Habilitation to supervise research

What can this diploma be used for?

• Supervising doctoral thesesThe HDR is required to supervise doctoral students and doctoral theses.
• Applying for a position as University ProfessorThe HDR is a prerequisite for applying for university professorships, after registration on the list of qualifications by the Conseil National des Universités (CNU): http://www.cpcnu.fr).
• Facilitating certain promotions: In research organisations such as CNRS and CEA, the HDR can also facilitate professional recognition.

On a more informal level, the HDR is an indicator of recognition within the scientific community, both nationally and internationally. The quality of the candidate's research activity is assessed both quantitatively (such as the number and quality of publications, and the supervision of internships and theses) and qualitatively (such as thematic changes, innovation in research directions, autonomy and responsibility in the conduct of research activities).

HDR assessment procedure at the University of Guyana

Two stages are required as part of the HDR assessment procedure at the University of Guyana. The first is an application for authorisation to register, followed by an application for authorisation to defend.

1^era Stage - Application for authorisation to register

The decision to prepare an HDR is voluntary. In practice, however, candidates must anticipate the time required to assess and manage the application.

Candidate level

• The start of the registration procedure is the responsibility of the candidate, who must ensure that the administrative timetable for registration and oral examination is adhered to.
• The applicant must select a "Tutor" who must be a teacher-researcher or a researcher authorised to direct research.
• The Tutor is expected to provide a note presenting the applicant.
• The candidate and the tutor must propose a list of at least 5 people who are likely to take part in the defence jury and act as rapporteurs for the HDR.
• The tutor contacts the chairman of the HDR Applications Evaluation Committee and sends him the candidate's file, together with the candidate's presentation note and the proposed members of the defence panel.

At the level of the HDR Evaluation Committee

• In order to assess the admissibility of the application with a view to registration, the Chair of the Commission submits the application to the members of the Commission for the Evaluation of HDR Applications, which is made up of senior professors and HDR holders from the University of Guyana.
• If the application is deemed admissible, the Committee determines the composition of the examining board[1] and the list of referees on the basis of the list of personalities submitted by the "tutor". Three of the members of the jury appointed as rapporteurs[2] will be responsible for examining and reporting on the candidate's work, and at least two other members of the jury will be from outside the University. The three selected rapporteurs must not have co-published with the HDR candidate.
• The Commission's reasoned opinion and the proposals of the rapporteurs and members of the selection board are submitted by the Commission Chair to the University's Academic Board, which alone is empowered to take a decision on behalf of its President.

At Academic Council level (CAC)

The CAC, meeting in a formation restricted to persons qualified to direct research, examines the reasoned opinion of the HDR Evaluation Commission, as well as the proposals for the jury and rapporteurs, and gives its opinion on whether to authorise the candidate to register for the HDR. If the CAC rejects a candidate's application, it must provide a detailed opinion and notify the candidate.

How to register

The President of the University is responsible for authorising enrolment, acting on a proposal from the University's Academic Board meeting in the configuration defined above.

Candidates are invited to refer to the documents drawn up by the Doctoral School for practical information on how to apply.

Note: all applications sent to the University of Guyana will be examined by the members of the HDR Application Evaluation Committee within a fortnight. The committee must give its opinion within 30 days.

The committee will examine the admissibility of the application in the light of the expectations for an HDR application (existence of publications, exercise of a certain number of responsibilities, experience of supervision, etc.).

2nd stage - Application for authorisation to defend the thesis

At the level of the HDR Evaluation Committee

• Once the candidate has registered, the Chair of the HDR Evaluation Committee forwards the candidate's file to the three rapporteurs and requests their reports within a maximum of two months.
• These reports should describe the HDR dossier and give a sincere, reasoned assessment of it, in accordance with the standards in force in the discipline. In particular, they should assess the candidate's ability to supervise research. The rapporteurs are asked to give their opinion, in the form of written, reasoned reports, within a reasonable period of time (one to two months, as a rough guide).
• Once the reports have been received, the HDR Evaluation Committee issues a reasoned opinion based on the reports and forwards the file to the CAC.

At Academic Council level (CAC)

The CAC, meeting in a formation restricted to persons qualified to direct research, examines the three reports sent by the HDR Evaluation Commission and gives its opinion on whether to authorise the students to defend their HDRs. The CAC may request additional reports. If the CAC gives a favourable opinion on registration, the proposal for the composition of the jury will be signed by the President of the University.

Authorisation

The President of the University is responsible for authorising students to defend their degrees, on the basis of a proposal from the University's Academic Board, sitting in the configuration defined above.

Examination report

At the end of the HDR defence, a defence report will be drawn up under the authority of the chair of the jury and in accordance with current CNU standards. This report will be sent to the ED as soon as possible by the chair of the jury.