Research Policy & Strategy
EESI gives priority to creative research and is concerned with redefining it through processes and products. Research is considered to be the ‘ferment of the production of a specific and transversal knowledge’. At EESI, research is conducted within a unique, specialist field dedicated to investigating the comic strip as a medium of and for thought. In research, EESI emphasizes visual and graphic elements of comic strip art rather than analysis of the text and literary narrative. 3rdCycle students are located in the ‘Litérature, Pensée, Arts & Histories’ Doctoral School 525, part of the FORELL laboratory of the University of Angouleme-Poitiers. Colloquia with cross-institutional partners are organised.
Key research themes
Digital Production and Experimentation, Literature, Processes, Visual Arts
Awards Offered
Diplôme Supérieur de Recherche en Art (DSRA)
Doctorat de Création en Bande Desinée (PhD)
Degrees are validated by EESI and the University of Poitiers.
Assessment
Thesis
Viva
2 rapporteurs (unconnected with supervision), who may be external, and a jury of 4-8 members, at least half of whom are external examiners.
Forms of Output
Varied and determined by the individual project e.g. performance, exhibition.
Programme Structure
Full-time 3 years
Before the end of Year 2, students must pass a review by committee. Research methodologies are expected to have been introduced during 2nd cycle provision.
Undergraduate & Masters Research
Masters programmes include introductory courses, seminars, workshops concerned with research, methodologies and dissertations. ILES hold open seminars.
Qualification Framework
None.
Supervision
Students work with 2 supervisors.
Supervision is split between EESI and the University of Poitiers. 90 hours/student contact is allocated to the entire doctoral cycle. At EESI, 15 hours are devoted to participation in the annual seminar, 30 hours to direct and indirect contact. At the University of Poitiers, students are expected to take part in two annual theme days and have elective options.
Staffing
Training for staff engaged in PhD supervision is informal, but includes monthly research seminars, individual mentoring and symposia. Staff involved in supervisions are expected to be professionals actively engaged in research. Currently there are 6 research professors. Sabbaticals are offered and there is a contractual allowance for supervision.
Student Admissions
Prospective students apply with a research proposal and portfolio.
There are currently 14 3rdcycle students (8 DPhD, 6 DSRA).
Student Funding
Self-funding.
Institutional scholarship.
Student Support
Students benefit from the research laboratories attached to Doctoral School 525 (documentary and archival resources related to collections), University resources and the specialised resources available through the Angoulême Image Centre,including the Comic Strip Museum.
Student Experience
In response to the policies of French Ministry of Culture & Communication, EESI and the University of Poitiers signed a framework agreement in 2016 which details ambitions to engage in third party collaborations.