We intend to build an ITN proposal in order to train a generation of scientists with an unprecedented expertise in deep geothermal resources. As part of their training, PhD students will elaborate an original 3D model of the European Variscan-Alpine lithosphere based on the acquisition of new data complementing published work. This model will allow the quantification of mass and heat transfers at the scale of the lithosphere and the assessment of its stress state. These are prerequisites for future exploration for deep geothermal resources and will open the road to the transition to a CO2-free energy, as preconized by one of the focus of the H2020 program (Building a low-carbon, climate resilient future). The emerging view of energetic and mineral systems is to integrate multiscale and multidisciplinary approaches leading to a reasoned prediction of underground resources. Here we will apply this strategy at the European scale by developing a network of academic and private actors that bring together communities from complementary disciplines (geology, geochemistry, geophysics). We have identified a consortium grouping the main countries involved in deep geothermal exploration or in the elaboration of a geothermal model of Europe, namely France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Spain and Turkey. The ITN project will be coordinated by the CNRS (Geosciences environnement Toulouse). The coordinator, Stéphanie Duchene, is a professor in metamorphic geology at the Université Paul Sabatier, experienced in team management through the co-direction of the GET laboratory from 2012 to 2016. Through the definition of up to 15 PhD projects, we wish to train the next generation of scientists in the following key-research areas essential to assess the potential for deep geothermal i) characterization of the geology, petrophysics and geophysics on key-targets that represent different geothermal settings of the European Variscan-Alpine crust, ii) characterization of the contribution of the underlying mantle combining petrological-geochemical analysis of mantle xenoliths and joint inversion of geophysical data throughout Europe, iii) characterization of the present-day stress state and rheology in order to address potential fluid flow in the upper crust, iv) modeling of the thermal state at the scale of the European crust and at the scale of sites with potential for deep geothermal using geological and geophysical information, as well as the physical properties of rocks. The training program will aim at giving to the early career scientists a common background in i) the geological and geophysical methods and knowledge required to envision geothermal exploration applied in particular to the European Variscan-Alpine lithosphere, ii) the petrophysical and thermal properties of rocks necessary to model the thermal state and evolution of the crust, iii) the socio-economic of geothermal energy (techniques, risks, environmental and economic challenges related to energy transition). The outcomes of the project should be designed for the scientific community, companies engaged in the field of deep geothermal energy supply and decision makers. They should also comprise a data base and additional resources that may help to assess the geothermal potential and the challenges related to deep geothermal energy. The expected general contributions of the project will be to elaborate a common language between academic and private members as well as between specialists of different disciplines of Earth Sciences, to contribute to the training of a generation of scientists that may be employed both in academic and private organizations and to provide a geological and geophysical framework to qualify and quantify fluid and heat transfer at the scale of the lithosphere and thus revolutionize exploration for deep geothermal in Europe.