Très honorable avec félicitations, meaning "Highly Honorable with Praise", is the highest academic distinction awarded for doctorate

Doctorate

A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...

s in the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 academic university system, equivalent to the US Summa Cum Laude

Latin honors

Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. This system is primarily used in the United States, Canada, and in many countries of continental Europe, though some institutions also use the English translation of these...

. Honors for the doctorate in the French system are based on several factors, including the topic of the research, the research itself, the writing and organization of the thesis (doctoral dissertation) and also the debate with the jury during the defense of the thesis. Those awarded make up less than 2% of the candidates for doctorate.