PhD: EM Normandie signs an agreement with the University of Le Havre Normandy

A few weeks after announcing its partnership with the University of Caen Normandy to host PhD students, EM Normandie marks a new milestone in its academic development by signing an agreement on doctoral training with the "Université Le Havre Normandie" and "Normandie Université".

This agreement enables the school’s research laboratory, METIS Lab, to strengthen its involvement in the Normandy Doctoral School of Economics and Management (ED 242 EGN). EM Normandie can therefore host PhD students, who are officially enrolled at the University of Le Havre Normandy, and co-supervise PhD theses as part of the joint award of the national PhD degree.

Further recognition of EM Normandie’s academic excellence

This agreement represents further recognition of the quality of the school’s academic staff and the maturity of its academic activities. It is part of a process that has been underway for several years, led by the Academic Affairs Department, headed by its director Sylvaine Castellano, in collaboration with the institutions of Normandie Université, and illustrates EM Normandie’s growing prominence within the French academic research landscape.

Six years of scientific collaboration open a new chapter

This agreement is the natural outcome of close and ongoing cooperation between EM Normandie and the institutions of Normandie Université (COMUE), which EM Normandie has been an associate member of for many years. Over the past six years, collaboration has expanded to cover a wide range of key projects:

• The development of qualifications to supervise research carried out in collaboration with universities in Normandy, with three HDR defences already completed under this framework and several new defences in preparation;
• The recruitment of numerous lecturer-researchers holding PhDs obtained at universities in Normandy;
• Several co-supervised theses carried out with research teams from Normandie Université;
• The creation of the Campus Polytechnique des Territoires Maritimes et Portuaires, of which EM Normandie is a founding member alongside academic institutions in Normandy such as the University of Le Havre Normandy;
• The VALNET research project, dedicated to the recovery of used fishing nets as part of a circular economy approach;
• As well as several research programmes and collaborative training initiatives carried out as part of national and European projects.

Enhancing the scientific appeal of Normandy

Beyond doctoral training, this agreement helps to strengthen synergies between higher education institutions in Normandy and to enhance the region’s scientific appeal.

It will help strengthen collaboration between researchers at EM Normandie and those at the University of Le Havre Normandie, particularly in the region’s key areas of expertise: logistics, supply chain, maritime and port economy, environmental transitions, innovation, entrepreneurship and organisational transformation.

This new phase sees EM Normandie reinforce its ambition to combine academic excellence, regional impact and international influence, whilst continuing to develop recognised research that serves business and society.

The signing of this agreement represents a strategic milestone in EM Normandie’s academic development. It seals several years of scientific cooperation with Normandie Université and its member institutions. Our collaborative work – whether in the form of research projects, joint doctoral supervision, the development of HDR qualifications, or our involvement in the Campus Polytechnique des Territoires Maritimes et Portuaires – has demonstrated the value of an ever-closer partnership between our institutions. This agreement reflects the scientific maturity of our Faculty, which now brings together 130 permanent lecturers and researchers and 19 HDR holders, as well as our commitment to contributing fully to the prominence of Normandy’s research on a national and international scale.

says Octavio Escobar, Dean of the Faculty at EM Normandie.