Calls

Article du 20 February 2026

2026 call for PhD grants – PEPR eNSEMBLE

Version française

Détails & formulaire de candidature

The purpose of eNSEMBLE (Future of Digital Collaboration) is to fundamentally redefine digital tools for collaboration. The pandemic has demonstrated both the possibilities and limitations of current tools for computer-mediated collaboration. Whether it is to reduce our travel, to better mesh the territory and society, or to face the forthcoming problems and transformations of the next decades, the challenges of the 21st century will require us to collaborate at an unp recedented speed and scale.

The PEPR eNSEMBLE launches a transparent and fair call for Ph.D. programmes for the year 2026. The laureates will receive a Ph.D. grant for three years with the same salary as a Ph.D. grant from the Ministry, as well as 10,000 € of support for the purchase of equipment or valorization activities and mission expenses.

Process

  1. The co-chairs of the targeted projects (PC) define the priority themes for each PC for the current year (see below).
  2. Future advisors elaborate a Ph.D. project proposal (see the instructions in the form below) for one of the five PCs. The author directly submits the Ph.D. project proposal, with or without an attached candidate already pre-selected.
  3. The co-chairs of the targeted projects check the relevance of the Ph.D. project proposal with regard to the scientific policy of the corresponding PC. They can exchange with the authors to refine the subject and its objectives / methodologies. Once this pre-review is completed, Ph.D. project proposals without candidates are annouced on the PEPR eNSEMBLE website.
  4. If not yet selected, the authors of the Ph.D. project proposal select one future Ph.D. candidate (exceptionally two candidates) and submit their choice to the PEPR eNSEMBLE jury by updating the application form.
  5. The executive board pre-select a set of future Ph.D. candidates for the interview stage. They notify Ph.D. project authors and the future Ph.D. candidates. For those who are selected, the email will contain the date and time of the interview as well as the instructions.
  6. The interviews will take only by videoconference. The jury will be composed of at least two coordinators of each PC as well as at least two program directors (12 people).
  7. The jury ranks the candidates and defines a main list and an additional list for each PC. They inform the authors of the Ph.D. project proposals and the future doctoral candidates by email.

Calendar

  • 20 February 2026: opening of the application form
  • 20 February – 23 April: subject proposals (with or without attached candidates) & review by PC coordinators and publication of available subjects (without candidates) on our website
  • 4 May: Deadline for candidate applications (hard deadline). Until 4 May, it will also be possible (but not recommended) to propose a candidate associated with a subject that has not been pre-examined.
  • 25 May: Pre-selection committee & interview decisions sent to applicants
  • Early June (dates to be confirmed): Interview of shortlisted candidates (online)
  • Mid-June: Admissions Committee & Letter of Acceptance sent to laureates

Eligibility criteria

  • The Ph.D. project proposal should indicate the primary PC of the PEPR eNSEMBLE it contributes to (CATS, PILOT, MATCHING, CONGRATS, TRANSVERSE). A secondary PC can be specified in the application.
  • The Ph.D. advisor must have an HDR (or equivalent) and be a member of a laboratory whose at least one supervisory body is on the list of PEPR eNSEMBLE partners (list of partners in the application form). This partner will receive the funds.
  • In the case of co-supervision, the doctoral student must be assigned to a laboratory whose supervisory body is on the list of PEPR eNSEMBLE partners (and employed by this same partner), under the supervision of an HDR supervisor attached to this laboratory.
  • In the case of a half-grant request, the other half-grant must already be acquired.

Specifics of the 2026 call

Beyond the quality of the research programme and the consortium (supervisors + student), the 2026 call will pay particular attention to the following elements:

  • The potential of the proposed topic to link up with existing work in the PEPR eNSEMBLE (PCs + successful AAP projects), i.e. the potential of the topic to build on, contribute to or connect with work (doctoral theses and postdoctoral work) already underway.
  • The potential of the topic to build on or contribute to the tools offered by the “Suite Numérique“.
  • Aspects related to the communication and promotion of the thesis topic, e.g. the potential to develop a demonstrator, draw up a standard, etc.
  • The relevance of the topic to the scientific priorities of the targeted projects (see below).

