phd literature paris

PhD student

You have the opportunity to come to Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University as an international PhD student, either in the framework of a joint PhD, a doctoral research stay, or as a freemover.

You want to embark on a joint PhD programme between Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University and a foreign institution? You will find below information on how a joint PhD is organised, how to apply and funding opportunities.

Supervision The PhD student conducts his/her research under the responsibility of two thesis supervisors: one at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University and the other one in a foreign institution. The two supervisors are fully and jointly committed to exercise their functions as tutors. Location The doctoral student stays alternately at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University and in the partner university. The length of stay in each institution depends on the scientific requirements and the conditions for preparing the thesis, but it should not be less than one semester. Duration The usual duration of a joint PhD is three years, although a derogation of one year may be granted by the head of the institution on the basis of a legitimate request from the student, after consultation with the thesis supervisor and the doctoral school. Enrolment fees The PhD student is enrolled both at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and at the partner university, but is exempt from the payment of tuition fees at one of these two institutions. PhD viva The joint PhD leads to a single defence recognised by both parties. At the end of this defence, the doctoral student receives both the doctoral degree from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University and the one from the partner institution. Language The language in which the thesis is written and defended is defined by the agreement concluded between the two institutions. When this language is not French, the thesis is completed by an abstract in French.

After applying for a joint PhD at both Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and a foreign university, you must establish a joint PhD agreement between these two institutions. What to include in the joint PhD agreement Although Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University provides a joint PhD agreement template (Word - 67 KB) , it is not strictly mandatory as your contract is the result of an agreement between the two partner institutions. If you wish to prepare a joint PhD between Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and an Italian university, you must use the agreement template of the Université Franco-Italienne (UFI) (Word - 50 KB - French/Italian) . If you wish to prepare a joint PhD between Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and a Swiss or Quebec university, you must ask the latter to draw up your agreement according to the template already established with French universities.

The agreement can be bilingual (each article being successively written in both languages) or in two versions (one in French and another one in a foreign language). Signature of the joint PhD agreement The joint PhD agreement must be signed in three copies by yourself and by three people from each of the partner institutions (the thesis supervisor, the director of the doctoral school and the president of the university). At Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, the agreement must be submitted to the thesis department of your discipline in order to be forwarded to the research department and then to the president of the university for signature.

There is no deadline for signing the joint PhD agreement, but it is normally signed during the first year of enrolment in a PhD programme. This stage usually takes a very long time, given the number of signatories and the distance between them.

Eiffel Excellence Scholarship Programme (PhD level)

• Be accepted as part of a joint PhD at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University in one of the following academic fields: Economics, Management, Law, Political science, Sciences (Mathematics, Communication sciences, Environmental science),
• Be a foreign citizen (priority is given to citizens from developing and industrialised countries),
• Be less than 35 years old
• Amount and duration : €1400 per month (+ round-trip ticket) / 10 months maximum
• Application procedure : get in touch with your doctoral school
• More information :  campusfrance.org/en/eiffel-scholarship-implementation

Other grants In order to find out about other funding opportunities, we encourage you to check calls for applications on the websites of French embassies abroad, the  Instituts français  and the  Alliances françaises . You can also check the  grant search engine  available on the Campus France website.

PhD research stay

Find out the procedure to follow if you are a PhD student at a foreign university and wish to undertake a research stay at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University.

You must first submit your research project to one of the professors at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University with an HDR (accreditation to supervise research). The list of these professors is available from the websites of the university's doctoral schools (ED):

• Archaeology (ED 112)
• Art history (ED 441)
• Economics (ED 465)
• Fine arts (ED 279)
• Geography (ED 434)
• History (ED 113)
• Law (ED 565)
• Management (ED 559)
• Philosophy (ED 280)
• Political science (ED119)  

If a professor agrees to supervise your research stay at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, he or she will issue you with a letter of invitation.

If your home institution and Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University have signed a student exchange agreement in your academic field and at your level of studies, you can take part in study mobility.  Once you have been preselected by your home university, you will receive a link from the International Relations Department of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne to access the application form, which you will have to fill in and submit before 30 th May (if you wish to arrive in September for the first semester or the entire academic year) or before 30 th October (if you wish to arrive in January for the second semester). Before your departure, you must sign a learning agreement that lists the classes that you will take at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (among those open to exchange students) and/or activities (offered by doctoral schools) in which you wish to take part during your mobility at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University.

You must then fill in the online application form with the following documents:

• Learning agreement in  French (Word - 892 KB)  or in  English (Word - 891 KB)  completed and signed by yourself and by the academic teacher or research director of your home institution. Your learning agreement will be signed by your academic advisor at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne once you arrive in France. 
• Letter of invitation from the professor at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University who agrees to supervise your research stay.
• Language certificate of minimum level B2 ( DELF / DALF , TCF or a letter written by a French teacher from your home university). If you choose classes taught in English, you must also provide a letter written by an English teacher from your home university or an equivalent language certificate of English ( IELTS , TOEFL , etc.).
• Copy of transcript of grades obtained in higher education, with a translation in French (see  grade conversion table (PDF - 315 KB - French) ).
• Copy of the passport or identity card .
• If you are an exchange student outside the Erasmus+ programme, you will also need to provide a CV , a cover letter and a letter of recommendation .

Once your application is accepted by Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, you will receive your admission certificate by the end of June, and you will be able to enrol as an exchange student to be exempt from the payment of tuition fees at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University. During your stay in France, you will remain enrolled in your home institution and continue to pay tuition fees there. You also have the possibility to carry out an internship at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University. For more information on the procedure, please consult your home institution and the relevant doctoral school in Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.

If your home university participates in the Erasmus+ programme, you can set up an Erasmus+ agreement for traineeship which could enable you to obtain an Erasmus+ "traineeship" grant from your home university.

Otherwise, you must draw up a hosting (or internship) agreement setting out your working conditions at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, in particular the duration of your stay and the terms and conditions for your research supervision. This agreement must be signed by your host laboratory at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, your home university and yourself. For more information, get in touch with your doctoral school.

If your application is accepted, you will have to enrol at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne as an unregistered student. This will allow you to obtain your student card and access to the university libraries.

You come from a partner institution

• You are a PhD student at Columbia University (New York): check out the  Alliance program grants
• If you are coming under an Erasmus+ student exchange agreement, you can apply for an Erasmus+ "study" grant or an Erasmus+ "traineeship" grant. In both cases, we encourage you to contact your home institution to find out how the grants are awarded.

You do not come from a partner institution If your home university participates in the Erasmus+ programme, you can establish an internship agreement and obtain an Erasmus+ "traineeship" grant from it.

