Access and admission
Qualifications that allow access to Doctoral Programmes
In general, to access an official Doctoral Program it will be necessary to be in possession of the official Spanish degrees of Bachelor's Degree, or equivalent, and Master's Degree, or equivalent, as long as at least 300 ECTS credits* have been obtained in the set of these two studies.
- Be in possession of official Spanish university degrees or equivalent Spanish degrees as long as they have obtained at least 300 ECTS credits in the set of these studies and to prove a level 3 of the Spanish Qualifications Framework for Higher Education
- Be in possession of a degree obtained in accordance with foreign educational systems belonging to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), without the need for its homologation, which proves a level 7 of the European Qualifications Framework for Higher Education, as long as such degree allow for access to doctoral studies in the country where it was issued. This admission will not imply, in any case, the homologation of the previous degree obtained by the candidate nor its recognition for purposes other than access to doctoral studies.
- Be in possession of a degree obtained in accordance with foreign educational systems outside the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), without the need for its homologation, after verification by the university that such degree proves a level of education equivalent to the official Spanish Master's degree and that it allow for access to doctoral studies in the country where it was issued. This admission will not imply, in any case, the homologation of the previous degree obtained by the candidate nor its recognition for purposes other than access to doctoral studies.
- Be in possession of another Doctorate Degree.
- Be in possession of the Advanced Studies Diploma obtained in accordance with the provisions of Royal Decree 778/1998, or have attained the Research Sufficiency regulated by Royal Decree 185/1985.
*(The ECTS -European Credit Transfer System- is the European method to count and accumulate credits. Is based on the student’s workload, including lectures, tutorials, seminars, private study and examinations or other assessment activities. One credit equals 25 hours of work).
Applicable regulations:
- Royal Decree 99/2011, of 28 January, which regulates official doctoral studies.
- Academic Regulations for Doctoral Studies at UPC.
Application for admission to Doctoral Programmes (pre-enrolment)
The applications for admission to Doctoral programmes are made through an on-line admission form. There, you should upload all the required documents and information, before “sending” your application.
In the section “University degrees” you must indicate the university degrees you possess, but you must mark as “Access degree” the one degree that has a Master’s Degree level.
Before accessing the admission form, please consult the information on the "General procedure" and the " Specific requirements of each Doctoral Program", on this same page.
The application form asks for the candidate's address during the course. It is mandatory to fill in this information, but the same data of the current address can be used. It can be changed later, if the candidate is admitted to the Program. If you do not fill in all the mandatory data in the "Personal Data" section, the option to apply for access to the Doctoral Program will not appear.
By accessing the "Application" section you can see the "status" of the application at any time. If you select the record corresponding to the requested Program, you can also view the comments received, in the corresponding tab.
All documents must be uploaded in the Admission form. Files should NOT be sent by email. Attachments sent by email will be discarded.
Pre-enrolment dates
Pre-enrolment is always open and applications are resolved periodically by the different Academic Committees, at their discretion.
There will not be pre-enrolment procedures open for two different academic years, simultaneously. You can only select the course that is open at this time. If this course is not the one that interests you, please include a letter indicating the academic year that you are requesting.
General procedure
You will have to:
1) Register in the Admission form and fill in all the required information: identification, motivation, academic degrees, etc.
2) Upload the following documents:
- Copy of degrees obtained:
- Degrees (Bachelor and Master)
- Academic transcripts with marks obtained (Bachelor and Master)
- Syllabuses/curriculum of your degrees, in case of foreign educational systems outside the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The documents have to indicate the duration and subjects/courses of the studies)
- Curriculum that includes any research you have carried out and related publications
- Letter that indicates any scholarships or financial aid obtained
- Other merits or information that you consider relevant
The degrees obtained at UPC should be indicated, but it is not necessary to upload any file.
It is not necessary to translate into Spanish the documents written in English, French, Portuguese or Italian, unless we ask you to do so.
If necessary, the Academic Committee would ask for additional information; for example, a letter issued by your home university stating that the degree you are submitting allow you to be admitted to doctoral studies in that university’s country. It is advisable to include this certificate if you have already one.
All documents must be uploaded in the Admission form. Files should NOT be sent by email. Attachments sent by email will be discarded
(Besides this general procedure, please consult the Specific requirements of each Doctoral Program, indicated below)
Specific requirements of each Doctoral Program and list of researchers
A part from the requirements already indicated on the general procedure, each Doctoral Program has its own specific requirements, or request additional documentation, which must be taken into account and/or provided before making or “sending” your application. They are detailed in the following links:
Doctoral degree in Architectural Design
Doctoral degree in Architectural, Building Construction and Urbanism Technology
Doctoral degree in Architectural, Civil and Urban Heritage and Refurbishment of Existing Buildings
Doctoral degree in Architecture, Energy and Environment
Doctoral degree in Theory and History of Architecture
Doctoral degree in Urban and Architectural Management and Valuation
Status of the application and admission letter
When the admission process was completed, the admitted candidates will receive an email. Also, the “status” of their application will appear as “Accepted”. After that, they can ask for an Admission letter, if it is needed for visa, scholarships or other purposes. Please, contact with the ETSAB Doctoral Secretary’s Office.
The only valid Admission letter is the one issued by the Doctoral Secretary’s Office and signed by the Doctoral Program coordinator. Letters signed by other academic staff will not have admission effects.
Status as “Not confirmed” or “Rejected” means that you have not been admitted to the Program. The candidate could view a comment about it.
Admitted students will must bring the original documents, or authentic copies of them (legalized, if applicable), at the time of first enrolment.
Scholarships and grants
The UPC Doctoral School publishes all the information available on its website, which includes the offer of scholarships and predoctoral contracts, international mobility stays and grants for Industrial Doctorates.
You will find different calls and offers; each of them indicates the institution responsible and funding's source, the unit in charge of administrative management, the requirements and deadlines to apply, etc.