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Program Access Information

PhD in Communication and Cultural Industries

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Information for prospective PhD students is available on the UPV Doctoral School’s website:

https://www.upv.es/entidades/edoctorado/

All published information is available in three languages (Spanish, Valencian, and English).

The following points of interest for new applicants are worth noting:

In addition, the pre-registration process for PhD programmes is managed through the general pre-registration system of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV). This provides applicants with an online platform that makes the process accessible regardless of their location.

The application includes enrollment management, which ensures that the number of admissions set by the program is not exceeded.

The admission of each candidate requires two approvals: approval from the Doctoral School, which ensures compliance with the minimum requirements set forth in Royal Decree 99/2011, and approval from the PhD programme’s academic committee (CAPD), which ensures compliance with the requirements outlined in the verification report, in accordance with the established criteria and the evaluation index (IV) score achieved by each candidate.

Access Profiles

(This recommended entry profile does not require the assignment of supplementary courses) 

DEGREES in the fields of Social Sciences, Humanities, or Law; Art and Humanities; Business; Computer Science; Architecture; Tourism; Marketing; Journalism; Audiovisual Communication; or Engineering fields related to data and information management or technical content production (computer science or telecommunications). 

MASTER’S DEGREES in the fields of Cultural Management, Content and Legal Issues in the Information Society, Information Management, Digital Post-Production, and Digital Humanities.

Other access profiles (these other access profiles do require the assignment of additional training):

DEGREES: in the fields of exact sciences, natural sciences, medicine, and health sciences, as well as engineering disciplines not related to data and information management or technical content production. 

MASTER’S DEGREE: Other programs with up to 60% similarity to those described in the previous point. In these cases, the Academic Committee must review the application and determine any additional coursework required of the applicant.

Students coming from master’s programs not affiliated with the Program must possess all or some of the following skills—both general skills and those specific to the type of research they will be conducting, depending on their research track: General skills:

  • Ability to appropriately formulate, draft, structure, and communicate a project—whether professional or research-based—in both its theoretical and methodological dimensions.
  • Ability to search for, retrieve, evaluate, and manage scientific and technical information using specialized sources and digital tools.
  • Proper use of information and communication technologies applied to research, cultural production, and information management.
  • Ability to critically analyze cultural, communicative, and informational phenomena, as well as their social, economic, and technological implications.
  • Ability to apply both qualitative and quantitative research techniques, depending on the field of study.
  • General understanding of the institutional, economic, and social framework of the cultural, communications, and information industries.

It is recommended that students interested in the following areas possess or develop the following skills:

  • Cultural Heritage and Digital Innovation: Understand the processes of conservation, management, promotion, and dissemination of cultural heritage in the context of the cultural industries. Analyze the impact of digital technologies and innovation strategies on the preservation, interpretation, and communication of cultural heritage. Analyze, manage, and promote archival holdings and museum collections using appropriate methodologies and technologies geared toward the documentation, preservation, and dissemination of cultural heritage.
  • Digital Communication, Social Media, and Participatory Culture: Analyze digital communication processes in social media environments and participatory platforms, as well as the dynamics of interaction among users, media, and organizations. Understand digital communication strategies, content production, and audience analysis in digital environments.
  • Open data, information infrastructures, and digital preservation: Analyze phenomena associated with digital culture, open movements (open science, open data, open knowledge), and transparency policies. Understand the processes of data management, analysis, preservation, and reuse in scientific, institutional, or social contexts.
  • Information, Knowledge, and Organizational Futures Management: Foresight and Innovation in Complex Environments: Analyze information and knowledge management processes in public and private organizations. Understand the role of information systems, digital technologies, and information strategies in organizational decision-making.
  • Film, Audiovisual, Photography, and Digital Narratives: Analyze the production, language, and aesthetics of audiovisual media, including film, photography, and other visual formats. Understand the technical and creative processes of digital post-production, as well as the characteristics of audiovisual formats, systems, and technologies.
  • Studies in Science and Scientific Communication: Analyze the processes of production, communication, and evaluation of scientific knowledge. Understand the role of scientific communication systems, research metrics, and scientific policies in the scientific ecosystem.