Other grants

We encourage you to check calls for applications on the websites of French embassies abroad, the  Instituts français  and the  Alliances françaises . You can also check the  grant search engine  available on the Campus France website.

Full degree application

Find below the steps to follow to apply to Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University as a full degree international doctoral student. Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne will apply the same tuition fee rates for the academic year 2024/2025 to French and foreign students regardless of whether they come from a European Union member state (voted by the Board of Governors on 26th October 2023).

You need to check that the thesis topic you plan to cover has not already been defended or is not in preparation, using the two following websites:

• www.sudoc.abes.fr
• www.theses.fr

Submit your research project to one of the professors at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University with an  HDR  (accreditation to supervise research). The list of these professors is available from the websites of the university's doctoral schools (ED):

Once a professor at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University who is authorised to supervise research has given his/her agreement to supervise your thesis, send your application to the doctoral school to which he/she belongs. This file must be sent between mid-June and the end of October, and must include the following documents:

• Form completed online at  ecandidat.univ-paris1.fr , duly dated and signed
• Copy of your master's degree or equivalent (the  ENIC-NARIC France can provide a statement of comparability between your degree and the French master's degree)
• Thesis project in two versions: long version (2 to 3 pages) and abstract (300 words maximum)
• Written agreement of the Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne professor who has agreed to supervise your thesis (this professor must be accredited to supervise research).

Your application will be reviewed in early November by the thesis commission of the doctoral school you have applied to. If you are accepted, you will have to sign the thesis charter upon your first enrolment.

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PSL PhD Tracks

Highly selective and entirely taught in English, PSL PhD tracks are 5-year fully funded programs intended for high-potential students hoping to become top level researchers, in France or abroad. Through its PhD Track Grants, PSL will support outstanding students for the entire duration of their graduate studies, from their Master’s to the completion of their PhD.

The PSL PhD tracks are structured along the lines of models in the world’s top universities, with a strong international focus and funding provided from Master’s to Doctorate. Students are immersed in the environment of excellence of the PSL graduate programs (top level facilities and academic teams, international partners, elective courses, etc.) | Download the brochure   |

Key figures

Why sign up for psl phd track.

Research track from Master’s year 1   

Close supervision and customized curriculum   

International scientific environment  

Funding for 5 years

PSL is renewing its call for applications for its PhD track programs of excellence. These are 5-year programs, fully funded and intended for high-potential students hoping to become top level researchers in the public or private sector, in France or abroad.  

The PSL PhD Track grant is €10,000 / year for one or two years at Master’s level then the equivalent of a doctoral contract based on French legislation (see details in the Funding tab).

• After the first 2 years of the program a Master’s degree is awarded. Students are supervised by an academic tutor; they build their own scientific project and acquire the tools needed to carry out an ambitious research project.
• The next 3 years are spent entirely on the research project and culminate in the PhD degree awarded by Université PSL.

PSL PhD tracks for September 2024 intake: (Click on each PhD track for more details)  

Find out more about PSL other PhD programs:

• Phd program in Cognitive science  
• Phd program in Finance

Who we look for? The admission criteria common to all PSL PhD Tracks are as follows: academic excellence, quality of the research project, command of English (level C1 recommended).  Previous experience in a research laboratory is highly recommended.

Admissions calendar

•    Application submissions: 17 october - 11 december 2023  (11:59 pm CET time) •    Interviews with eligible candidates: January - February 2024 (depending on the PhD track concerned) •    Admission results: February - March 2024 (depending on the PhD track concerned) Note: the admissions procedure for the PhD track (5-year course) and the admissions procedure for the Master’s degree (2 years) are 2 distinct processes. Applicants may apply in parallel for both programs (PhD track and Master’s) according to the admissions calendars. As the PhD tracks are highly selective, applicants are strongly advised to apply for both programs (PhD tracks and Master’s).

Application procedure Based on an application package (to be submitted online from 17 October 2023  on the PSL portal ) and interview.  Eligible candidates will be invited for an admissions interview (remote). These interviews will be held in English.

Application package  All documents must be submitted in English. Only complete applications submitted within the deadlines will be considered by the committee. Applicants should submit the following documents: 

• Academic CV 
• Transcripts and diplomas from each higher education institution / university attended (Bachelor and Master if applicable).  One unique pdf for all your documents. You can use pdf-merge website for example.
• Statement of purpose  (In English, strict 1 page limit) The purpose of this document is to explain who you are and what you expect from your postgraduate studies. Give details about your interest in the field and your career goals. You can use this document to clarify anything unusual in your CV or your transcripts. One page maximum.
• Research statement (In English, 1 to 2 pages) This project should clearly define your interests within your area of research and specialization. You should present a structured research project showing your commitment and describing what you plan for the future of your research if you join a PSL PhD track.
• Proof of English proficiency , level C1 (compulsory proof required if English is not your mother tongue) The language prerequisites specific to each PhD track are detailed on the applications portal. In general: - If your first language is English or if you have earned a higher education diploma (BA, MA) in an English-speaking university, you should include a statement to this effect. - If not, you should include the official results from a recent test of English, e.g. TOEFL or IELTS. If you have no recent official results, you can submit some older test results provisionally. This will not detract from the assessment of your application, but we reserve the right to ask for more recent official results later in the selection process.
• References: contact details (name, position title, email) of at least two academic referees.

More information regarding the statement of pupose and the research statement in the "FAQ" tab.

Eligibility requirements   In order to apply to a PSL PhD track, applicants must meet the entry requirements specific to the Master’s degree concerned, as described on the program website. In particular, irrespective of the PhD track concerned, applicants should hold at least a Bachelor’s degree or any other diploma equivalent to 180 ECTS credits (High school diploma + 3 years equivalent) (or be in the final year of preparing such a course in the year they apply).

For students already enrolled at PSL and who satisfy the criteria listed below: in addition to the general admission requirements, only students enrolled in Year 3 of a Bachelor’s degree or in a Master’s degree that is not part of the targeted Graduate Program are eligible. In other words, note the following 3 cases: o    Student in Bachelor’s Year 3 at PSL, whatever the degree course -> eligible to apply o    Student in PSL Master’s degree outside the Graduate Program concerned -> eligible to apply o    Student in PSL Master’s degree included in the Graduate Program concerned -> not eligible to apply

A PhD Track grant provides funding of €10,000 per year of enrollment in the Master’s degree, then the amount currently in force according to the decree of 29 August 2016 setting the amount of remuneration for a contractual PhD student on a 3-year doctoral contract. Funding for the Master’s degree is a gratuity granted directly to the student; the doctoral contract is an employment contract within the meaning of the regulations in force. Thus the PhD student receives a salary that entitles him or her to benefits and is subject to social contributions. The PhD student is considered as an employee for the duration of the contract.

