Doctoral Programme in Business Management (interuniversity: UPC, UPM, UPCT, UOC)

To be eligible for the doctoral program, candidates must meet the general requirements of the University and those specific to the programme.

First, prospective candidates must demonstrate that they meet one of the following requirements:

• Holding an official Spanish bachelor's degree, or equivalent, and a university master's degree, or equivalent, and having completed at least 300 ECTS credits in these two programmes.
• Holding an official Spanish university degree, corresponding to previous regulations of university teaching, and having completed a minimum of 300 ECTS credits in all official university studies, of which at least 60 must be at master's level.
• Holding an official university degree from a country that is part of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) that qualifies for entrance to official master's degree courses, and having completed a minimum of 300 ECTS credits in all official university studies, of which at least 60 must be at master's level.
• Holding an official Spanish graduate degree, the duration of which, in accordance with Community law, is at least 300 ECTS credits. In this case, students must take the specific training components on a compulsory basis, unless the corresponding doctoral programme includes research training credits equivalent in formative value to research credits from master's degrees.
• Holding an official university degree in which, after obtaining a training place in the corresponding test of access to specialised health training places, they have completed at least two years of training in a programme to obtain an official degree in one of the specialities of the health sciences with a positive evaluation.
• Holding an official university degree from a country outside the EHEA, without the need for official validation, after verifying that the level of training is equivalent to that of official university master's degrees and that it allows access to doctoral studies in the country issuing the degree.
• Holding a Spanish doctoral degree obtained in accordance with previous university regulations.
• Holding a degree in architecture or engineering with an advanced studies diploma, obtained in accordance with the provisions of Royal Decree 778/1998, of 30 April, or who have achieved the research sufficiency regulated in Royal Decree 185/1985, of 23 January.
• Holding an official university degree that has obtained correspondence with level three of the Spanish Framework of Qualifications for Higher Education (MECES), in accordance with the procedure established in Royal Decree 967/2014, of 21 November, establishing the requirements and procedure for officially validating and declaring equivalence with regard to the official university degree and academic level and for validating foreign higher education studies, and the procedure for determining correspondence with the MECES levels of the official titles of architect, engineer, graduate, technical architect, technical engineer and diploma holder.

Applicants who have not passed the Introduction to Research credits on a university master's degree programme will need to take the appropriate bridging courses.

In the case of applicants who only have an official university bachelor's degree certificate which, in accordance with the rules of EU law, has a duration of 300 ECTS credits, or have not taken and passed a minimum number of Introduction to Research credits in a university master's degree programme, their continuation in the doctoral programme is conditional upon them passing the bridging courses corresponding to the Introduction to Research module, pathway or courses for the corresponding period of academic training.

Either Catalan or Spanish can be used to study on the programme, although a command of English is highly recommended.

In addition to the general and additional requirements stipulated by the University itself, the Business Management doctoral programme has the following specific requirements:

• If you're not a citizen of an English-speaking country, you must provide proof of a level of English equal to or higher than B2 in accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). Higher levels of proficiency (C1 or C2) will be valued as a plus.
• If you have attended school or have completed a bachelor's or master's degree (or equivalent qualification with regards to enrolment in the doctorate programme) in English in a country where English is an official language, you will be deemed to have an equivalent level to the one required.
• You may also demonstrate your linguistic competency in English by means of another official certificate that proves you have a level equivalent to or higher than the one required. You can consult this equivalency table to see examples of certificates that correspond to these levels.

The UOC's Centre for Modern Languages offers English courses to attain the minimum level required for admission into the different doctoral programmes.

The UOC offers an online English language proficiency test, which can be accessed via this link, to accredit your knowledge of English. A score of between 72 and 94 accredits a level corresponding to B2 as defined by the CEFR. When taking this test, you must specify the code that corresponds to the UOC (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya): 4418. This code does not exempt the student from paying the corresponding exam cost and fees.

Meeting the above requirements does not guarantee admission to the doctoral programme. These requirements must be met in order to apply for admission to the doctoral programme and for this application to be assessed.

If you apply for a UOC grant, you must accredit a level equal to or higher than B2 from the time of application. For other grants, financial aid or research contracts, please consult the terms and conditions and requirements for each case (level of English and part-time or full-time format).

If you are applying for admission to a UOC doctoral programme, you must provide the following documentation:

• A photocopy of your identity card or passport.
• A cover letter written in English addressing the following subjects: (1) your motivation for applying; (2) your research interests and their fit within the research lines and groups involved in the programme; (3) the type of training set-up you are interested in pursuing (distance or on-site) and a justification of your decision; and (4) your time dedication (full- or part-time) and a justified reason for this choice. 
• A curriculum vitae in English listing the master's degree or postgraduate programmes and courses that you have successfully completed and which bear some relation to the research interests you have laid out in your cover letter, as well as any scientific output you are responsible for.
• The names, institutional affiliations, postal addresses and email addresses of three references.
• A document accrediting that your level of English is at least B2.2 (as per the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages). This does not apply to applicants whose native language is English. 
• A copy of a recently undertaken academic or research project.
• Academic certificates corresponding to training prior to the doctorate, stating the subjects taken and the grade obtained, the call, the type of subject, the number of credits, as well as the average grade of the academic transcripts if these have not been provided to prove compliance with the entrance requirements.
• Documentation accrediting compliance with the entrance requirements. You will find more information in the corresponding section in the Campus Procedures.

University degrees obtained in higher education systems outside the EHEA and not recognised in Spain must be authenticated through diplomatic channels (or, if applicable, using the apostille of the Hague Convention). When the certificates, degrees and academic transcripts are not in one of the official languages of Spain or in English, they must be accompanied by documentation of their certified translation to Catalan, Spanish or English. Failure to submit this documentation or discrepancies between the information it contains and that provided in the application may result in denial of admission to the doctoral programme.

Once the entrance documentation has been reviewed and your application has been accepted, admission to the doctoral programme is conditional on the presentation of official documentation.

Admissions to the programme will be made during the academic year in the periods established for the purpose. Every application for admission will be studied and assessed by the doctoral programme's Academic Committee in accordance with the academic excellence and suitability criteria defined below. These criteria will be used for ranking applications in the event that the number of applications exceeds the number of places offered. In any event, the minimum score on the academic excellence and suitability criteria is 60 out of a possible 100 points.