ADF-French Dental Association / Dentsply-Sirona - ADF / Dentsply Doctoral Dissertation Award

What you get

A cash prize is up for grabs for the best dental thesis. There are three categories and a total of four prizes. In the ‘Research’ category (clinical or basic research), the first prize is 1,600 EUR plus a fully paid trip to the annual congress of the American Association for Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Research (AADOCR) in Baltimore, where you will present your work. The second prize is 1,400 EUR. In each of the other two categories, a prize of 1,000 EUR will be awarded. The French Dental Association (ADF) and Dentsply-Sirona jointly award the prize each year, and the winners present their work at the ADF’s annual congress in Paris.

Who can apply

• Degree: You defended your dental thesis (thèse d'exercice en chirurgie dentaire), the final thesis required to complete a French degree in dentistry, in 2024 or 2025.
• Where you studied: You defended your thesis at a French dental faculty (faculté d'odontologie).
• Field: For dentistry only. Your final-year dissertation falls into one of the following three categories: clinical or basic research; a systematic literature review or a case report; or a topic relating to the social or professional context.
• Nationality: Applicants of all nationalities are welcome to apply. The decisive factor is where and when you defended your doctoral thesis.

How to apply

Applications are made via an online form. The call for applications opens at the beginning of April each year and closes on 31 May. In June and July, a jury will shortlist approximately 30 candidates based on their application documents. After reviewing the full dissertations, this list is narrowed down to around 12 candidates in September. The finalists then present their work to an academic jury at the ADF Congress in November.

How realistic are your chances?

This award has strict eligibility criteria: only recent graduates of dental schools in France who defended their final thesis in 2024 or 2025 are eligible to enter, meaning that the pool of eligible entrants is small. With four prizes across three categories and a multi-stage judging process, a compelling, well-reasoned thesis has a genuine chance of winning. Your best chances lie in the two smaller categories, in each of which a single prize is awarded.