In addition to the grant, students in 2024/25 will also have the following support services to help them settle into PSL and Paris:

• 3 months of online FLE courses (French as a foreign language) provided free of charge to non-French-speaking students
• Assistance in their search for accommodation in Paris by the PSL Housing Service  
• For international students, administrative support and assistance are available from the PSL Welcome Desk (residence permits, health insurance, opening a bank account, Buddy Program, language exchange, etc.)
• Access to PSL’s free healthcare services, including the remote consultation service

Tuition fees, as well as the cost of housing, transport, and living expenses in general are paid by the student. 

Admissions & prerequisites

• The Master’s degree is a two-year program 
• The PhD Track is a five-year, funded and research-oriented program, including a Master’s degree* and research internships, then a Doctorate. You will obtain a Master’s degree then a PhD degree. These 2 diplomas will be awarded by Université PSL.

* When you apply to the PhD Track, you will be asked to choose the Master’s course that you want to follow for the first 2 years of the course (see list of eligible Master’s degrees).  

Absolutely. Given the very high selectivity of the PhD Tracks, it is strongly recommended that you apply for the Master’s degree in parallel if you are interested in both programs. Look at the page of the Master’s degree that you are interested in for the application calendar and how to apply.  

The PhD Track is a 5-year course associated with a PSL graduate program . The graduate programs follow the model of the “graduate school” in international universities, and consist of an entity (School) that contains research laboratories, academic teams, training programs, etc. The PhD tracks are specific training courses within a graduate program.

The PSL PhD Tracks are intended for high-potential students hoping to become top-level researchers in the public or private sector. If you are passionate about research and you want an international career, you are ideal for the PhD track program.   

The admission criteria common to all the PSL PhD Tracks are as follows: academic excellence, research project, command of English (C1 level) .  

No personal proof is required for this purpose. The admission criteria are exclusively academic.  

Certainly, if you speak English fluently. All courses are taught in English.

Level C1 is strongly recommended. Supporting documents are not compulsory for all PhD tracks (see what documents are required in the application portal). Note that interviews with eligible candidates take place in English and allow the jury to assess your oral level.  

Certainly. However, note that many applicants already have a Master’s degree.

Yes, if you are preparing the last year of an undergraduate diploma in the year you apply for PhD Tracks. You should upload the most recent transcripts you have available to the applications portal. If you have graduated, you will then be asked to produce your diploma when you enroll.

Admission procedure 2024

•    Application submissions: 17 october - 11 december 2023 (11:59 pm CET time) •    Interviews with eligible candidates: January / February 2024 (depending on the PhD track concerned).  These interviews will be held in English. •    Admission results: February / Early March 2024

• Transcripts and diplomas from each higher education institution / university attended One unique pdf for all documents. You can merge them with pdf-merge for example.
• Proof of English proficiency , level C1 (proof not compulsory but recommended) The language prerequisites specific to each PhD track are detailed on the applications portal. In general: - If your first language is English or if you have earned a higher education diploma (BA/BS.c, MA) in an English-speaking university, you should include a statement to this effect. - If not, you should include the official results from a recent test of English, e.g. TOEFL or IELTS. If you have no recent official results, you can submit some older test results provisionally. This will not detract from the assessment of your application, but we reserve the right to ask for more recent official results later in the selection process.

The research statement must be written in English and not exceed 2 pages. A research statement is a short document that provides a brief history of your past research experience, the current state of your research, and the future work you intend to complete. Your research statement should situate your work within the larger context of your field and show how your works contribute, complicate, or counter other work being done. It should be written for an audience of other professionals in your field. Make sure that your statement is clearly tied together. Show a progression. What is the primary question that you have tried to address over the course of your academic career? Why is this question important to the field? How has each stage of your work related to that question?

The statement of purpose  must be written in English and not exceed 1 page. A statement of purpose (SOP), sometimes referred to as a personal statement, is a critical piece of a graduate program application. It tells admissions committees who you are, what your academic and professional interests are, and how you’ll add value to the GP you’re applying to. The statement of purpose reflects not only who you are as a candidate but your writing abilities and qualifications as well. A good personal statement should contain: your personal motivations for applying to the program, your accomplishments and success-stories, the challenges you’ve faced and overcome.

The PSL PhD Track grant is €10,000 / year for one or two years at Master’s level then the equivalent of a doctoral contract based on French legislation.

The combining of funding with other grants will be examined on a case by case basis by the jury of the Graduate Program concerned, which will determine whether the 2 funding methods are compatible.

Note in particular that students who have also been awarded an Eiffel scholarship may not combine the 2 grants during the 2 years of the Master’s degree. However, the Eiffel scholarship can replace the Master’s grant provided in the PSL PhD track for the first two years of the program (until the start of the doctoral studies). 

The PhD tracks are 5-year courses. As a rough guide, below are the provisional annual amounts for enrollment fees, based on the rates in force in 2024/2025. Note that the grant awarded to students on the PSL PhD tracks does not include these annual enrollment fees.

In addition to these fees is the “Contribution to student and campus life” (CVEC) of around €103 / year. There are several exemptions available.  I nformation

International students

The PSL Welcome Desk & Euraxess Center assists international students and researchers across all PSL schools. Their team is available to help you prepare your arrival and manage non-academic administrative processes throughout your time with Université PSL. Please visit their web page for detailed information about entry requirements, residence permit, social security, health insurance, housing, and other daily life matters. The PSL Welcome Desk also offers social and cultural outings, including a Buddy Program and Tandem Partner Program .

Please feel free to schedule an appointment or email them with your questions! 

The PSL Welcome Desk will help you at every stage, to advise you, guide you and ensure that your arrival in Paris and at PSL goes smoothly:

• Before you arrive - For   the main administrative formalities (visa, CVEC, transport, etc.) and put you in touch with other PSL students via the Buddy Program “Partner@PSL”.
• When you arrive , come and see the Welcome Desk team during office hours to check out the next formalities that need to be completed: validation of your visa, registration with the French Social Security system, request for housing allowance from CAF, taking out home insurance, opening a bank account, etc.
• During the university year : don’t hesitate to contact the PSL Welcome Desk for help with medical reimbursements or with finding a bilingual doctor. The international tutors can also give you a hand with finding a student job and following up on the renewal of your residence permit with the Prefecture.

Non-French speaking students can indeed follow FLE courses as part of their training at PSL. You will get all the information you need at the start of the academic year, at your host school.

