The "Physics and Matter Sciences" Doctoral School (ED 352) is affiliated with the Université d'Aix-Marseille (AMU) and the École Centrale de Marseille (ECM), institutions accredited by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research (MENESR) to award the national doctoral diploma.
It manages doctoral students enrolled in ED 352 at these two establishments. The CEA's Institut des Sciences et Techniques Nucléaires (INSTN) is associated with the ED.
Doctoral students enrolled in ED 352 prepare their theses on fundamental and applied physics research topics within the Unités Mixte de Recherche (UMR) or teams attached to ED 352. 10 UMRs from AMU-CNRS and 4 teams from CEA Cadarache are attached to ED 352, representing a total of 65 research teams and nearly 400 researchers and teacher-researchers, including nearly 250 HDRs.
The main research fields covered by these UMTR/teams are astrophysics, cosmology, particle physics, theoretical physics, mathematical physics, optics, photonics and image processing, hot plasmas, lasers and radiation-matter interaction, materials science, nanosciences, nuclear fission and fusion energy, instrumentation and biophysics. These UMRs/teams, which have a strong regional presence and are involved in a number of competitive clusters, have nationally and internationally recognized expertise in their respective fields, and offer doctoral students top-level training through research. They are spread over several sites, the main ones being the Luminy university site (southern Marseille), the St Jérôme university site and the Château Gombert Technopôle (northern Marseille), and the Cadarache CEA in St Paul-lez-Durance. ED 352 is part of a doctoral college grouping together 11 other EDs within AMU.