FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) REGARDING THE DOCTORAL PROGRAMS
(updated to June 2015)
ACCESS, ADMISSION AND ENROLMENT
1. Who can gain access to a doctoral program?
2. When and how can I pre-enrol and enrol on a doctoral program?
3. Can I pre-enrol on more than one program?
4. What documentation do I have to provide for the pre-enrolment?
5. My previous qualification is from a foreign university. What requirements and documentation must I provide?
6. How much does the enrolment on a doctoral program cost?
7. I have applied for a grant. What happens to my enrolment if I do not receive it? Can I request the cancellation of the enrolment and the return of the money?
8. What is the supplementary training which appears in the admission to the program?
9. When must I undergo the supplementary training?
THE DOCTORAL TRAINING PERIOD
10. Once the enrolment has been performed, how long do I have to complete my thesis?
11. Can I request a change from part-time studies to full-time or vice-versa?
12. On enrolment, the academic committee has assigned me a tutor. What are his or her duties?
13. How and when am I assigned a thesis director?
14. Who can direct a thesis?
15. Once the enrolment has been completed, what are the next steps? What documents must I fill in and where can I find them?
16. What is the commitment document?
17. What is the activity document?
18. What is the Research Plan?
19. What does the annual evaluation consist of? What happens in the event of a negative evaluation?
20. Is there a minimum time for the defence of the thesis following enrolment on a doctoral program?
OTHER SITUATIONS
21. I am completing a thesis on a program prior to Royal Decree 99/11 and I want to be transferred to one of the new programs. What do I have to do?
22. Following the transfer to a new program can I continue with the same director from the previous program?
23. If I am on a doctoral programme from before RD99/2011 regulations came into force is there a deadline for me to submit my doctoral thesis? What is the deadline for the thesis viva? Is there a time limit on requesting transfer to a new programme?
24. I am conducting my thesis at another university and I want to enrol on one of the doctoral programs of the UPV/EHU. What steps do I have to take? Do I apply for a new enrolment or a transfer of my academic record?
ACCESS, ADMISSION AND ENROLMENT
1. Who can gain access to a doctoral program?
Generally speaking, Royal Decree 99/2011 states that for access to a doctoral program it will be necessary to hold an official Spanish bachelor's and master's degree, provided that at least 300 ECTS credits have been obtained throughout the whole of this education.
Similarly, bachelor's degrees in Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry and Architecture provide access without the need for a master's degree.
As a special case not envisaged in the above paragraphs, the UPV/EHU also gives access to Grades and qualifications in Higher Engineering and Architecture.
Other specific situations:
- If you have obtained the master's degree from a foreign university access must be approved by the Postgraduate Committee of the UPV/EHU. In this case, in the application for pre-enrolment you must enter through the “Foreign qualification with access to the doctorate” option. Read the documentation that you must submit if this is the case.
- If you are waiting to finish your master's degree at the UPV/EHU you can also pre-enrol, but remember that you have to have passed your master's degree at the time of the enrolment.
- Master’s degrees do NOT provide access to doctorates at the UPV/EHU.
- If you have a Doctor's qualification you can access the doctorate.
- If you hold a foreign qualification which is not a master's degree but which provides access to a doctorate in the country where you obtained it, you can also access the doctoral programs of the UPV/EHU. On no account will this imply the homologation of the qualification, nor its recognition for other purposes.
2. When and how can I pre-enrol and enrol on a doctoral program?
The period for pre-enrolment, admission and enrolment on the doctoral programs is in September-November (the specific dates are published on the website of the UPV/EHU)
It is also possible, in exceptional cases, to enrol outside these periods. This must be justified and approved by the academic committee of the program and the Postgraduate Committee. This extraordinary enrolment will be assigned, for the purpose of dates, to the previous period.
The pre-enrolment, admission and enrolment process is available via the following link:
http://www.ehu.eus/es/web/mde/doktorego-programan-izena-ematea
However, if you encounter problems with the pre-enrolment, you should contact the person listed as the administrative contact on the doctorate website. For questions about Management Regulations for Doctoral Studies you can contact the Master's and Doctoral School via e-mail at
3. Can I pre-enrol on more than one program?
At the moment this is not possible. You can only perform the pre-enrolment, ratification and enrolment on one doctoral program.
4. What documentation do I have to provide for the pre-enrolment?
- Your CV.
- A photocopy of your personal academic certificate for all the previously completed official qualifications, indicating the marks and dates of all the subjects (bachelor's and master's degrees, as appropriate).
- A photocopy of the access qualifications (bachelor's and master's degrees) or a receipt showing they have been applied for.
- A photocopy of your identity document or passport, for people with non-Spanish nationality.
- Other merits (letters of reference, etc.).
The documents supplied must be compared with their originals by the Mde staff.
On many programs it is advisable to include a letter from a professor on the program to support your application. You can find the information on admission to the said program on its website.
5. My previous qualification is from a foreign university. What requirements and documentation must I provide?
As well as taking into account the access requirements (question 1) and the documentation to be supplied (question 4), when the qualification is issued by a foreign university you will have to bear in mind the following:
1) If it is a university belonging to the EHEA and the qualification is not written in Spanish, Euskera, English, French, Italian or Portuguese, you must submit a sworn translation of the said qualification into Spanish or Euskera.
2) If it is a university outside the EHEA:
- the qualification must be legalized by diplomatic channels, which means:
o in countries which have signed the Hague Convention you should obtain the Apostille for the document to be submitted.
o in countries which have not signed the Hague Convention you should obtain a visa from the Ministries of Education and Foreign Affairs in the country of origin and the Spanish Embassy/Consulate in that country.