More information about PSL

Contact: [email protected]

-- Next call for applications: October 2024 --

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IP Paris Doctoral School

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The doctoral school hosts around 900 doctoral students, supervised by more than 800 researchers (including 550 HDRs), in 30 research laboratories (UMR CNRS, INRIA, CEA), which offers a very important scientific strike force, demonstrated by their great national and international reputation and the high level of recognition achieved by the most eminent researchers. In addition to the academic environment of excellence, ED IP Paris also benefits from an important industrial connection (THALES, EDF, DANONE …), allowing the development of industrial partnership in particular with industrial R&D laboratories in Saclay. ED IP Paris offers a rich doctoral training through the research component ranging from basic research to applied research.The doctoral school of the lnstitut Polytechnique de Paris is extremely open to international recruitment (currently, foreign doctoral students represent 45% of PhD students). The PhD program at ED IP Paris prepares students for successful scientific career opportunities (research, teaching, project management, etc.) in universities and the private sector. For general information, please contact the Administrative Department of the ED IP Paris.

For all the general provisions relative to the role of the doctoral school and the organization of the doctorate program, each doctoral student and each thesis supervisor is subject to the thesis charter and all general procedures of the Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris) or HEC Paris (according to the affiliation of the thesis supervisor). The purpose of the Rules of Procedure is to set down the practical terms for the implementation of these provisions and to specify the policy of the Doctoral School.

• Consult the Rules of procedure (in french)

Consult the Doctoral Charter (in french)

The composition of the Council board is defined in Article 9 of the Decree of May 25, 2016 (modified by the Decree of August 26, 2022).

• Consult the composition of the Council Board

Consult the composition of the Executive board

• Consult the list of Scientifics field coordinators

Consult the PhD welcome Booklet

Admission is subject to the submission of an application file via the ADUM platform

There are two possible ways to be admitted to a PhD program at IP Paris Doctoral School Establish contact with a researcher holding HDR (habilitation) at one of the laboratories of the Institute Polytechnique de Paris and develop a thesis project along with an application for funding. Typically, this process is initiated in the midst of the second year (M2), coinciding with the selection of a research internship. After compiling the necessary documents, including comprehensive details of the thesis project, CV, M2 transcript of grades, and a letter of motivated support from the thesis supervisor, agreements between the laboratory and the hosting doctoral school can be secured. Subsequently, the application is to be submitted through ADUM .

Consult the thesis research topics of the Institut Polytechnique de Paris Doctoral School  

Enrollment Procedure

Re-enrollement Procedure

The academic period is from September 1st to August 31st of the year following your re-registration. Re-registrations must be completed between September 1st and August 31st, irrespective of the thesis starting date. Doctoral students in their 4th year who successfully defend their thesis before December 31st are exempt from re-registration, tuition fees, and the obligation to subscribe to the CVEC.

Full tuition fees will be charged for any academic year commenced, with no prorated fee, irrespective of the thesis start date.

The Institut Polytechnique de Paris implements a doctoral admission policy that aims to adhere to the following principles :  

Explicit and public criteria and procedures made known to all members of the institution and the potential doctoral candidates

Consideration of the personalized and high-quality supervision within the units and research teams

Recruitment that promotes gender equality, diversity, and openness, particularly on the international level

A recruitment encouraging the development of new research avenues and attentive to consider the professional integration prospects and career development of the doctors

Possible guidance or direction 

The Institut Polytechnique de Paris supports multiple types of funding : The programs financially supported or coordinated by the Institut Polytechnique de Paris (For example : MESR, AMX, Hi! PARIS, EUR Plasmas, E4C and E4H).  

Supported funding by research organizations (For example : ONERA, CEA and CNRS)

Supported funding by other organizations  

The Institut Polytechnique de Paris organizes two calls :

The Doctoral School considers in the selection of the doctoral candidates :

The academic results previously obtained by the candidate, notably during the higher education period

The candidate’s research ability, particularly evaluated from the beginning of the research internship period

The alignment between the candidate’s education and the doctoral project

The originality and the feasibility of the doctoral project within the context of the research unit and its partners

The doctoral project’s alignment with the scientific policy of the research unit, through the approval of the director of the research unit during the registration

The availability and the capacity of the thesis directors and all supervisors to ensure the scientific guidance of the doctoral project

A career project expressed by the candidate and its coherence with the doctoral project

The terms of choice and selection of the doctoral candidates are subject to a procedure defined by the executive office and approved by the Doctoral School council.  

The candidate’s file requires the following information:

• The application form
• Curriculum Vitae
• Cover letter
• M1 & M2 transcripts or other international diplomas
• Two recommendation letters

Supervisors’ opinions for each application on its subject

Laboratory directors’ opinions for each application in their laboratory

Pre-selection of candidates’ applications by scientific domains of the Doctoral School for the interview, based on the application file

Each application will be examined by the jury, taking into account the academic background (including internships completed by the candidate), the quality of supervision, the alignment of the candidate’s profile with the thesis topic, and potential interdisciplinarity, and also providing an overall rating

The IP Paris Arbitration Board/Commission

 Interviews by scientific fields

The interviews can take place in French or English

The interviews shall include the following elements :

• Briefly (~2’): Presentation of the Curriculum Vitae (academic course, internships…)
• Presentation of the thesis subject (~5-10’): The candidates should be able to clearly explain the subject, its challenges and issues as a whole, including the aspects within the field of a discipline other than the candidate’s original subject if it is interdisciplinary
• Briefly (~2’): Motivation for the subject and professional prospects/perspectives.
• The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session (5-10 minutes) At the end of the auditions, the evaluations could be updated by the members of the disciplinary jury considering the candidates’ performance.  

The jury of the final arbitration will include:(the same person can represent several entities)

The Director of the IP Paris Doctoral School

The Director or Deputy Director representing the EDMH

The Research Vice-President of IP ParisA representative per institution whose thesis funding is concerned by the competition

A representative of each disciplinary jury

A representative of each IP Paris Doctoral School field

A representative of the jury of Hi! PARIS/E4C/E4H/etc  

Deadline for thesis subject deposits on ADUM: January 15, 2024

Deadline for applications on ADUM: February 15, 2024

Interview of candidates: From March 6-15, 2024

Publishing of the early call results: Beginning of April 2024 Final call

Deadline for thesis subject submission on ADUM: March 15, 2024

Deadline for applications on ADUM: April 15, 2024

Interview of candidates: From May 13-24, 2024

Publishing of the final call results: Beginning of June 2024  

Page under construction

In addition to personalized training through research acquired during the activity within the research unit, the doctoral training also includes the participation in different collective drills intended : 

to fortify the scientific culture of the doctoral students, especially in their scientific field

to prepare their professional integration or the pursuit of their career in both the public and private sectors

to encourage their international exposure

These trainings are of three types: scientific, linguistic, and transversal. The latter including ethics and scientific integrity, is a part of the training obligations for all doctoral students, pursuant to the decree of 25 May 2016 (modified on 26 August 2022) on the PhD degree. The trainings should help the doctoral student on one hand to be more effective in his/her doctoral project and on the other hand to prepare his/her professional future. The training choice will have to be done according to these two objectives and will be able to rely on the earnest advice of the thesis supervisor.

