Objectives and competences
Researchers from the doctoral programme in Brain, Cognition and Behaviour focus on topics such as learning, memory, attention, perception, decision-making, executive function, development, personality, criminality and clinical intervention.
The doctoral programme is designed to be rigorous, collaborative and cross-disciplinary. The main aim is to promote understanding of neural, computational, cognitive and personality processes through multiple levels of analysis, while also training students in transferable interdisciplinary research skills.
Basic information
| Type | Doctoral program |
|---|---|
| Faculty or school | SED of Medicine and Health Sciences (Clínic) Faculty of Psychology |
| Branch of knowledge |
|
| Number of places available | 18 |
| Coordination | Joan Lopez Moliner |
| j.lopezmoliner@ub.edu | |
| Phone | 933125143 |
| EDUB details | Indicators |
Objectives and competences
Objectives
Competences
a) Systematic understanding of a field of study and mastery of the skills and research methods related to this field.
b) Ability to conceive, design or create, implement and adopt a substantial research or creative process.
c) Ability to contribute to extending the frontiers of knowledge through original research.
d) Ability to carry out critical analysis and evaluation and synthesis of new and complex ideas.
e) Ability to communicate with the academic and scientific community and society in general about their areas of knowledge in the ways and languages commonly used in the international scientific community.
f) Ability to promote, in academic and professional contexts, scientific, technological, social, artistic or cultural progress in a knowledge-based society.
Admission pathways
Access
In general, to access an official doctorate program you must have an official Spanish bachelor's degree, or equivalent, and a university master's degree and have passed a minimum of 300 ECTS credits in all university degree and master's studies. It can also be accessed by anyone who is in any of these cases:- Be in possession of official Spanish university degrees or equivalent Spanish degrees, provided that at least 300 ECTS credits have been passed in the set of these courses, accrediting level 3 of the Spanish Qualification Framework for Higher Education.
- Be in possession of a title obtained in accordance with foreign educational systems belonging to the European Higher Education Area (EEES), without the need for it to be approved, which accredits a level 7 of the European Qualifications Framework, provided that this title is valid for to access doctoral studies in the country of dispatch. This admission does not imply, in any case, the approval of the previous title that the interested party is in possession of or the recognition for other purposes than that of accessing doctoral studies.
- Be in possession of a degree obtained in accordance with foreign educational systems outside the EEES, without the need for it to be approved, after verification by the University of Barcelona that this degree accredits a level of training equivalent to the official Spanish master's degree university and which, in the country of dispatch, entitles you to access doctoral studies. This admission does not imply, in any case, the approval of the previous title that the interested party is in possession of or the recognition for other purposes than that of accessing doctoral studies.
- Be in possession of another doctoral degree.
- Equally, university graduates who, after obtaining a place in training through the corresponding test for access to specialized health training places, have passed with a positive evaluation at least two years of training in a program to obtain the title, can access official of one of the specialties in health sciences.
- The graduates, architects or engineers who were in possession of the diploma of advanced studies obtained in accordance with what was established in Royal Decree 778/1998, of April 30, or who had reached the research sufficiency regulated in Royal Decree 185/ 1985, of January 23.
Admission requirements
The Academic Committee has established the following specific requirements:
a) Candidates must have completed 20 ECTS credits for research and have obtained the Spanish advanced studies diploma (Diploma de Estudios Avanzados, DEA). Candidates from education systems outside the EHEA must demonstrate that they have acquired similar research experience, for example, through the completion of a research-based master's degree dissertation.
b) Candidates must provide official certification of English language proficiency at level B1, or preferably level B2 or higher.
Candidate selection and admission criteria
The Academic Committee will assess each candidate on the basis of the following criteria:
1. Qualification used for admission (maximum 2 points)
a) Master's degree in Research in Behaviour and Cognition from the University of Barcelona (2 points).
b) Master's degrees in related disciplines, depending on the specific content and its compatibility with the research areas covered by the doctoral programme (0-2 points).
2. Grade point average for the bachelor's and master's degrees, assessed on a scale of 0 to 4. Correction factors will be applied to qualifications from other countries, as stipulated in ANECA regulations (maximum 2 points).
3. Research experience, assessed on the basis of the candidate's publication record (maximum 2 points).
4. Statement of interest, research proposal or letters of recommendation (maximum 2 points).
5. Level of English (B1 = 0, B2 = 0.5, C1 = 1 point)
6. Spanish language skills at level B1 (1 point).
Lines of research and teaching staff
Research lines
101131 - Organizational and social behaviour101129 - Development and ageing
101128 - Cognitive, computational and neural function
101130 - Emerging methods and technologies in cognitive neuroscience
101127 - Personality, crime and clinical intervention
Research plan and progress reports
You can find all the information at the following links:
Training activities
List of programme-specific training activities
- Participation in conferences and/or scientific meetings.
- Writing of journal articles and book chapters.
- Attendance of specific courses (seminars, summer courses) of interest to the doctoral student.
Additional cross-disciplinary training:
- Participation in courses on programming languages used in behavioural sciences and neuroscience.
- Participation in statistical analysis courses.
- Participation in open science and reproducibility seminars.
Doctoral thesis
Requirements for a thesis by publication:
• The thesis must contain at least two papers published in indexed journals (ISI). In addition to the published papers, the thesis may also include other papers submitted, under review or in progress. In any case, a paper’s inclusion must not interfere with the thematic coherence of the thesis. The doctoral student must be the lead author of all the included papers.
• The supervisor (or supervisors) must attest that: a) none of the papers in the collection is (or has been) included in any other thesis; and b) the other co-authors are aware that the papers will be part of the doctoral thesis.
Requirements for published works
The papers must be published in renowned journals in the field of the thesis. As a general rule, such journals tend to be ranked in at least the second quartile (Q2) of any of the categories in which the journal is classified. A maximum of one paper may be published in a Q3 or Q4 journal; in such cases, a brief note must be submitted explaining why the document was published in this journal when the thesis is delivered (deposited). The academic committee will make the final decision after reading the publication and based on the quality of the work.
Thesis languages: English
Thesis publication: TDX
Career opportunities
What can you work on ?
Research in research institutes in the field of neurosciences and behavioural sciencesTeaching activity in higher education
Research in industry where the analysis of factors based on human behaviour is relevant: behavioural data analysis, virtual reality, gaming, among others.