- As in the previous case, if the qualification is not written in Spanish, Euskera, English, French, Italian or Portuguese, you must submit a sworn translation of the said qualification into Spanish or Euskera.
- You must also provide a certificate from the university of origin, indicating that the qualification awarded enables you to pursue doctoral studies.
6. How much does the enrolment on a doctoral program cost?
You can view the prices, fees, etc. via the following link:
http://www.ehu.es/es/web/estudiosdeposgrado-graduondokoikasketak/doktorego-prezioak
7. I have applied for a grant. What happens to my enrolment if I do not receive it? Can I request the cancellation of the enrolment and the return of the money?
Yes, as long as you can prove that you have been refused the grant, you can send a request for the cancellation of the enrolment to the Postgraduate Commission of the UPV/EHU.
8. What is the supplementary training which appears in the admission to the program?
The academic committee of the program for which you have applied for admission can decide, in view of your previous education, whether you must obtain a number of compulsory additional credits. These credits are known as supplementary training.
This specific supplementary training, for the purposes of awarding study grants and aids, is regarded as doctoral level training, but for the purposes of public prices it is regarded as consisting of master's degree ECTS credits.
When you receive the e-mail for admission you will see the supplementary training which, if appropriate, you must complete during the first two years of the doctorate.
You can find the specific requirements on the program website. Bear in mind that the allocation of this supplementary training is individualized and corresponds to the academic committee of each program.
9. When must I undergo the supplementary training?
You must complete the supplementary training during the first two years of the doctorate.
THE DOCTORAL TRAINING PERIOD
10. Once the enrolment has been performed, how long do I have to complete my thesis?
The doctoral studies will last a maximum of three years on a full-time basis, from admission to the program to the presentation of the doctoral thesis. The academic committee of the program may authorize an extension of this period for one more year, a period which may, exceptionally, be extended by a further year.
In the case of part-time doctoral studies, the maximum duration is five years from admission to the program until the presentation of the doctoral thesis. In this case the extension may be authorized for two more years, a period which may, exceptionally, be extended by another additional year.
11. Can I request a change from part-time studies to full-time or vice-versa?
You can request a change at any time. You will have to do so by addressing the academic committee of the doctoral program, which will decide upon your request. The remaining period for submitting the thesis will be recalculated from the date of the approval of the change.
12. On enrolment, the academic committee has assigned me a tutor. What are his or her duties?
When you receive the e-mail from the academic committee confirming your admission to the program you will be informed of the person who has been assigned to you as a tutor. His or her duties are to provide you with academic support during the doctorate. In addition, the tutor (together with the director) will monitor the training activities and the research plan. This person must belong to the doctoral program and be a member of the UPV/EHU.
Although the two roles often overlap, there is no requirement for the tutor to be the same person as the director.
13. How and when am I assigned a thesis director?
You will be assigned a thesis director by the Academic Committee upon admission to the doctoral programme, which may coincide or not with the tutor.
Should you not be assigned one at that time, the Academic Committee shall appoint a thesis director within three months from enrolment.
14. Who can direct a thesis?
Any doctor of a doctoral programme can direct a thesis of that programme. Doctors who do not belong to the programme, with accredited research capacity* could co-directed a thesis provided the other director does belong to the programme.
* http://www.ehu.eus/en/web/estudiosdeposgrado-graduondokoikasketak/araudiak
15. Once the enrolment has been completed, what are the next steps? What documents must I fill in and where can I find them?
There are three basic documents:
- Commitment document
- Personalised activity document
- Research plan
You can obtain the documents via the following link:
http://www.ehu.eus/es/web/estudiosdeposgrado-graduondokoikasketak/doktorego-programa-berrien-imprimakiak
16. What is the commitment document?
The commitment document includes the academic and administrative aspects of the realisation of the doctoral education. This commitment must be signed by the person responsible for the doctoral program, the doctoral student, the tutor and the director.
This document will be signed at the time of the allocation of the thesis director. Once signed, the doctoral student must upload it onto the GAUR computer application in PDF format.
The document with the original signatures will be filed together with the doctoral student's academic record, and therefore it must be handed in at one of the secretary's offices that the Master's and Doctoral School has on each campus.
17. What is the activity document?
This is an individual document which records all the activities you have performed during the doctorate and which are relevant to your research training.
The document is created by each doctoral student by uploading the activities performed onto the GAUR computer application. It can be modified throughout the doctorate, except during the annual evaluation periods.
The tutor and director will review and approve (if appropriate) each of the activities included in the document.
The activity document is one of the elements analysed by the academic committee of the program in the annual evaluation of each doctoral student (see question 19).
In addition, at the time of the defence of the thesis, the evaluation tribunal will have a copy of both the thesis and the activity document.
18. What is the Research Plan?
Before the end of the first year, together with your director, you must prepare a Research Plan, which will include, at least, the methodology to be used and the objectives to be achieved, as well as the resources and the scheduling of the research. It should also include a schedule for the training activities to be performed during the doctoral training.
The research plan must be uploaded onto the GAUR computer application in PDF format. It can be modified throughout the realisation of the thesis.
The research plan is one element which is analysed by the academic committee during the annual evaluation of the doctoral student (see question 19). Please bear in mind that you will not be able to modify the plan during the evaluation.
19. What does the annual evaluation consist of? What happens in the event of a negative evaluation?
The academic committee will evaluate the doctoral candidate each year upon the basis of the research plan and the activity document.
Two evaluation periods, each lasting 30 days (September and March) are established, during which it will not be possible to modify these documents. The Master's and Doctoral School will announce on its website the specific dates on which these periods open every year.