PHD Program in Information Technologies and their Application in Management, Architecture and Geophysics

Requirements

In accordance with Royal Decree 99/2011, 28 January, the general requirements for admission to the doctoral program are:

1. To hold an official Spanish undergraduate degree or equivalent, and a university master’s degree.
2. To hold an official Spanish university degree or from another European Higher Education Area country which qualifies the student for admission to a master’s degree, in accordance with article 16 of Royal Decree 1393/2007, 29 October, and to have obtained a minimum of 300 ECTS credits in the total official university studies, of which at least 60 should be at master’s degree level.
3. To hold an official Spanish undergraduate degree with a minimum of 300 ECTS credits, in accordance with the regulations of community law. Candidates will have to study the complementary study courses as mentioned in article 7.2 of the RD 99/2011, except when the study program of the corresponding degree qualification includes research training credits, equivalent in level to the research credits from master’s degree studies.
4. To hold a qualification obtained in accordance with foreign education systems, which does not need to be accredited, agreed by the institution issuing the degree to be the equivalent level of an official Spanish master’s degree, and which would qualify the holder for admission to a PhD program in the country where it was obtained. This does not mean, however, that any academic qualifications held by the candidate will be accredited or officially recognized in this country other than for admission to the doctoral program.
5. To hold another Spanish Doctoral Degree.

Applicant profile

The very interdisciplinary nature of the program, spanning over many different subjects, invites a very wide range of applicant degrees. For this reason, the program does not attempt to define the applicant profile through a list of degrees, but rather through the skills, competences, motivation and commitment of candidates, which should match those of the research lines of the program. As a guideline, candidates tend to be graduates from scientific or technical disciplines, such as engineers, computer scientists, geophysicists, architects, managers or project managers. The program is, however, willing to study other profiles, should they suit the profiles required in the research lines, provided little additional training is required. In all cases, the interview with the program and the leader of the research group shall be key to determine the candidate suitability.  

Admission

In order to enroll on the doctoral program, the candidate has to be interviewed by the coordinator of the program and must have the agreement of the leader of the research group hosting the student. Admission criteria are based on this interview and on

1. The candidate’s CV
2. A motivation letter requesting the admission (free format)
3. A letter of recommendation (if applicable)
4. Other reasonable evidences of the candidate’s potential as a researcher will be also considered, among them:
   1. Academic record and qualifications
   2. Experience in research methodology
   3. Skills in some of the areas of knowledge  within the areas of research of the research groups
   4. Motivation for the thesis development and working plan
   5. Other merits

Should the admission not be unanimous, the CAPD will score each section with an integer value in the range of -1 to 1, with -1 being the minimum evaluation and 1 being the maximum. The first point is valued with 10%, the second with 40% and the third with 50%. To be admitted, a candidate must pass a positive weighted grade. In case of a tie, the candidates will be evaluated preferably following positive discrimination criteria.

The Doctoral Program Academic Committee (CAPD) is ultimately responsible for deciding whether a candidate is eligible for admission, in accordance with the described selection criteria.

Admission is open at any time of the academic year.

The CAPD will designate the thesis admisor and the tutor following the proposal of the research group leader.

Successful candidates will receive a letter from the Coordinator of the Doctoral Program stating their admittance.

The CAPD may require additional training to complete the candidate abilities. Additional training courses may be classified into three different types:

1. Research methodology courses equivalent to 5 ECTS credits.
2. Master courses included in the PhD program related to the research areas needed to develop the doctoral thesis. These courses correspond to 5 ECTS credits each one.
3. Seminars to introduce the PhD student to the research work corresponding to 10 ECTS credits.

The aim of these additional training courses is to meet the specific training needs a doctoral student may have. Master courses currently held at La Salle URL can be found at: Masters La Salle.

Students wishing to enroll in the Doctoral Program on a part-time basis must meet the same admission requirements as other students.

Registration

Once the candidate has been accepted, s/he will formalize the enrollment to the doctoral studies by contacting the registration office. Once the application has been verified it will be processed. Finally, the candidate will then need to pay the corresponding fees to formalize the enrolment.

It is the responsibility of the overseas student to ensure that s/he holds all the documentation required to have legal residence in Spain during the PhD studies at La Salle-URL or the Observatori de l’Ebre. 

Registration window is open along the academic year with closure windows at the 31^st of January and the 31^st of July.

Fees and grantsfunding

Candidates to the doctoral program can apply to the public fellowship system as well as to funding programs of private institutions. Other funding options can be discussed in the framework of the research group.

For information about enrollment fees, grants and discounts, please contact the coordinator of the doctoral program (doctorat@salle.url.edu).