At DIANA, INRIA Sophia Antipolis, France, we always welcome applications from highly talented and motivated students. We ask from our Ph.D. students an international visibility with publications is the best international journals and conferences.
Making a Ph.D. thesis is not a minor decision that one can take when one does not know what to do else. Making an average Ph.D. thesis will be a waste of time for you and your advisor, but making a good Ph.D. thesis will be one of the most intellectually rewarding experience. For this reason, before applying for a Ph.D. student position, you need to ask yourself the right questions. To help you during this process, we urge you to read the two following excellent articles.
The most basic question every
Ph.D. student must know the answer to is: "Why the
hell am I doing this?"
[...]
If you do not
have an acceptable answer to this question, then don't
get a Ph.D. I repeat: if you do not have a rock-solid
reason for getting the Ph.D., then it is better that
you leave with a Master's.