Noted:

• To join the Partnered Ph.D. Program, candidates will have to meet the Ph.D. entry requirements of both universities.
• Please register here! We will review your information and inform the process for the next steps.

About Cotutelle PhD

Cotutelle PhD (also called Joint/Co-supervision PhD) is a form of collaboration between universities, centered around PhD students. Although Cotutelle PhD can vary quite widely between different partner universities, in general:

• The PhD student will have a supervisor from each of the partner universities, providing guidance and support.
• The PhD student will spend some time at each university, using the facilities to perform their research. In some cases, the PhD student may receive scholarship support for their time at the partner university.
• The PhD student will, if they satisfy the requirements of both universities, receive 1 PhD degree from each university (this is not the case with all partner universities).

In most cases Cotutelle PhD is based around an individual student, so it is not necessary to have an MoU with the partner university beforehand. However, the PhD student will need to be accepted by the co-supervisor at the partner university, and so it is generally easiest to organize if there is some existing research collaboration between the departments at each university.

As the PhD student will be assigned a co-supervisor at the partner university, the student should not have completed too much of their research project before becoming a Cotutelle student. Ideally, a Mahidol University PhD student should start looking at Cotutelle opportunities during the first (coursework) year of their PhD).

As Cotutelle PhD programs can vary a lot, International Relations Division will provide guidance and support to PhD students interested in Cotutelle Programs. The online applications portal here will help the relevant staff to keep track of your interest and progress in applications, but you will also need to apply directly to the partner university.

If you are a PhD student interested in Cotutelle PhD, you should start by coming up with a list of possible partner universities. Ideally you should try to list 3 – 5 potential partners, as your first choice will not always be possible. A good way to begin this is by talking with your Mahidol University supervisor (or PhD Program Director) about existing research links which your department has. Once you have a list of possible partners, complete the application here and a member of staff from International Relations Division will get in touch with you to guide you through the rest of the process.