The doctorate a driver of innovation for your business

At Rennes School of Business, companies gain access to a wide diversity of profiles, apprentices, interns, doctoral candidates, and graduates, trained to combine academic expertise with hands-on experience. Our tailored recruitment and support solutions make every step easier, from selecting candidates to integrating talent into your organisation.

Recruiting doctoral students before their thesis

You can recruit a doctoral student as part of your research and development project, which represents both a skills asset and a financial advantage. However, the doctoral student must have a CIFRE agreement (Industrial Agreement for Training through Research).

While they are preparing their thesis, their salary expenses are eligible for the Research Tax Credit, in the same way as those of your engineers, without any surcharge. Once the thesis has been defended, if the young doctor remains in your company on a permanent contract, you automatically benefit from the advantages associated with their employment for 24 months.

Furthermore, between 86% and 95% of doctoral students find employment within six months of completing their thesis, and companies are increasingly open to these profiles, in a context where master’s degrees are becoming very common.

The CIFRE programme: a win-win collaboration

Benefit from a partnership that will breathe new life into your knowledge and business practices.

Collaborating with a young researcher at the cutting edge of your field of interest can prove invaluable in terms of innovation, creativity and the development of tailor-made tools for your specific objectives.

Immersing doctoral students in professional and academic contexts gives them access to cutting-edge knowledge and local and international networks of research institutions. Your links with the best schools and universities also allow you to keep abreast of new generations of talent, their expectations and their skills.

Testimonial from Romain Ménier (PhD student) and Grégory Vicens (Risk Management Manager) at SAIPOL

Saipol, a subsidiary of the Avril Group, is hosting an agribusiness student linked to the Agri-Finance Chair (Rennes School of Business, Agrocampus Ouest and INRAe) for a research project. His CIFRE thesis aims to optimise the management and purchase of oilseeds used to produce oils, oilseed meal and biofuels, a sector in which Saipol is the European leader. ‘There’s no question of putting the thesis away in a drawer next year!’ By taking advantage of the tools developed specifically by Romain MENIER, the company is reaping the rewards of these three years of research. ‘The goal for us is to really make use of what he’s doing,’ says Grégory Vicens. ‘There’s no question of putting the thesis away in a drawer next year. If the experience is repeated with other doctoral candidates, it could even become a source of new recruits.’ A win-win collaboration, guaranteeing employment for students and ensuring trained and competent employees for the company. ‘It’s a good formula,’ sums up the manager. ‘It allows us to work with young people who are at the forefront of our subjects, and for the manager, it’s also a kind of challenge: you have to skilfully guide the student between their work and their research, while helping them achieve their personal goals.’

Grégory Vicens

Risk Management Manager, SAIPOL

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