How to survive your PhD?

In order to provide information on the various (mostly french) organisations, associations and others, you can find here resources relating to the general question of “How to survive your PhD?” The documents are public and can be reused freely. The list is not exhaustive, so feel free to contact me if you have any questions, or if you think there are additionnal documents that should be shared with the community.

This page follows the discussion at the Journées C2 Coffee Break about the question on “How to survive your PhD?” organised by Camille Garnier, Laz Panard and Lucas Ottow.

Cryptography community

FR GT Codage et Cryptographie

• Webpage where you can find any information about the French GT about Codes and cryptography and their members and events,
• The GT depends on two CNRS entities, the GDR Sécurité Informatique and GDR Informatique-Mathématiques where you can find other members and events such as summer schools, and more,
• MyGDR Don’t forget to register on MyGDR to access the mailing lists and more information about these GDRs.

EN Women in Cryptography

• Women in Cryptography is dedicated to provide a safe and inclusive space for women (and allies) in the community at the international scale, organizing workshops, coffee breaks and seminars, in inclusive and exclusive events.

Health

General poster If you want to have access to the Poster

Imposter Syndrome: A deeper explanation from P. Clance and A. O’Toole.

• Quantify your impostor syndrome to control it better with the test made by P. Clance,
• A huge amount of resources can be found on her website.

Student healthcare accessible for any students (with your INE number)

• There are accessible for both CIFRE and university students.
• Services de santé étudiante (SSE) FR and EN on each french university.
• Santé Psy Since the start of the 2024-2025 academic year, 12 sessions are free of charge and no advance payment is required when consulting partner psychologists.
• [Handicap] As we don’t consider ourselves to be in a position to give resources and advice, we lack relevant links, but we welcome your suggestions and redirections.

Discrimination and harassment

Being victim or witness If you are victim or witness within your laboratory and/or company of sexist behaviour, moral or sexual harassment, discrimination, homophobia, racism, … We recommend that you do not underestimate these situations and contact a helpline set up by your employer and your doctoral school:

• Doctoral school and,
• CNRS or,
• University, each university provide a helpline called Cellule d’écoute.

Support

• FR Service Discriminations proposé par le Défenseur des Droits également accessible également par téléphone (3928): flyer.

LGBTQIA+

Laws and rights As LGBTQIA+ Rights Are Human Rights, harassment and discrimination are not acceptable in both the professional and private spheres. If you are victim or witness, think about acting:

• FR Brochure du Défenseur des Droits sur les discriminations liées à l’orientation sexuelle ou à l’identité de genre,
• FR Guide pratique de SOS Homophobie sur les LGBTI phobies (incluant le harcèlement au travail).

Support If you are victim or witness, there are help centres where you can give your testimony (anonymously) and ask questions. Don’t hesitate to talk about recent and past events, especially if you consider them to be significant.

• FR SOS Homophobie qui propose un service de témoignage/signalement ainsi que d’aide/d’accompagnement à travers un chat internet et un numéro de téléphone anonyme dédié (01 48 06 42 41),
• FR Service similaire proposé par le Défenseur des Droits également accessible par téléphone (3928).

Other links

• COPAINE Here is a link on actions, links and other resources by the Parity (and +) group in my laboratory.