Admission Requirements and Criteria

Admission Requirements

The admission requirements are those set forth in Article 6 of Royal Decree 99/2011, dated January 28, which regulates official PhD programmes, as amended by Royal Decree 576/2023, dated July 4:

  1. In general, admission to an official PhD programme requires holding official Spanish undergraduate degrees, or their equivalents, and master’s degrees, or their equivalents, provided that at least 300 ECTS credits have been earned across these two programs combined.
  2. In addition, admission is open to those who meet any of the following criteria: a) Hold official Spanish university degrees or equivalent Spanish degrees, provided they have earned at least 300 ECTS credits across these programs and demonstrate Level 3 of the Spanish Qualifications Framework for Higher Education. b) Hold a degree obtained under foreign educational systems belonging to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), without the need for equivalency recognition, that demonstrates Level 7 of the European Qualifications Framework, provided that said degree qualifies the holder for admission to PhD studies in the country where it was issued. c) Hold a degree obtained under foreign educational systems outside the EHEA, without the need for equivalency recognition, provided the university verifies that it attests to a level of education equivalent to that of the official Spanish university Master’s degree and that it qualifies the holder for admission to PhD studies in the country where the degree was awarded. d) Hold another PhD. e) University graduates who, after securing a training position through the corresponding entrance exam for specialized healthcare training positions, have successfully completed at least two years of training in a program leading to the official degree in one of the specialties in Health Sciences may also be admitted.

Given the international nature of PhD research and the need to access specialized scientific literature, it is recommended that candidates have a sufficient level of academic comprehension and communication in English, equivalent to at least a B2 level on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. For students whose native language is not Spanish, it is desirable that they have an adequate level of Spanish comprehension and/or that they can communicate fluently with their thesis supervisor in a common language.

Admission Criteria

As for the program’s specific admission criteria, these include: Endorsement by the faculty members who will supervise the thesis. Candidates will have access to information about the various research teams and their areas of focus through the program’s website. For each team, the faculty members who comprise it and their research profiles are listed, along with their contact information.

Each merit submitted by applicants is classified based on its relevance to the Program. There are two levels of relevance:

  • Level 1 (related): The score obtained is weighted by a factor of 1.
  • Level 2 (non-related): The final score is weighted at 0.5.

Evaluation of the Candidacy

Each application will be evaluated on a scale of 0 to 10, based on three criteria, each of which will be weighted as follows:

Academic Performance (50%) (maximum 10 points) If the applicant is applying for admission to the program based on a UNDERGRADUATE + MASTER’S degree, the score will be calculated as the sum of the grade point averages for each degree, with each degree accounting for 50%: Academic Record = (Bachelor’s GPA + Master’s GPA) / 2. If the applicant is applying for admission to the program with a undergraduate degree (or an equivalent non-Spanish degree), the admissions committee may choose to consider only the average grade from the undergraduate degree. Degrees included in the “Recommended Admission Profile” are considered “related,” while degrees listed under “Other Admission Profiles” are considered “unrelated.”

Work Experience (15%) (maximum 10 points)

  • Work experience (2 points per year)
  • Other work experience (1 point per year). Each activity listed will be evaluated as “relevant” or “irrelevant” based on its relationship to the program’s research areas.

Other merits (35%) (maximum 10 points)

  • Publications:
    • Publications in journals indexed in the Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation Index, Arts & Humanities Citation Index, or Scopus (3 points per publication)
    • Publications in other prestigious bibliographic databases (2 points per publication)
    • Other non-indexed publications (1 point per publication) Each publication will be evaluated as “relevant” or “irrelevant” based on its subject matter and the journal or publisher in which it was published.
  • Foreign languages: C1-level certificate (1 point per language)
  • Other qualifications:
    • Other undergraduate degrees (2 points; unrelated: 1 point)
    • Other master’s degrees (related: 1 point; unrelated: 0.5 points)
    • Other degrees (related: 0.5 points; unrelated: 0 points) If the applicant lists a UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE + MASTER’S DEGREE as qualifying degrees, neither of these two degrees may be listed in this section.

When applying for admission, students with special educational needs resulting from a disability may indicate their specific needs regarding possible curricular accommodations, study tracks, or alternative programs, so that the academic committee can take them into account.

Additional Training Requirements

There are two distinct admission profiles: the recommended admission profile, which does not require the assignment of additional training, and other admission profiles, which do require the assignment of additional training. As stipulated in current regulations, these specific supplementary courses must be completed during the initial phase of the dissertation, within a maximum of one academic year. The academic committee may assign up to a maximum of 20 ECTS credits of additional training, depending on the program’s research track to which the PhD candidate’s thesis topic belongs.

The following are the training programs most closely aligned with each of the existing lines:

  • Research line 1: Film and Audiovisual Studies, Photography, and Digital Narratives: Storytelling in Post-production, Advanced Digital Formats.
  • Research line 2: Cultural Heritage and Digital Innovation: The Profession of Cultural Manager and Cultural Policies, Sociology of Culture, and Cultural Practices.
  • Research line 3: Digital Communication, Social Media, and Participatory Culture: Social Media Strategy, Corporate Communication, Tools for Digital Communication.
  • Research line 4: Information, Knowledge, and Organizational Futures Management: Foresight and Innovation in Complex Environments: Digital Heritage Management.
  • Research line 5: Open Data, Information Infrastructures, and Digital Preservation: Open Data and Quantitative Analysis for Humanists.
  • Research line 6: Science Studies and Science Communication: Research Methods.