On 12th December 2017 at the École pratique des hautes études (Religious History) in Paris, Nicolas Cane defended a monumental and most erudite thesis on Tamil epigraphy from the Chola period, which was prepared under the direction of Charlotte Schmid and entitled Cempiyaṉ-Mahādevī, reine et dévote. Un « personnage épigraphique » du Xe siècle (“Cempiyaṉ-Mahādevī, Queen and Devotee. An ‘epigraphic personality’ of the tenth century”). Nicolas Cane was able to profit from the advantages of the EFEO Centre in Pondicherry on several occasions during the preparation of this fine piece of work. Among the researchers of the EFEO, Charlotte Schmid and Dominic Goodall were members of the jury.

 doctoral defences