Specific requirements

PC1 CATS – Collaboration Spaces

Details of scientific priorities

This year, within PC1, we will open up to 6 PhD positions aligned with the four scientific axes. The proposed topics are expected to build upon, extend or deliberately contrast with existing PhD work within the project. The objective is not to duplicate ongoing research, but to deepen, broaden, or reframe current investigations in order to consolidate and expand the scientific foundations of PC1.


In the case of candidates and topics of equivalent scientific quality, priority will be given to the following:

– Topics led by supervisors who have not previously received PC1 PhD funding.

– Topics related to axis 4 of the research project: Transitions between collaboration spaces (dynamic collaboration space)

– Topics that currently are underrepresented in the other PC1 axes:

Axis 1: Symmetrical collaboration in heterogeneous environments.

Axis 2: Embodiment and user representation mechanisms supporting collaboration. Conceptual or software frameworks for collaboration in heterogeneous environments. Measures and metrics of collaboration in heterogeneous environments for more than 2 collaborators.

Axis 3: Collaboration in complex scenarios. Collaboration involving 2 or more groups of people.

PC2 PILOT – Long-term collaboration / Practices and infrastructure for long-term collaboration

Details of scientific priorities

3 priority themes:

1. Distributed and secure infrastructure for long-term collaboration
2. Interoperability for long-term collaboration
3. Conceptual frameworks for long-term collaboration

Theme 1: Distributed and secure infrastructure for long-term collaboration

Description:  To handle long-term collaborative practices, new algorithms and infrastructure are needed to manage shared and replicated data. Indeed, several modes of collaboration have to be supported: connected (user modifications are immediately shared and visible to the other users), disconnected (users are not connected to the network; their modifications will be transmitted to the other users at the reconnection), ad-hoc (subgroups of users can work together and synchronize at a later time with other members of the group) and inter-organisational (groups of users from different organizations work and share data during a collaborative activity). A challenging issue is how to balance collaboration with security of shared objects. Interaction is aimed at making shared objects available to all who need them, whereas security seeks to ensure this availability only to users with proper authorisation. We need also to ensure that the infrastructure that supports data sharing and collaboration is resilient and trustworthy. We need an easy to use security mechanism adapted for distributed collaborative systems.

Keywords: distributed infrastructure, distributed algorithms, replication, collaboration modes, synchronous collaboration, asynchronous collaboration, inter-organisational collaboration, security

Theme 2: Interoperability for long-term collaboration

Description:  The current approach to digital services, based on information silos and walled gardens, creates unneeded barriers to fluid forms of collaboration. Users need to be able to create their own collaborative environment. They need also to be able to change these environments to adapt them to new requirements, partners, or tools. This requires embracing interoperability at every level of the socio-technical stack. It is also key to enabling accessibility by diverse collectives of users. We launch a call for PhD proposals that aim to develop an interoperability framework that can be used as the basis for collaborative services integration. This includes open and extensible formats and ontological approaches such that different applications could function on the same shared objects as well as software models and infrastructures capable of fostering collaboration among heterogeneous actors and artifacts.

Keywords: interoperability, heterogeneous collaboration, collaborative service integration, ontologies

Theme 3: Conceptual frameworks for long-term collaboration

Description: As collaborative activities spread across multiple software and devices, breakdowns in the way  information is shared, and group coordinated become increasingly frequent and problematic. New conceptual frameworks are needed to account for the organizational evolutions (e.g. people  increasingly collaborating across teams and organizations), the constant evolution of software (e.g.  constant updates, or switch from one platform to another), and emerging collaborative practices. We aim at offering new conceptual and analysis tools for articulating social needs and technology  capabilities in a sociotechnical perspective, therefore developing new practices for software engineering and design. These frameworks will account for the asymmetries of roles, goals and preferences when collaborating on a shared artifact, and for the recording and browsing of  collaborative interaction histories. Such conceptual frameworks for long-term collaboration will allow an appropriate modelling of coordination mechanisms to ensure the appropriation of technology, which is challenged by the complexity of the ecologies of artifacts at stake. The goal is to produce theoretical constructs for analysis, modelling and design that match new forms of long-term collaboration (as identified in particular by current PhD work conducted in PILOT) with technology capabilities (in particular those offered by PILOT through the PhDs). 

