DOCTORAL SCHOOL

Access requirements

1. Generally speaking, to gain access to a doctoral programme students must be in possession of the Spanish official degree titles of bachelor, or equivalent, and master, or equivalent, provided they have completed a minimum of 300 ECTS credits in their official university studies as a whole.

2. Access is also open to those who:

• Are in possession of a Spanish official university degree title, or one from another country within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), which affords access to a master’s degree, and have successfully completed a minimum of 300 ECTS credits in their official university studies as a whole, at least 60 of which must have been as part of a master’s degree programme. To this end, the University of Alcalá establishes several criteria when looking at theses 60 Masters level credits. See details in the following link: Masters level credits. 
• Spanish official university degree of Licentiate, Architect or Engineer, issued before EHEA implementation, or covering five years or more.
• Are in possession of a Spanish official university degree title of bachelor, with a credit load of at least 300 ECTS credits. Such graduates will have to undertake specific complementary training unless the programme of studies corresponding to their degree includes research training credits equivalent in training value to the credits in research training proper to master’s studies.
• Hold university qualifications and who, subject to obtaining a training place in the relevant access test for specialist healthcare training, have successfully completed at least two years of training in a programme leading to an official qualification in any of the specialities covered by Health Sciences.
• Are in possession of a university qualification awarded under a foreign university system; this university degree requires no official recognition, but it is subject to the University’s confirmation that said qualification accredits a level of training equivalent to that acquired in a Spanish official university degree of master and affords access to doctoral studies in the issuing country. Admission thus will under no circumstances imply any official recognition of the degree held by the interested party or its recognition for any effects other than for access to doctoral studies.
• Are in possession of another Spanish degree of doctor obtained in compliance of earlier university ordinances.
• Research aptitude certificate (for students under the 1985 plan).
• Advanced Studies Diploma (C-DEA), for students under the 1998 plan.
• Are in possession of an official university degree that has obtained the correspondence to level 3 of the Spanish Qualifications Framework for Higher Education, in accordance with the procedure established by the Royal Decree 967/2014 (BOE 22 November, 2014).

Admission Criteria

Once the Doctoral School has verified that the application meets the access requirements, the Academic Committee of each doctoral programme is responsible for deciding whether the applicant complies with the recommended access profile and the admission requirements. Each programme´s admission criteria are set out in the Find a programme section.

Generally speaking, in order to be admitted the following points will be taken into account:

1. Academic record.
2. Knowledge of a foreign language; see the list of official certificates accepted by the University of Alcalá in the following link:
   • English (PDF)
   • German (PDF)
   • French (PDF)
   • Portuguese (PDF)
3. Other merits: scientific output (author of scientific or technical publications or documents, participation in conferences), Erasmus, SICYE-Seneca or similar stays, specialist courses taken outside official university studies and previous professional experience related to the subject matter of the doctoral programme.

Account may be had of up to two letters of reference written by university lecturers, researchers and, in exceptional circumstances, professionals who have had some relation with the candidate and taken part in his or her academic or professional training.

It is recommended to include a letter of motivation (PDF) which describes the personal and professional reasons for applying to the PhD program, the research line chosen and, if any previous contact has been made, the name of the possible Thesis Director.

If deemed necessary, the Academic Committee may invite the applicant for a personal interview to discuss the contents of motivation letter.

The admission criteria and procedures for part-time students will be the same as those established for full-time students.

Information for new students

UAH username and password: It is important to remember that you must use the UAH email account for online procedures. This account will be assigned to you automatically. Likewise, from now on, all communications from the Doctoral School will be sent to the UAH account and not to your personal email address. If you do not know your username and/or password, click here.

Requesting your TUI smart card

You may request your TUI card using this link How do I request it?. If in doubt, call our office at 91 885 64 90 send an email to tui@uah.es .

“Comunic@”: If you wish to receive notifications and information published on the Doctoral School website, you can subscribe to the Universidad de Alcalá's communication channel “Comunic@” by clicking on the link. There, you’ll find full instructions. From the list that appears, choose the category “Doctoral School”.

Doctoral School webpage: On the webpage you will find all the information you need to know about the formalities and procedures related to the progress of your doctoral studies: training activities, the research plan, the doctoral thesis and other procedures.

DATRES PLATFORM: This platform, which can be accessed from the Doctoral School's web page, is used to manage the transversal training activities offered by the Doctoral School, as well as some specific and branch activities offered by the Academic Committees. You will also be able to see your doctoral record, the activities carried out and the certificates of these activities.

At present, the procedures to be carried out through this application are as follows:

• Research plan: This must be submitted to the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Program within 6 months of admission to doctoral studies. In the event that the report is negative, a maximum of 15 months will be given to submit the modified research plan.
• Document of Activities: Activities carried out during the training will be recorded and will be reviewed by your Tutor/Supervisor and evaluated annually by the Academic Committee. From the current academic year, 2022-23, this document will be created and the activities carried out will be recorded.
• Training activities: Transversal activities will be offered on the web page; likewise, the offer, registration and certificates will be processed through the DATRES platform. These activities will be registered in your file, will be reviewed by your Tutor/Supervisor and evaluated annually by the Academic Committee.
• Annual assessment: There will be 1 annual evaluation each academic year in the month of February-March. New students will be evaluated in February-March of the following academic year. Details on administrative calendar.
• Submission of thesis. For the submission of the thesis, at least 12 months must have elapsed since admission to the doctoral program and the candidate must have at least one positive assessment. In addition, the established  periods of continuance in the dpermaoctoral program must not have been exceeded.

Matriculation: Students must matriculate each academic year in Academic Tutelage by means of the online tool.

Duration of studies: The Doctoral Thesis must be submitted within 3 years after admission, if full-time, and within 5 years if part-time. For full information check the EDUAH website.