Each doctoral student ought to pursue on the duration of his/her thesis at least 100 hours of training distributed as follows:

Scientific trainings: 40 to 60 hrs including 20 opening hrs (off thesis subject);

Transversal trainings: 40 to 60 hrs including mandatory ethics training.  

Language trainings : 0 to 20 hrs  

page under construction

The Institut Polytechnique de Paris will award annually three prizes to the students who have produced the best PhD thesis and made the most outstanding contributions in one of the following fields: Physics; Biology and Chemistry; Information, Communications, Electronics; Computer Science, Data, and Artificial Intelligence; Engineering, Mechanics, and Energetics; Economics, Management, and Social Sciences.

• Consult the procedure

• Consult the directory of PhD students
• The directory of  Doctors
• Ongoing thesis

The Golden Rules for PhD supervision provide a set of best practices for both PhD students and supervisors. These rules emphasise the shared responsibility and expectations of both the supervisor and PhD student. 

Consult the Golden Rules for PhD supervision

Submit an thesis subject

Download the report 

Consult the rules of procedure

• Support letter from thesis supervisor 
• Master's degree derogation
• Progress report
• Report for the monitoring committee  
• Derogation of the duration of the thesis

PhD defense

• Request a transfer to another establishment 
• Declaring a withdrawal from the preparation of a thesis
• Request a "césure"  

If you need a letter of support from the doctoral school for your CIFRE thesis

• Complete this form

Consult the Organization Chart Graduate School 

Graduate School IP Paris pôle Doctorat Télécom Paris 19, place Marguerite Perey 5ème étage - CS 20031 F-91123 Palaiseau Cedex

PhD in Computing, Data and Artificial Intelligence

Phd in Biology

PhD in Information, Communications and Electronics

Human sciences, arts, letters and languages

PhD in Economics, Management and Social Sciences

PhD in Physics

PhD in Chemistry

PhD in Engineering, Mechanics and Energy

Department of French

Graduate Program

Introduction

Yale’s graduate program in French literature offers both a rigorous grounding in French Literature and an interdisciplinary approach to French theory, thought, and culture.  The graduate curriculum covers the Middle Ages to the present, and the literatures of Africa, the Caribbean, and the Maghreb.  

Our faculty are involved in programs outside the department, including African and African-American Studies , Comparative Literature , Film and Media Studies , Middle East Studies , Judaic Studies , Medieval Studies , and Renaissance Studies . These institutional affiliations provide bridges to related disciplines around the campus. 

Students have at their fingertips the holdings of one of the best research libraries in the world, the Sterling Memorial Library .  The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library is an incomparable resource for scholars in French, holding treasures ranging from medieval illuminated manuscripts of the Roman de la Rose , to the holograph manuscript of Camus’s Myth of Sisyphus and selections from Proust’s correspondence. 

The Program

The French Ph.D. degree normally takes five or six years.   The first two years are devoted to course work, including one required course in Old French.  Students are required to take at least two and up to four courses outside the department in departments such as Comparative Literature, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, History of Science and Medicine, History of Art, and Film.  Students must also fulfill the language requirement by the end of the second year.  

Read what current students have to say about our courses

In the third year, students take their oral qualifying exam and prepare their dissertation prospectus. Students typically teach one course per semester during two of their years of graduate study, beginning in the third year.  They receive training in language teaching methodology and teach two semesters of French language. Opportunities also exist to be teaching assistants in advanced undergraduate literature courses.

Hear students talk about their teaching experiences

In the fourth or fifth year, most students choose to pursue dissertation research in France or a francophone country.  Many students partake in the exchange program with the Ecole Normale Supérieure, rue d’Ulm, in Paris.

Students complete their dissertation in the fifth or sixth year. 

To recognize expertise in a particular area of study outside French literature, Yale offers several certificates of concentration    Students may also apply to the combined Ph.D. programs with the Department of African American Studies , the Program in Film and Media Studies , and Renaissance Studies .

[click here for the calendar of progress through the program]

All Yale students receive full financial support (tuition plus full stipend, including health insurance coverage) for five years of graduate study. This includes two years of coursework without teaching, two years of teaching, and a dissertation fellowship year.  Students in the French Department who choose  to pursue dissertation research in France or a francophone country receive an additional year of support without having to teach.

Basic Program Requirements  

• Fourteen term courses during the first two years of study. These must include Old French and at least two graduate-level term courses taken outside the department. French 670, Methods and Techniques in the French Language Classroom, is also required in the second year of study.
• Proficiency (defined as one year of college study) in any two languages (beyond English and French) that are relevant to the student’s research interests, to be approved by the DGS. For details, see the Rules document.
• At least one year of teaching experience.
• The qualifying oral examination, to be taken no later than the end of the sixth term.
• The dissertation prospectus, prepared in consultation with the student’s adviser and approved by the faculty.
• The doctoral dissertation, prepared in close consultation with the adviser, approved by the faculty and Graduate School, and completed by the end of the sixth year of study.

For details see the Program Guidelines for Graduate Studies in French (in the left sidebar.)

Policies of the Graduate School can be found at the  Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Programs and Policies Bulletin.

Job Placement

Students in their last year of study take a seminar with the Director of Graduate Studies to prepare for the job market.  Although the market remains challenging, our students have fared remarkably well [ click here for a list of recent placements ].

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Doctoral Programs

Doctoral programs are scientific programs whose aim is to match doctoral candidates with selected doctoral research projects at scientific, sectorial and geographical interfaces. The doctoral candidates recruited in these programs are attached to and monitored by the doctoral school to which their thesis director is affiliated and the program allows them to integrate into an interdisciplinary community.

Published on 4/12/2019 - Updated on 5/05/2022

• Interdisciplinary doctoral programs
• Institutes and Initiatives Program
• Science, Humanities and Management Program
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Life as a doctoral candidate

PhD in Literature

London Global Gateway

The London Global Gateway promotes activities that advance the mission and raise the profile of the University in London and around the world.

O'Connell House Dublin Ireland

The Keough-Notre Dame Study Centre every summer offers the Irish Seminar at the O’Connell House in Dublin.

