France-Dissemination

Presenting and Publishing Research

Presentations

Presentations are an integral part of research and teaching at PhD level and, although there seems to be no standardized guide for oral presentations in the humanities, the University of Montpellier has created an essential guide to presentations which may prove helpful. While its focus is on the sciences, of the tips are general and can be applied to other disciplines.

Presentation skills are usually taught at most universities as part of general research methods courses, which are offered as part of the required doctoral curriculum.

Departmental seminars

Each Doctoral Department offers a wide choice of seminars and workshops, obligatory and not obligatory, and encourages PhD students to participate in them. Some Doctoral Departments require their students to attend an agreed number of seminars (see programme requirements), especially in the first and second years of the PhD.

Conferences and workshops

Many conferences take place across France throughout the year (see Conferences); they are open to postgraduate research students and PhD students are strongly encouraged to participate. Many universities also encourage students to organise small workshops and conferences which correspond to the research axes of the Doctoral Department or Research group in which they are based. With regard to larger events, some universities (for example, Paris Sorbonne) require that a senior member of staff supervises and assists with the organisation.  Funding is usually available from the research centres or departments, UFR (Unité de Formation et de Recherche), that help to organise the conference. Another possibility is to organise a journée d’étude (study day) which is a university based event and usually does not require the participation of external speakers.

Written publications

The PhD guide published by the Ministry of Education emphasises the importance of publications and the significance of research impact. In section five, ‘Publication and Promotion of the Thesis’, the guide states: ‘The quality and impact of the thesis can be measured according to the publications, patents, and reports which are part of the thesis or the effect of research conducted for it. The articles can either be a part of the thesis or be written during or after the preparation of the draft version. The PhD student must appear among the list of co-authors in case of a co-authored publication.’ [Source]

Download: France Dissemination Journals

Although English is becoming increasingly dominant in academia, there are still many opportunities to publish and present research in French, not only in France but also in Canada, Switzerland, and Belgium. There are also many journals in which research can be published and potentially reach a diverse target audience.