Program Access Information

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

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

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

Prospective applicants should take note of the following information:

• Information on the pre-enrolment process and the relevant deadlines: https://www.upv.es/entidades/edoctorado/presenta-tu-solicitud-2025/
• Information on the various PhD programmes offered: https://www.upv.es/entidades/edoctorado/todos-los-programas-de-doctorado-ofertados-en-upv/
• Guidance for new students: https://www.upv.es/entidades/edoctorado/consejos-para-nuevos-estudiantes/

In addition, the pre-enrolment process for PhD studies is managed through the general pre-enrolment system of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). This provides applicants with an online platform that can be accessed from anywhere.

The online application system includes admission quota management, which ensures that the number of admissions established for the programme is not exceeded.

The admission of each applicant requires two approvals: approval from the Doctoral School, which ensures compliance with the minimum requirements established in Royal Decree 99/2011, and approval from the Academic Committee of the PhD Programme (CAPD), which ensures compliance with the requirements set out in the programme verification report, in accordance with the established criteria and the Evaluation Index (IV) score obtained by each applicant.

The qualifying degree for admission to the PhD Programme in Electronic Engineering is the Master’s Degree in Electronic Systems Engineering (MUISE) offered by the UPV. This degree does not require any additional training. The same applies to national and international degrees that provide a level of education considered equivalent to the MUISE. Other degrees that do not require additional training include the Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering, the Master’s Degree in Telecommunications Engineering, the former Industrial Engineering degree and the former Telecommunications Engineering degree. In general, this also applies to national or foreign qualifications that, across Bachelor’s and Master’s level education, provide a level of training comparable to that of the aforementioned degrees in Electronic Engineering and its applications.

No other admission profiles are expected to be accepted.

Given the international nature of PhD research and the need to consult specialised scientific literature, applicants are recommended to have an adequate command of academic English, equivalent to at least level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Applicants whose native language is not Spanish should demonstrate an adequate command of Spanish and/or ensure effective communication with their PhD supervisor in a common language.

Access Requirements

The access requirements are those established in Article 6 of Royal Decree 99/2011 of 28 January, which regulates official PhD studies, as amended by Royal Decree 576/2023 of 4 July:

1. Access shall also be granted to applicants who meet any of the following conditions: a) Hold official Spanish University degrees, or equivalent Spanish degrees, provided that at least 300 ECTS credits have been completed through these degree programmes and that level 3 of the Spanish Qualifications Framework for Higher Education has been attained. b) Hold a degree awarded under an education system within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), without the need for official recognition, which certifies level 7 of the European Qualifications Framework, provided that the degree grants access to PhD studies in the country in which it was awarded. c) Hold a degree awarded under an education system outside the EHEA, without the need for official recognition, provided that the University verifies that the degree certifies a level of education equivalent to that of an official Spanish University Master’s degree and grants access to PhD studies in the country in which it was awarded. d) Hold another PhD degree. e) University graduates who, having obtained a specialised healthcare training position through the corresponding entrance examination, have successfully completed at least two years of a training programme leading to an official qualification in one of the Health Sciences specialisations may also be admitted.
2. As a general rule, access to an official PhD programme requires an official Spanish Bachelor’s degree, or an equivalent degree, and an official Spanish Master’s degree, or an equivalent degree, provided that at least 300 ECTS credits have been completed across both degree programmes.

Admission Criteria

The programme’s specific admission criteria include a letter of support from the proposed PhD supervisor. Information on the various research teams and their research areas is available on the programme website. For each team, the members of academic staff, their research profiles and their contact details are provided.

When assessing applications, the CAPD shall consider, in descending order of weighting, the applicant’s Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent Engineering or Licentiate degree where applicable, their Master’s degree, their academic record and other particularly relevant merits, such as previous participation in research projects and publications. The alignment of the applicant’s prior education (FP) with the programme’s research areas is considered particularly important and is therefore assigned the highest weighting in the assessment and ranking of applications: 50%, distributed between the Bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification (FPg) and the Master’s degree or equivalent qualification (FPm), with weightings of 20% and 30%, respectively.

The applicant’s academic record (AR) reflects their performance throughout their previous studies and is therefore considered a highly relevant admission criterion, with a weighting of 40%. Other merits (OM) of particular relevance to research activity, such as previous participation in research projects and publications, shall account for the remaining 10%.

In summary, each criterion shall be assigned a score from 0 to 10, and the overall application score (P) shall be calculated as follows: P = 0.2 * FPg + 0.3 * FPm + 0.4 * AR + 0.1 * OM.

Only the recommended admission profile is considered, and it does not require any additional training.