Keywords: conceptual frameworks, coordination

PC3 MATCHING – Collaboration with intelligent systems

Details of scientific priorities

MATCHING projects are devoted to the collaboration between humans when mediated by one or several intelligent (and potentially autonomous) agents. Ideally, a MATCHING project should aim to involve visible and explicit intelligent agents (no seamless nor invisible action of AI within the system), use cases and scenarios with at least two collaborating subjects, an ecological field evaluation and a multidisciplinary approach.

Priorities of MATCHING project for 2026 will focus on the following topics and domains:

– computational models of collaboration mediated by intelligent agents and application of these models to field studies ;

– theoretical and applied research on AI-mediated collaboration in creative activities and collective design ;

– theoretical and applied research on AI-mediated collaboration of teams in health, quality of life and coaching activities ;

– skills management (especially up or down skilling) following the introduction of intelligent agents within a working or educational eco-systems.

PC4 CONGRATS – Collectives for knowledge production management that scales / Large-scale collaboration

Details of scientific priorities

We welcome proposals in Human-Computer Interaction, Design or Ergonomics. We will give priority to applications that study the effect of technical or design interventions on user behaviour within the scope of CONGRATS’ research topics (see scientific document).

That said, we remain open to topics exploring areas or projects not yet covered by PC4 (areas already well covered include Wikipedia, free software and debate platforms). Areas to explore include cooperation in the field of video games and OpenStreetMap.

PC5 TRANSVERSE – Transversal aspects of collaboration

Details of scientific priorities

For this call, PC5 will give priority to projects under Theme 3, on the environmental challenges of digital collaboration, provided that applications are of equal academic merit.

Theme 1: Methods and tools for measuring impact of collaboration

We must establish a framework for measuring the impact of collaborative technology on human users, including individuals and groups as well as human-algorithm (“intelligent agent”) relationships. Methods must be deployable for diverse user populations, over multiple time scales, and assess different types of impact, including the risk and likelihood of harm to human users. Key measurement dimensions include determining positive, neutral or negative impact with respect to:

– Time scale: immediate, intermediate and long term;

– Population: individual, group or corporate;

– Risk: balance likelihood of harm and size of negative impacts; and

– Measures: qualitative or quantitative, in context or in general.

Keywords: impact, measurement, psychological and sociological factors

Theme 2: Legal, ethical and philosophical aspects of collaboration

Collaboration technologies raise important ethical issues, particularly with respect to technological control, citizen’s liberty and decisional autonomy, digital democracy, governance of and by digital technologies, and the control of work or ordinary activities. This echoes the question of the legal framework organizing privacy, data protection, interoperability, security, and AI responsibilities, but also more classical questions such as the property of the collective intellectual productions especially in light of the EU member States of Directive 2019/790 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market. Finally, philosophical debates and reflections posed by the Humanities explore how far humans can be helped, assisted, facilitated in their tasks and activities, while remaining “human”. In particular, it is important to identify how human’s reflexivity, critical thinking and its own ethical deliberation can be promoted to increase their agency during their interaction with numerical tools.

Key challenges include identifying the ethical responsibilities in human-machine collaboration, and clarifying legal issues related to the impact of both collaborative and intelligent systems on individuals and society. Finally, it is crucial to address regulatory concerns related to privacy, copyrights, agency and interoperability.

Keywords: ethics, digital law, philosophy, epistemology, digital anthropology, anthropology of new technologies

Theme 3: Environmental aspects of collaborative technology development

Echoing in every social and ideological space, environmental issues have become central in the agenda of information and communication technology sciences, as well as in computer science and robotics. The proliferation of technological devices aiming at facilitating collaboration does not only raise questions about the behavior and representation systems of users and usage models: the ecological impact (carbon footprint, exploitation of rare minerals, energy and material pollution, etc.) is also increasingly considered. Research on these dimensions of the current digitalisation of modern societies is urgent and crucial, and must explore the complexity of the configurations and issues that the environmental crisis entails in the field of digital technologies, which moreover maintain an ambivalent relationship with ecology: as sources of pollution on the one hand, digital and collaborative technologies carry and provide IT solutions on the other. The aim of this Ph.D. thesis research is therefore to carry out a reflection, based on solid empirical work and a reliable and robust methodology, on the environmental impacts of digital technologies, considered in a general way (on the background of the movement of digitalisation of human societies) but in a specific approach (with a particular disciplinary or methodological angle) which crosses the problems of the SHS, the STS and the environmental sciences.

