Région Grand Est - Contrat doctoral Région Grand Est

Contrat doctoral Région Grand Est

You get a full salary of at least about 1,769 EUR gross per month for 3 years (36 months) to work on your PhD in the Grand Est region of France. This is a real job, not a stipend: you are a salaried employee with normal social protection. Your employer is a public university or research organisation, such as the Université de Lorraine, CNRS, INRAe, INRIA or INSERM. The Grand Est region co-finances the position. It usually pays half the cost while your host lab covers the other half, and in the humanities and social sciences it may fund the full amount. You may also take on limited extra work, for example teaching (up to 64 hours per year) or expert consulting, capped at one sixth of your working time.

Who can apply

• Degree: You have a master's degree or equivalent (five years of higher education), so you can enrol in a PhD programme.
• Where you research: You do your PhD at the Université de Lorraine or with a major research organisation (CNRS, INRAe, INRIA, INSERM) in the Lorraine / Grand Est area.
• Research topic: Your subject fits the region's priorities: green economy (chemistry, environment, energy, mobility, housing) or health and well-being (medical technologies, agri-food, biodiversity). Other topics of regional interest are also possible.
• Nationality and age: Any nationality can apply, and there is no age limit.

How to apply

You do not apply to the region yourself. A host research lab picks a topic and a candidate, and the university or research organisation submits the co-financing request. For the 2026 Université de Lorraine round, projects are submitted between 15 December 2025 and 30 January 2026 (midnight), with results in March 2026. Doctoral schools then run their own competition to select the PhD candidate between May and July, and the contract starts on 1 October. To get involved, contact the lab you want to join early.

How realistic are your chances?

This funding is tied to specific research fields and to a lab that must first back your topic and put you forward, so the pool is much narrower than for open scholarships. If a Grand Est lab already wants you for a project matching the region's green-economy or health priorities, your prospects are good. Building that link with a supervisor early, before the autumn call, matters more than the paperwork.