The “Doctoral Contracts for Students with Disabilities” campaign is a key pillar of the inclusion policy led by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, in partnership with higher education institutions. Its objective is to support students with disabilities in pursuing doctoral studies.
For 2026, applications must be submitted between March 16 at 12:00 p.m. and May 11 at 12:00 p.m.
The “Doctoral Contracts for Students with Disabilities” campaign is a key component of the inclusion policy led by the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Space, in partnership with higher education institutions. Its objective is to support doctoral studies for students with disabilities.
For 2026, the scheme provides funding for 30 doctoral contracts over a three-year period.
An additional 180 months of extension funding is also available. This allocation is exclusively reserved for contracts awarded during the 2021 campaign, in order to take into account specific professional and/or personal circumstances.
The mechanism encouraging institutions to fund one or more doctoral contracts specifically earmarked for disability support from their own resources is renewed. This recommendation aims to strengthen institutional inclusion policies.
Applications are reviewed by the “Doctorat Handicap” Scientific Committee, composed of scientific advisors appointed to the Directorate-General for Higher Education and Professional Integration. Requests for contract extensions are examined under the same procedures as initial applications.
The administrative eligibility criteria are as follows:
Candidates must contact their doctoral school, which is responsible for preparing and submitting the application file.
Doctoral schools are responsible for:
The application file must be submitted via the SIREDO platform by the relevant institutional services between March 16, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. and May 11, 2026 at 12:00 p.m.. The institution will then validate the submitted applications.
The application file must include:
The Scientific Committee evaluates the scientific quality of the project, the relevance of the supervisory framework, and the candidate’s preparation and motivation. Reasoned opinions from the doctoral school director, thesis supervisor(s), and host research unit constitute key assessment criteria.
Where scientific quality is equivalent, balance across disciplines and between contracts funded by the Ministry and those funded by institutions may also be considered.
Launch of the 2026 Doctoral Contracts for Students with Disabilities Campaign – PDF | 681.52 KB
Application template – 2026 Doctoral Contracts for Students with Disabilities – DOCX | 80.4 KB