PhD – International Admission
Admission requirements
Requirements to study a PhD at the UPV
International students who wish to study for a master’s degree at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) must present three essential documents:
- The legalised foreign degree.
- The course certificate.
- The letter from the home university stating that the student can study for a master’s degree or doctorate in the country of origin with the degree they hold.
These documents are common to all PhD programmes, but you should also check the specific entry conditions for each degree. You will find them in the programme access information within each of them. You will need a PhD Supervisor or, in other words, a UPV faculty member to agree to supervise your thesis.
Pre-registration and enrollment
Admission process
There are three ways to access a PhD student:
- With an official university degree (or equivalent with recognised MECES 2 level) plus an official master’s degree, totalling 300 ECTS, of which at least 60 ECTS are at the master’s level.
- Through a degree of five years or more from the pre-Bologna curriculum with MECES level 3.
- For degrees from outside the EHEA, you must have a level equivalent to a master’s degree, which allows access to PhD studies in the issuing country.
More questions?
Calendar
Applications may be submitted from mid-May to mid-October. Exceptionally, applications will be accepted until the end of March. The resolution will be given within 45 days. The duration of PhD studies will be a maximum of three years, full-time or five years part-time, if authorised.
PhD degrees at the UPV
PhD programmes are the third training cycle the Universitat Politècnica de València offers. They are the culmination of students’ careers, which lead to research or teaching at the highest level. The UPV offers 31 PhD programmes specialising in different areas of knowledge.
Duration
The duration of PhD studies will be a maximum of three years, full-time, from the admission of the PhD student to the programme until the thesis defence. Also, it is possible that, with prior authorisation of the academic committee responsible for the programme, PhD studies may be carried out part-time. In this case, such studies may have a duration of five years from the admission of the PhD student to the programme until the thesis defence.
Estimated costs
The UPV is a public university, and for this reason, its fees are subsidised. Its cost is updated annually by the Generalitat Valenciana. A PhD at UPV is considerably more affordable than at other universities, especially outside Spain, since neither the cross-curricular training complements nor the specific activities are charged. The administrative costs of enrolment vary between €300 and €455, and the price of the credit, if necessary, ranges from €50 to €70, depending on the branch of knowledge.
Suppose you have to take complementary courses to align your training with that of the PhD of your choice. In that case, the maximum number of complementary courses to be assigned is 20 credits, and their price will depend on the field, between €50 and €70 per credit. These prices are the same for Spanish and international students.
Scholarships and grants
There are no national public grants for PhD students. Still, you can apply for pre-doctoral contracts from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, the Generalitat Valenciana (Regional Government of Valencia) or the UPV itself. If you come from international studies, it is important to check the grants available in your home country and those offered by private entities.
Online training
Depending on your thesis type, you may need more or less time on campus. A wildly experimental thesis will be difficult to do outside the UPV. Still, a more theoretical thesis, based on the study of bibliographies, will allow you to follow it from your residence.