Rome Global Gateway

The Rome Global Gateway is one block from the Colosseum. The Gateway also fosters research and graduate education.

Study literature, acquire and practice languages, learn a profession, find opportunities: follow your passion! Apply to an innovative, transnational and transdisciplinary program.

Literary Future

National literature is losing its significance; this is the era of world literature, and everyone should hasten its development. Goethe, On World Literature, 1827.

Please note: the Ph.D in Literature Program at the University of Notre Dame is no longer admitting new students.

Department of Comparative Literature

You are here, the program.

The Department of Comparative Literature at Yale is proud of a long tradition of excellence. For fifty years, it has been a leading graduate program for the study of literature beyond linguistic or national boundaries, for the theory, interpretation and criticism of literature, and for their interactions with adjacent fields including history, philosophy, film, the visual arts, psychology, and law.  The department encourages students to develop their skill at textual analysis while challenging them to reflect theoretically on the acts of writing and reading, as on the connections between literature and other realms of human experience. We pride ourselves on the historical, linguistic and methodological breadth of our faculty and students. Our Phd guidelines help develop that breadth, but they also allow students great flexibility in shaping their course of study and pursuing their individual intellectual interests.

Comparative Literature houses three formal Combined Doctoral programs with other departments and programs at Yale: with Classics , Renaissance Studies , and Film and Media Studies . In addition, our students work closely with professors in Yale’s other literature departments ( English , French , Spanish and Portuguese , Germanic languages and literature , Italian , Slavic languages and literatures , East Asian languages and literatures , Near Eastern languages and civilizations , and African-American studies ).

The Department of Comparative Literature and Yale as a larger whole provide a welcoming environment and social community for graduate study. Graduate students in the department organize the annual Baldwin-Dahl lecture which brings noted critics and thinkers to campus as well as an annual graduate student conference with a long and distinguished history of its own. Students and faculty share their work-in-progress in the ongoing Open Forum series and expand the intellectual reach of the departmental community by collaborating with a variety of centers, working groups and colloquia across campus.

Our graduates have enjoyed excellent success in securing academic positions in Comparative Literature, Arabic, Classics, East Asian, English, French, Italian, German, Romance Languages, Russian, Spanish, Film Studies, Humanities, and other fields. Since 2005, our students have found tenure-track positions at universities including Johns Hopkins, University of Chicago, NYU, Northwestern University, Washington University (St. Louis), Notre Dame, University of Rochester, University of Arizona, University of California (Berkeley), University of California (Santa Cruz), University of Massachusetts (Amherst), University of Minnesota, University of Oregon, Penn State, Purchase College (SUNY), Appalachian State University, Texas A&M, Sam Huston College, University of Mary Washington,  Amherst College, Claremont College, Dartmouth College, Davidson College, Scripps College, Vassar College, McGill University, and equivalent positions at University College (University of London), University of Paris VIII, Massaryk University (Brno), NYU Abu Dhabi, Bar-Ilan University (Israel), University of Koc (Istambul). Since 2010, our graduates have also held post-doctoral fellowships at Cambridge, Cornell, University of Chicago, Harvard, Stanford, and Yale. 

Olympic Breakdancer Raygun Has PhD in Breakdancing?

Rachael gunn earned a zero in breakdancing at the paris 2024 olympic games., aleksandra wrona, published aug. 13, 2024.

About this rating

Gunn's Ph.D. thesis, titled "Deterritorializing Gender in Sydney's Breakdancing Scene: a B-girl's Experience of B-boying," did cover the topic of breakdancing. However ...

... Gunn earned her Ph.D. in cultural studies. Moreover, a "PhD in breakdancing" does not exist as an academic discipline.

On Aug. 10, 2024, a rumor spread on social media that Rachael Gunn (also known as "Raygun"), an Australian breakdancer who competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics, had a Ph.D. in breakdancing. "This australian breakdancer has a PhD in breakdancing and dance culture and was a ballroom dancer before taking up breaking. I don't even know what to say," one X post on the topic read .

"Australian Olympic breakdancer Rachael Gunn has a PhD in breakdancing and dance culture," one X user wrote , while another asked, "Who did we send? Raygun, a 36-year-old full-time lecturer at Sydney's Macquarie University, completed a PhD in breaking culture and is a lecturer in media, creative arts, literature and language," another X user wrote .

The claim also spread on other social media platforms, such as Reddit and Instagram . 

"Is she the best break dancer? No. But I have so much respect for going on an international stage to do something you love even if you're not very skilled at it," one Instagram user commented , adding that, "And, I'm pretty sure she's using this as a research endeavor and will be writing about all our reactions to her performance. Can't wait to read it!"

In short, Gunn's Ph.D. thesis, titled "Deterritorializing Gender in Sydney's Breakdancing Scene: A B-girl's Experience of B-boying," indeed focused on the topic of breakdancing. However, Gunn earned her Ph.D. in cultural studies, not in breakdancing. Furthermore, it's important to note that a "PhD in breakdancing" does not exist as an academic discipline. 

Since Gunn's research focused on the breakdancing community, but her degree is actually in the broader field of cultural studies, we have rated this claim as a "Mixture" of truths.

Gunn "secured Australia's first ever Olympic spot in the B-Girl competition at Paris 2024 by winning the QMS Oceania Championships in Sydney, NSW, Australia," the Olympics official website informed . 

Gunn earned a zero in breakdancing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and clips of her routine went viral on social media, with numerous users creating memes or mocking dancer's moves. "As well as criticising her attire, social media users mocked the Australian's routine as she bounced around on stage like a kangaroo and stood on her head at times," BBC article on the topic read . 

The website of the Macquarie University informed Gunn "is an interdisciplinary and practice-based researcher interested in the cultural politics of breaking" and holds a Ph.D. in cultural studies, as well as a bachelor of arts degree (Hons) in contemporary music: 

Rachael Gunn is an interdisciplinary and practice-based researcher interested in the cultural politics of breaking. She holds a PhD in Cultural Studies (2017) and a BA (Hons) in Contemporary Music (2009) from Macquarie University. Her work draws on cultural theory, dance studies, popular music studies, media, and ethnography. Rachael is a practising breaker and goes by the name of 'Raygun'. She was the Australian Breaking Association top ranked bgirl in 2020 and 2021, and represented Australia at the World Breaking Championships in Paris in 2021, in Seoul in 2022, and in Leuven (Belgium) in 2023. She won the Oceania Breaking Championships in 2023.

