the complementary disciplines.

   

• The file must be assembled into a single pdf file named as follows: NOM_Prénom_LIFE_Academy4_PhD2026.pdf
• The application must be sent by one of the supervisors, member of Université Côte d'Azur, to the following address: eur-life.direction@univ-cotedazur.fr
   

• Type of contract: Limited term contract to begin before October 31, 2026
• The PhD student will have to follow the rules of the corresponding primary Doctoral School
• Monthly net salary is estimated at €2,300  
   

The position may not be combined with other activities. The recruited candidate will be expected to work full-time on the research project, except for potential teaching duties, up to 64 hours/year of teaching and in accordance with the corresponding department head.

  If applicable, the recruited candidate must notify Human Resources about any administrative changes that may occur during the period of the contract.