The doctorate is a graduate degree conferred by a doctoral school—in this case CY Cergy Paris University Graduate School of Humanities, Creation, and Heritage. Candidates must possess a master’s degree or equivalent master’s-level credential. After preparing and successfully defending a dissertation, candidates are awarded the doctoral degree.
The graduate school houses the humanities and social sciences components of CY Cergy Paris University and four higher schools dedicated to the fields of creation and heritage: the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Versailles (ENSAV), the École Nationale Supérieure de Paysage de Versailles (ENSP), the Institut National du Patrimoine (INP), and ENSAPC. These institutions aim to set standards in the fields of creation and heritage at the master’s and doctoral levels through innovative methods and practice-led research. The joint graduate school receives support from the Fondation des Sciences du Patrimoine (Foundation for Heritage Preservation Sciences), the French Ministry of Culture, and the French national center for scientific research (CNRS).
Practice-led research places creators (artists, architects, landscapers, restorers, conservators, and authors) and their practice at the heart of a methodological process. Doing so produces knowledge that can then be reinvested in practice. The research approach flows from the project (artistic, architectural, or other), becoming a space for reflection, experimentation, and production that enriches practical work, just as the latter can enrich the research process. Another of its ambitions is to conceive new forms of diffusion and promotion, forms suggested by the very nature of the research project. Artists, particularly, tend to believe that research must follow no a priori form but rather be an integral part of their work process. Because practice-led research casts a wide net, aiming for the broadest possible understanding of the mechanisms or phenomena under study (without ever purporting to claim exhaustivity), it draws on contributions from many disciplines.
The practice-led doctorate may be earned in one of five mentions: literary creation; architecture; landscape design; heritage preservation and restoration, heritage studies; and arts. Within the graduate school consortium, ENSAPC is responsible for the mention in arts. Candidates’ research is overseen jointly by an accredited research director at the CY Cergy Paris University Graduate School and by a member of the ENSAPC faculty who is a recognized practitioner in the candidate’s field. Five doctoral funding contracts are allocated each year to candidates selected from the various mentions.
The mention in “arts” and candidates pursuing a practice-led doctorate at ENSAPC
Melding the practice of thought with that of art, research in art shapes and informs each step in the creative process (from conception to production, and then from distribution to critical reception). This process is propelled by reflexively alternating one’s gaze between experimentation and critical distance. Laying new ground and deploying the media and terminology needed to chart that ground across disciplinary lines, research in art, by its forms and substance, injects minority perspectives into dominant narratives, often with considerable friction.
2025 CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
Applications are welcome from artists, creators, and authors active in the art world and holding a French 2-year master’s degree or the equivalent. Complete information is presented in the program description available for download below.
Applications may be submitted through the application platform from 2am on March 4, 2025, through 2am on April 14, 2025.
Questions? Contact Martina Olivero, director of studies and research: martina.olivero@ensapc.fr
2025 Practice-led doctorate application form
Rules for 2025 practice-led doctorate call for applications
