Research at the University of Toulouse – Jean Jaurès

The University of Toulouse – Jean Jaurès (UT2J) promotes international exchange and cooperation in the field of research by hosting researchers at the University and/or participating in joint research projects. All disciplines within the Humanities and Social Sciences, Literature, Languages and the Arts are represented in the research carried out within research units, laboratories and platforms, most of which are based at the Maison de la Recherche on the Mirail campus.

Having expanded over recent years to include Mathematics, Computer Science and numerous disciplines within the life sciences, our multidisciplinary approach and understanding of complexity constitute a source of richness and originality which are recognised, amongst other things, through a national programme such as TIRIS.

This concentration in a single location fosters:

  • The conduct of high-level transdisciplinary research
  • Greater visibility for the institution’s scientific activities, which now extend locally, nationally and internationally within various networks.

Some key figures

  • 1 Laboratory of Excellence (Labex), 9 joint units (with the CNRS and other ministries) and 14 research units,
  • 5 multi-year research projects funded by the EU, over 30 projects supported by the ANR, 19 projects supported by the Occitanie Region,
  • nearly 800 academic staff, 1,000 PhD students and 200 support staff,
  • each year, the organisation of more than 20 conferences, 80 study days and nearly 500 seminars,
  • over 6,000 scientific publications per year and one publishing house managing nearly a hundred publications per year.

Our honorary degree recipients

Writers, sociologists, musicians, linguists, politicians, artists and academics: these are the distinguished figures from around the world whom we are proud to have awarded degrees to over the past 50 years. In chronological order, here are the recipients of honorary degrees:

José Antonio MARAVALL CASESNOVES, Antoni BADIA I MARGARIT, Salvador ESPRIU, Josef TARADELLAS, Milton SANTOS, Vassos KARAGEORGHIS, Vaclav HAVEL, Rafael ALBERTI, Mauno Henrik KOIVISTO, Robert FORSTER, Augusto ROA BASTOS, Miguel LEÓN-PORTILLA, Jorge SEMPRUN, André ROCH-LECOURS, Robbins LANDON, Veikko VAANANEN, Paolo CARILE, Evanghelos MOUTSOPOULOS, Francisco AYALA, Felipe GONZÁLEZ MÁRQUEZ, Niyi OSUNDARE, Álvaro MUTIS, John ANDERSON, Carlos SAURA, Jérôme BRUNER, Xavier SERON, Harrison C. WHITE, Abbas KIAROSTAMI, Bronislaw GEREMEK, Teruhisa HORIO, Gregorio PECES-BARBA MARTÍNEZ, John LYONS, Peter Thomas RICKETTS, Natalie ZEMON DAVIS, Carla BLEY, Hassan SAID, José Sanchis SINISTERA, Maurizio BETTINI, Clara JANES.

Enrolment in doctoral schools

To enrol in one of our doctoral schools, please follow these steps:

Step 1: Contact the research team

  1. Go to the PhD programmes page and select the school you are interested in.
  2. Select a research team.
  3. Contact the team leader and enquire about the possibility of undertaking a PhD within their team.


UT2J is the lead institution for three doctoral schools:

  • ALLPH@: Arts, Literature, Languages, Philosophy, Communication
  • CLESCO: Behaviour, Language, Education, Socialisation, Cognition
  • TESC: Time, Spaces, Societies, Cultures


UT2J also acts as the supervising institution for two doctoral schools on a secondary basis:

  • EDSYS: Systems Doctoral School
  • MITT: Mathematics, Computer Science and Telecommunications in Toulouse

Step 2: Administrative procedures to complete before coming to France

  1. Once you have completed the application process and your application has been successful, request a pre-enrolment certificate stating that you have been accepted by the University to undertake your PhD.
  2. Find out from the French Consulate in your country about the procedures you need to follow to come and study in France. We advise you to do this whilst you are applying to the University.

Hosting visiting academics

Every year, the University of Toulouse – Jean Jaurès welcomes more than 70 visiting lecturers from every continent to build or strengthen international exchanges and cooperation in research and education. Working closely with the academic community, these lecturers contribute to students’ education through lectures and seminars and collaborate with research laboratories to develop or launch research projects.