Gunn's biography further revealed that she is a member of the Macquarie University Performance and Expertise Reasearch Centre, and has a range of teaching experience at undergraduate and postgraduate levels "across the areas of media, creative industries, music, dance, cultural studies, and work-integrated learning." 

Moreover, it informed her research interests included, "Breaking, street dance, and hip-hop culture; youth cultures/scenes; constructions of the dancing body; politics of gender and gender performance; ethnography; the methodological dynamics between theory and practice."

Gunn earned her Ph.D. from the Department of Media, Music, Communications, and Cultural Studies within the Faculty of Arts at Macquarie University. Below, you can find the abstract of her paper, shared by the official website of Macquarie University:

This thesis critically interrogates how masculinist practices of breakdancing offers a site for the transgression of gendered norms. Drawing on my own experiences as a female within the male-dominated breakdancing scene in Sydney, first as a spectator, then as an active crew member, this thesis questions why so few female participants engage in this creative space, and how breakdancing might be the space to displace and deterritorialise gender. I use analytic autoetthnography and interviews with scene members in collaboration with theoretical frameworks offered by Deleuze and Guttari, Butler, Bourdieu and other feminist and post-structuralist philosophers, to critically examine how the capacities of bodies are constituted and shaped in Sydney's breakdancing scene, and to also locate the potentiality for moments of transgression. In other words, I conceptualize the breaking body as not a 'body' constituted through regulations and assumptions, but as an assemblage open to new rhizomatic connections. Breaking is a space that embraces difference, whereby the rituals of the dance not only augment its capacity to deterritorialize the body, but also facilitate new possibilities for performativities beyond the confines of dominant modes of thought and normative gender construction. Consequently, this thesis attempts to contribute to what I perceive as a significant gap in scholarship on hip-hop, breakdancing, and autoethnographic explorations of Deleuze-Guattarian theory.

In a response to online criticism of her Olympics performance, Gunn wrote on her Instagram profile: "Don't be afraid to be different, go out there and represent yourself, you never know where that's gonna take you":

We have recently investigated other 2024 Paris Olympics' -related rumors, such as:

• Lifeguards Are Present at Olympic Swimming Competitions?
• Hobby Lobby Pulled $50M in Ads from 2024 Paris Olympics?
• 2024 Paris Olympics Are 'Lowest-Rated' Games in Modern History?

Gunn, Rachael Louise. Deterritorializing Gender in Sydney's Breakdancing Scene: A B-Girl's Experience of B-Boying. 2022. Macquarie University, thesis. figshare.mq.edu.au, https://doi.org/10.25949/19433291.v1.

---. Deterritorializing Gender in Sydney's Breakdancing Scene: A B-Girl's Experience of B-Boying. 2022. Macquarie University, thesis. figshare.mq.edu.au, https://doi.org/10.25949/19433291.v1.

Ibrahim, Nur. "Lifeguards Are Present at Olympic Swimming Competitions?" Snopes, 8 Aug. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/lifeguards-paris-olympics-swimming/.

"Olympic Breaking: Criticism of Viral Breakdancer Rachael Gunn - Raygun - Condemned by Australia Team." BBC Sport, 10 Aug. 2024, https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/articles/c2dgxp5n3rlo.

ORCID. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1069-4021. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.

Paris 2024. https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/athlete/-raygun_1940107. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.

Saunders, Grant Leigh, and Rachael Gunn. "Australia." Global Hip Hop Studies, vol. 3, no. 1–2, Dec. 2023, pp. 23–32. Macquarie University, https://doi.org/10.1386/ghhs_00060_1.

Wazer, Caroline. "2024 Paris Olympics Are 'Lowest-Rated' Games in Modern History?" Snopes, 1 Aug. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/paris-olympics-lowest-rated-games/.

---. "Hobby Lobby Pulled $50M in Ads from 2024 Paris Olympics?" Snopes, 8 Aug. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/olympics-hobby-lobby-ads/.

By Aleksandra Wrona

Aleksandra Wrona is a reporting fellow for Snopes, based in the Warsaw, Poland, area.

Article Tags

A breaking hero emerges: Meet Australia's Raygun

An australian professor had some breaking moves, and people had thoughts., by nbc staff • published august 9, 2024 • updated on august 9, 2024 at 3:19 pm.

As Dr. Rachel Gunn, she's a 36-year-old lecturer at Macquarie University in Australia . She holds a PhD in cultural science. She researches and lectures on the cultural politics of breaking .

As Raygun, she's an Olympian breaker, competing for Australia.

Raygun lost all three of her matches, against B-Girls named Nicka, Syssy and Logistx. Yes, that sentence is accurate.

24/7 New York news stream: Watch NBC 4 free wherever you are

But Raygun had some moves. And people had some thoughts.

What my nephew does after telling all of us to “watch this” pic.twitter.com/366LjIRl4j — Liz Charboneau (@lizchar) August 9, 2024

There has not been an Olympic performance this dominant since Usain Bolt’s 100m sprint at Beijing in 2008. Honestly, the moment Raygun broke out her Kangaroo move this competition was over! Give her the #breakdancing gold 🥇 pic.twitter.com/6q8qAft1BX — Trapper Haskins (@TrapperHaskins) August 9, 2024

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All I can think about when I see this is the hip hop dance teacher from Bob’s Burgers but if instead she was from Australia and was a 36 year old woman named Raygun https://t.co/nUwYVLnrms pic.twitter.com/Wl5FResHw7 — Shereef Sakr (@ShereefKeef) August 9, 2024

Paris 2024 Summer Olympics

Watch all the action from the Paris Olympics live on NBC

Romania celebrates gymnast Ana Barbosu with Olympic bronze medal ceremony

Raygun issues plea as Change.org pulls petition claiming she manipulated Olympics

when Raygun hit the kangaroo jawn I couldn't see the screen I was crying so hard pic.twitter.com/jcICfTu11d — Bradford Pearson (@BradfordPearson) August 9, 2024

I think I found the source of inspiration for the Raygun breakdance at the Olympics. https://t.co/t94Iyu1dPZ pic.twitter.com/a7DL9etwRz — Noodson (@noodson) August 9, 2024

Raygun was like pic.twitter.com/KvXVPVGScx — Charles J. Moore (@charles270) August 9, 2024

Raygun did THE SPRINKLER at this breakdance thing, this is the worst thing Australia has ever done. — Luis Paez-Pumar (@lppny) August 9, 2024

This article tagged under:

Raygun becomes viral sensation during breaking performance at 2024 Paris Olympics: Social media reacts

Breaking , more commonly known as breakdancing, made its debut as an Olympic sport this week at the 2024 Paris Games , with 17 B-girls and 16 B-boys making their way to France with the hopes of securing a gold medal.

