Doctoral Programme in Education and ICT (e-Learning)

To be admitted to the organized research period of the Doctoral Programme in Education and ICT (e-learning), students must meet both the general University and specific programme requirements.

To this end, students must first submit proof of meeting one of the following sets of requirements:

a)    Hold a an official university master's degree issued by a higher education institution in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and have passed a minimum of 300 ECTS credits out of all official university courses.

b)    Hold an official Spanish university degree, or one from an EHEA member country, that allows them admission to a master's course, and have passed a minimum of 300 ECTS credits out of all official university courses, of which at least 60 must be at the master's level.

c)    Hold an official Spanish graduate degree of at least 300 ECTS credits in line with EU legal regulations.

d)    Candidates with degrees from education systems outside the EHEA, whose degrees do not require homologation (official recognition by the Spanish Ministry of Education), must hold a level of education equivalent to Spanish university master's degrees that authorizes admission to doctoral studies in the country issuing the degree.

e)    Be a university graduate and have passed with a positive assessment at least two years of education on a programme to be awarded the official degree of any of the health sciences specialities.

f)     Hold a Spanish doctoral qualification in accordance with the previous university system.

g)    Be a graduate, architect or engineer and be in possession of the Advanced Studies Diploma (DEA), awarded in accordance with the provisions of Royal Decree 778/1998, of 30 April 1998, or have obtained research proficiency, regulated in Royal Decree 185/1985, of 23 January 1985.

Candidates who have not successfully completed the initiation to research credits for a university master's degree programme will have to take those bridging courses specified by the programme, if any.

The continued enrolment on the doctoral programme of candidates who hold only an official university bachelor's degree that, in accordance with EU law, consists of 300 ECTS credits or who have not taken and successfully completed at least 20 initiation to research credits as part of a university master's degree programme is contingent on the successful completion of the relevant bridging courses for the initiation to research module, pathway or subjects for the corresponding training period.

As well as the general and additional requirements established by the University, the doctoral programme in Education and ICT (e-Learning) establishes 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).
• 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.

Candidates for the part-time (online) doctoral programme who do not meet the required level will have the opportunity to access the doctoral programme with a B1 level if they undertake to attain a B2 level before completing the research plan at the end of the first year. According to regulations, if the student does not attain this level, the research plan cannot be approved.

If you wish to enrol in the programme on a full-time basis, you must provide proof of a level equal to or higher than B2 from the time of application.

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.

All candidates who apply to be admitted on a doctoral programme at the UOC should submit the following documents:

-       A photocopy of their DNI, NIE or passport

-       Certificate of the level of English required by the doctoral programme.

-       Academic certificates for the doctoral student's previous training, which state the subjects taken and the mark obtained, the sitting, the kind of subject, the number of credits and the average mark in the academic transcript, if this has not been submitted to prove that the admission requirements have been met.

-       A statement of interest in which the candidate makes a short presentation of their career and explains the candidate's specific reasons for applying to the programme (their motivations), a description of their research interests, as well as a brief research proposal and the links with the research group.

-      Research idea and pre-project 

It is a document of a maximum of two pages with a description of the research interests and fit with the line of research you have chosen. This document should be as concise as possible and should contain the following sections:

• Initial justification and fit with the line of research. The candidate must explain why their research idea focuses on the chosen line of research.
• Research problem or research question approach
• Methodology sketch
• Expected results in broad strokes 

-       A letter of endorsement that appears in the name of research that supports the personal doctoral project, as well as its intention to be your tutor.

-       A curriculum that describes the programmes and master's degree or postgraduate courses the candidate has taken that are related to the research interests described in the statement of interest and, if applicable, a description of previous scientific output.

-       An example of a recent academic paper (in Catalan, Spanish or English).

-       Documents that prove that the candidate meets the admission requirements, you will find more information on this section within the Office's Secretary Campus. 

In the case of university qualifications obtained in higher education systems outside the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and not homologated (officially recognized by the Spanish Ministry of Education), the university degree must be authenticated via diplomatic channels (or, if necessary, in a Hague Convention apostille). When certificates, degrees and academic transcripts are not written in an official language of the Spanish state or in English, these documents must be accompained by their sworn translation into Catalan, Spanish or English. Failure to provide these documents or the fact that the details they contain do not match what was stated in the application may lead to non-admission on the doctoral programme.

Once the admission documentation has been reviewed and your application accepted, admission to the programme depends on your presenting the official documentation. 

Candidates will be assessed based on the criteria and merits defined in the following scoring rubric:

Price and enrolment Fees

Biannual Fees

Fees

*The Government of Catalonia establishes the public prices for credits and other academic services charged by public universities in Catalonia and the UOC. You can consult the prices in Decree 300/2021, of June 29th.