Pasteur-Paris University International Doctoral Program (PPU)

Benefits & funding

• A monthly salary of €2,000 inclusive of social benefits, a €4,000 gross welcome bonus paid with the first salary, and reimbursement for one economy-class round trip to the student’s country of origin per year during the program, capped at €1,300 for non-continental European countries and €350 for continental European countries.
• A three-year contract, with the thesis defended at the end according to European doctoral guidelines.
• Help finding accommodation in Parisian student residences.
• A thesis project inside one of 150+ Institut Pasteur laboratories, plus doctoral courses and training activities at Institut Pasteur and the partner university.
• The PhD is awarded by the partner university: Université Paris Cité, Sorbonne Université or Université Paris-Saclay.
• PPU-Oxford students work at both Institut Pasteur and the University of Oxford Department of Organic Chemistry across the three years.

Eligibility

• For PPU-Classic, PPU-OXFORD, PPU-EID and PPU-Imagine, candidates need a master’s degree or equivalent in science, medicine or a related field awarded by a university outside France by the program start; applicants who have begun doctoral training elsewhere or obtained their master’s degree in France are not eligible for those tracks. The degree need not be finished by the application deadline, but a diploma or certified attestation of completion must be available before the October start. Candidates with a four-year B.A. or B.S. may also be considered if they have at least six months of laboratory experience documented by a final written report or publication. PPU-Research & Technology and PPU-Participatory Science accept French or international master’s degrees.
• Nationality does not affect eligibility. For PPU-Classic, PPU-OXFORD, PPU-EID and PPU-Imagine, candidates must not have resided in France for more than 12 months during the three years immediately before the application deadline; compulsory national service and short stays such as holidays do not count. PPU-Research & Technology, PPU-Participatory Science and PPU-MD-PhD have no mobility restriction.
• No age limit or general work-experience requirement is stated; the four-year B.A. or B.S. route has the specific six-month laboratory-experience condition described above.
• The PPU-MD-PhD route is for French and international medical students, or for MDs holding a master’s degree or equivalent in science or medicine.
• PPU-Research & Technology projects must be co-directed by a thesis supervisor in an Institut Pasteur research laboratory and a supervisor in an Institut Pasteur technology platform or UTechS; both must be based on the Paris campus, and at least one must hold an HDR.
• Candidates apply to advertised thesis projects, so a project match matters as much as the degree itself.

Application process

1. 1
   Wait for the call to open on the PPU platform at ppu.pasteur.fr on 1 October 2026, then create a student account there.
2. 2
   Read the advertised thesis projects across the PPU tracks and shortlist the ones that fit your training.
3. 3
   Apply in parallel to as many as four projects before the 16 November 2026 close.
4. 4
   Narrow your application down to a single project and a single program when asked, so host laboratories can rank candidates.
5. 5
   Host laboratories select candidates first, then send applications to an ad hoc selection committee, which reviews them by mid-December.
6. 6
   Short-listed candidates are interviewed in early February, results follow in mid-February, and successful candidates enrol the following October.

Program timeline

1. Call for applications opens on the PPU platform

   Oct 1, 2026

2. Application deadline

   Nov 16, 2026

3. Ad hoc selection committee reviews applications

   Mid-December 2026

4. Interviews for short-listed candidates

   Early February 2027

5. Results announced

   Mid-February 2027

6. Doctoral students enrol and begin the three-year contract

   October 2027