On the first day of competition, viewers from across the world were treated to a different kind of introduction — not to the sport itself, but one of its athletes.

Though she was a long way from winning a gold medal, likely no breaker Friday captured the imagination of the international audience more than Rachael Gunn, an Australian breaker who competes under the name “Raygun.”

REQUIRED READING: Follow USA TODAY's coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics

Raygun went 0-3 in her head-to-head competitions Friday — falling to Logistx of the United States, Syssy of France and eventual silver medalist Nicka of Lithuania by a combined score of 54-0 — and failed to record a point across those three matches, but for what she lacked in smoothly executed moves, she made up for in the hearts she won over with her demeanor.

Raygun’s short-lived Olympic experience made her a celebrity, one who people became even more enamored with once they learned more about her.

The 36-year-old Gunn, who was one of the oldest qualifiers in the breaking competition, has a PhD in cultural studies and is a college professor at Macquarie University in Sydney. Her research focuses primarily on breaking, street dance and hip-hop culture while her work draws on “cultural theory, dance studies, popular music studies, media, and ethnography.”

“In 2023, many of my students didn’t believe me when I told them I was training to qualify for the Olympics, and were shocked when they checked Google and saw that I qualified,” Gunn said to CNBC earlier this month .

Unlike much of her competition in Paris, Gunn took up break dancing later in life. She didn’t enter her first battle until 2012.

On Friday, a person who began the day as a little-known academic ended it as a viral worldwide sensation.

Here’s a sampling of the reaction to Raygun and her performance:

2024 PARIS OLYMPICS: Meet the members of Team USA competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics

Social media reacts to Raygun’s breaking performance at 2024 Paris Olympics

I could live all my life and never come up with anything as funny as Raygun, the 36-year-old Australian Olympic breakdancer pic.twitter.com/1uPYBxIlh8 — mariah (@mariahkreutter) August 9, 2024

Give Raygun the gold right now #breakdancing pic.twitter.com/bMtAWEh3xo — n★ (@nichstarr) August 9, 2024

my five year old niece after she says “watch this!” : pic.twitter.com/KBAMSkgltj — alex (@alex_abads) August 9, 2024

I'd like to personally thank Raygun for making millions of people worldwide think "huh, maybe I can make the Olympics too" pic.twitter.com/p5QlUbkL2w — Bradford Pearson (@BradfordPearson) August 9, 2024

The Aussie B-Girl Raygun dressed as a school PE teach complete with cap while everyone else is dressed in funky breaking outfits has sent me. It looks like she’s giving her detention for inappropriate dress at school 🤣 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/lWVU3myu6C — Georgie Heath🎙️ (@GeorgieHeath27) August 9, 2024

There has not been an Olympic performance this dominant since Usain Bolt’s 100m sprint at Beijing in 2008. Honestly, the moment Raygun broke out her Kangaroo move this competition was over! Give her the #breakdancing gold 🥇 pic.twitter.com/6q8qAft1BX — Trapper Haskins (@TrapperHaskins) August 9, 2024

my dog on the lawn 30 seconds after i've finished bathing him pic.twitter.com/A5aqxIbV3H — David Mack (@davidmackau) August 9, 2024

My wife at 3AM: I think I heard one of the kids Me: No way, they are asleep *looks at baby monitor* pic.twitter.com/Ubhi6kY4w4 — Wes Blankenship (@Wes_nship) August 9, 2024

me tryna get the duvet off when i’m too hot at night #olympics pic.twitter.com/NM4Fb2MEmX — robyn (@robynjournalist) August 9, 2024

Raygun really hit them with the "Tyrannosaurus." pic.twitter.com/ZGCMjhzth9 — Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) August 9, 2024

Raygun (AUS) https://t.co/w2lxLRaW2x — Peter Nygaard (@RetepAdam) August 9, 2024

Profile | Who is Rachael Gunn? Paris Olympics’ Australian breakdancer who became internet meme

• In videos of her performances shared online, B-Girl Raygun was seen hopping around like a kangaroo and touching her toes while lying down

Among the various breakers competing in the Paris Olympics, one in particular has taken the internet by storm: Australia’s Rachael Gunn.

In videos of her performances shared online, B-Girl Raygun was seen hopping around like a kangaroo, touching her toes while lying down and seemingly squirming around on the dance floor.

Netizens were quick to pick up on Gunn’s unusual moves and catapulted her to internet fame with thousands memes.

But who is she? Let’s take a look.

Early years

Born in Hornsby in New South Wales, Gunn was a former jazz and ballroom dancer. She was introduced to breaking by the man she later married, who had been practising for 10 years.

Although Gunn grew up dancing, she did not start competing in breaking competitions until her mid-twenties.

“I wasn’t a sporty kid, I was more of a dance kid,” Gunn had said. “I never thought the Olympics would be on the cards for me. It’s such a privilege and it’s hugely exciting.”

Breakdancing career

Gunn graduated university with her PHD thesis focusing on ‘the intersection of gender and Sydney’s breaking culture’ in 2017.

By 2020, Gunn worked her way up to become the Australian Breaking Association’s top ranked B-Girl.

She took part at the World Breaking Championships in Paris in 2021 and in Seoul 12 months later, and qualified for the Paris Games via the Oceania Championships in October 2023.

“I think a lot of people had doubted my ability to do it and maybe thought I was getting too old to be able to stay on top,” she said. “But I just kept pushing hard, I want to get better, and I want the scene to grow and get better.

Gunn’s experience had also influenced her beyond the dance floor as well.

She is a lecturer at the Department of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Language and Literature at Macquarie University, where her biography states that she is an interdisciplinary and practice-based researcher interested in the cultural politics of breaking.

Internet fame

Despite Gunn’s experience in the discipline, her unique performance at the Paris Olympics quickly went viral on social media.

She finished the group phase with no points, which led many to question how she earned qualification.

Despite the jokes, Gunn defended her performance.

“I was never going to beat these girls on what they do best, the dynamic and the power moves, so I wanted to move differently, be artistic and creative because how many chances do you get in a lifetime to do that on an international stage?,” she said.

“I was always the underdog and wanted to make my mark in a different way.”

The memes drew an impassioned defence from Australia’s chef de mission Anna Meares as she hit out at “trolls and keyboard warriors”.

“If you don’t know Rachael’s story, in 2008, she was locked in a room crying, being involved in a male dominated sport as the only woman and it took great courage for her to continue on and fight for her opportunity to participate in a sport that she loved,” she said.

Meares noted that Gunn was the best female breakdancer the country had and was an “absolutely loved member” of the Olympic team.