Grenoble Law SchoolLaw at the top

Read our interview with Théo Abadie, President of the Association of Doctoral Students in Law at the University of Grenoble (ADDUGA), who explained how the association works and what its objectives are.

In what year was ADDUGA founded?

The association was created on May 21, 2019.

Who makes up his office?

This year, there are many of us, as the association's board has seven members. We are all doctoral students and are divided between two of the three research centers at the Faculty of Law: the CRJ and the CESICE.

Who are the members?

The membership system was quickly abolished after the association was created. By definition, we consider all doctoral students in the Faculty of Law to be members of the association. However, many events organized by ADDUGA are also open to a wider audience, including teachers and researchers, students, and administrative staff of the Faculty.

What are the association's objectives?

The main objectives that have been defined are:

• Contributing to scientific activity in law
• Promoting the work of doctoral students
• Provide support for the Faculty's scientific projects
• Build cohesion among doctoral students

What scientific events are organized or co-organized by the association?

Since last year, the association has been participating in doctoral meetings organized by doctoral student associations in Grenoble, Clermont-Ferrand–Lyon, and Saint-Etienne. In June 2024, ADDUGA will host the next edition in Grenoble.
We are also organizing the first edition of "Blabla de thèse," a series of five events that will take place between January and May 2024. This event offers students, doctoral candidates, and faculty members a series of lectures by doctoral students who present their doctoral research in depth.
These are two examples of events that we organize, knowing that we are also called upon by students and faculty members to assist with scientific events that take place throughout the year.

Do you also work with undergraduate and master's students?

Yes, of course. For example, we help the AMEDIE association with the organization of GMUN.

And what are you doing to help doctoral students connect with each other?

This is one of our main projects: creating cohesion among doctoral students who do not necessarily work on site and who sometimes have little free time, especially if they are teaching classes at the same time.  
It is also important to be able to talk about things other than your thesis from time to time, which is why we organize social and sporting events every month, such as a Christmas party, a galette des rois celebration, a barbecue in the summer, participation in a charity run, a beach volleyball session on campus, a hike, and more.
These events provide an opportunity to meet or reconnect with doctoral students we haven't seen in a long time.
We also have other projects in mind, such as organizing a research retreat to be held at the end of August in the mountains, or setting up enhanced support for doctoral students who are not from Grenoble or who come from abroad, in addition to the initiatives already undertaken by the doctoral school.

On this subject, are you in contact with other bodies that supervise doctoral students?

In general, we are fortunate to have the support and guidance of research centers, as well as the doctoral school of legal sciences and the Faculty of Law. We are well recognized and have no trouble obtaining assistance for our projects, whether in terms of logistics, communication, finding speakers, or even funding.

What are your sources of funding?

Every year, we receive a grant from the Faculty of Law. We also receive occasional financial assistance from research centers. We also have a private sponsor, the Intermarché Foch store, which provides us with food for our events. For social activities, we sometimes ask doctoral students to contribute financially.  

Is there an alumni network for doctoral students in law?

We are committed to improving links between former and current doctoral students, in particular by setting up a new ADDUGA LinkedIn page. Our initial task will be to add all former doctoral students to this page in order to create a network. This page will be useful for connecting people during future calls for projects, conferences, etc.
At the same time, we would like to become more involved in developing the alumni network set up by the Doctoral College, particularly the ADDUGA association subgroup.

How do you promote your actions?

Another project currently underway at ADDUGA is to update the association's communications strategy. We need to close all web pages that are no longer up to date and recreate new pages on social media in order to communicate more effectively about our activities.