La soutenance — The Defense

The Master's Thesis Defense

In French universities, a master's thesis in a research track usually ends with a soutenance, an oral defense before a small committee, often two or three members including the supervisor. One member may act as rapporteur, having read the thesis closely and prepared the main questions. The student typically presents the work for fifteen to twenty minutes; the committee then asks questions for a similar length of time or longer; and the committee withdraws to deliberate before announcing a grade. Grades are out of twenty, as everywhere in the French system, and a thesis grade of sixteen is very good. Defenses are often open to the public, and friends or family sometimes attend, though master's defenses are generally more modest affairs than doctoral ones. The skills a defense tests are much the same as those of the DALF C1 oral: presenting a long, structured argument, answering objections without losing composure, conceding fair points and holding a position with evidence. Phrases such as je vous accorde que, il n'en reste pas moins que and je répondrai en deux temps are the everyday tools of that kind of exchange.