Keywords: ecological crisis, collaborative agents, societal impact, socio-cultural approaches

Submission form

Use the following form to submit your application. The application can be made in French or in English. This form has to be filled by PhD advisors / supervisors only. You will be guided through the whole application procedure.

Apply

Subjects without candidates identified and validated by the Targeted Projects coordinators are displayed on a specific page (coming soon).

If you have any questions, please send an email to pm@pepr-ensemble.fr (PEPR eNSEMBLE programme managers).

Documents to provide

You’ll be asked to upload several documents in the application form. In particular, we ask you to follow two specific templates for the description of the subject and the candidate profile.

The purpose of those templates is to clarify as much as possible – and before the audition – the scope and expectations of the subject in terms of collaborative themes and candidate profile. It’s not absolutely mandatory to build your documents around these templates, but – in any case – they should contain all the necessary information.

For subject / project proposal (one single file)

Title of the PhD Proposal

  • Name(s) of PhD Advisor(s)
  • Host Laboratory
  • Short abstract
  • Short description of hosting research group / lab

Description of the PhD proposal (3 pages max)

  • Context (and scenarios if any)
  • Problem and Objective
  • Brief overview of the state of the art
  • Research questions
  • Theoretical foundations
  • Approach and methods
  • Evaluation of the contributions

Nature of digital collaboration (1 page max)

The term “collaboration” should be understood in a wide sense, covering (technology-mediated) human activities that involve a group of at least two humans.
What type of group activities is the PhD targeting/studying in terms of, e.g.:

  • Function (communication, sharing, coordination, other),
  • Type (synchronous, asynchronous),
  • Time scale (second, hours, months, years,..),
  • Group size (two, dozen, hundreds, thousands, ..),
  • Space (co-located, remote, hybrid),
  • Other…

Contribution to digital collaboration: Expected results and Impact (1 page max)

What type of contribution(s) is the PhD expected to make?

  • Empirical
  • Theoretical
  • Methodological (new method, guidelines)
  • Technical (system, tool, …)
  • Other

Positioning in the eNSEMBLE program (½ page max)

How does the project relate to the themes of the Targeted Project(s) (Projet(s) Ciblé(s)?

For candidate submission (one single file)

1/ Letter of motivation from the candidate explaining the interest for the thesis topic (1 page max)

2/ Support letter of the candidate, by future advisor (1 page max)

How much do you know about the candidate (e.g., ongoing internship, former student, …)?
What is your assessment of his/her strong / weak points with respect to the PhD topic?
How do you plan to provide training for and other support to address the weak points?

3/ Interdisciplinarity (if relevant – ½ page max)

How to overcome the possible difficulties of the interdisciplinary project? Eg. complementarity of the PhD candidate and PhD advisor(s), specific training, specific collaboration, etc.

Submission deadlines summary

  • Ph.D. Project proposal (subjects without candidates): 20th February – 23th April 2026 (feedback sent as soon as possible ; there is no guaranteed date for our review for late submissions)
  • Final deadline for subjects + doctoral candidates (or candidates for already-submitted subjects): 4 May 2026 (midnight, everywhere on Earth)

Selection criteria

  • For pre-selection step and interview, the main selection criteria include:
    • Quality of the research program (objective, approach, originality, methods, feasability)
    • Quality and complementarity of the Ph.D. advisors
    • Quality of the CV of the future doctoral candidate
    • Adequacy of the research program with (1) the PEPR eNSEMBLE objectives and (2) the specific topics of the selected PC (see details & additional requirements for some PCs in the application form)
    • Commitment to participate in PEPR eNSEMBLE community
  • The secondary criteria also include an equitable sharing of financial resources in space (geographical distribution), in time (from one year to the next), gender, and between partner institutions.

The weight of the different criteria might depend on the selected PCs. We invite you to carefully read the description of the selected PC and – in case of doubts – contact the PC chairs ahead of your application (mail “pcX@pepr-ensemble.fr”, with X is the number of your PC).

Attention: it is important to remind laboratories that no recruitment on a PEPR can be done without a referral to the FSD (Fonctionnaire Sécurité Defense).