See also: HDR

In France, the accreditation to supervise research (in summary HDR), is a national diploma of the higher education which it is possible to obtain after a doctorate. It is of this fact highest of the French diplomas. It was created in 1984. This diploma makes it possible to postulate at a station of Professor of the universities (after inscription on the list of qualification by the National council of the universities), to become Reader and to be selected as rapporteur of thesis.

The essential condition for there candidater is to be already titular doctorate.

The accreditation to supervise research does not have as an aim to sanction the completion of an university course.

It is defined in the regular manner by the decree of November 23rd, 1988 (modified in 1992,1995 and 2002).

The accreditation to supervise research sanctions the recognition of the scientific high level of the candidate, of the character original of its step in a field of science, of its aptitude to control a strategy of research in a sufficiently broad scientific discipline or technological and of its capacity to frame young researchers. It in particular makes it possible to be candidate with the access to the body of the professors of the universités.

The accreditation to supervise research is not however obligatory to become Professor of the universities by the aggregative way.

The accreditation to supervise research “from its design, is not and does not have to in no case to be regarded as a second doctorate, of higher level, like was before the doctorate of State compared to the doctorate of third cycle. ” (circular 89-004 of January 5th, 1989). According to the regulations in force, the candidates' file for the accreditation to supervise research includes/understands either one or more works published or typed, or a file of work, accompanied by a synthesis of the scientific activity of the candidate making it possible to reveal his experiment in the animation of a research.

The report/ratio Cohen it Déaut indicates about the accreditation to supervise research that: according to the disciplines, two contrary phenomena are done day. In certain disciplines, enabling is a simple formality consisting in joining together the articles written since the thesis and presenting them in front of a jury. A researcher was posed thus with irony as a defender of the HDR because it constitutes one moment of user-friendliness within the research teams… In other sectors, and more particularly in social sciences and company, the HDR is not different from what was the doctorate of State. In particular, it occurs tardily, and limited an enough number of researchers prepare it. That led to a completely hypocritical system where some professors theoretically frame sub-contract a big number of doctorands and them with colleagues who do not have the HDR. Mandarinat preserves some of its noble letters thus. One can wonder about the reasons to maintain such a system. This diploma, indeed, has two potential functions: to recognize a scientific qualification level, and to allow to contribute on the posts of professor of university. The first function is badly filled by the HDR, because it is a jury of some people who decree it, leaving the place to various drifts. In addition, it is taken little into account apart from academic research, which limits its role to the second function. This one is not filled in a more satisfactory way: the commissions of specialists, when they must carry out the recruitment of a professor, examine the list of its work, and find there criteria of evaluation which make superfluous the passage of HDR.

The possession of an accreditation to supervise research is a condition generally necessary to be a reader, whereas the simple daily framing of a doctorand can be made by any doctor.