Doctoral program in Physics

Objectives and competences

Objectives and competences

Objectives

The general objectives of the programme are to train researchers at an advanced level in the fields of physics and advanced technologies in which the research activities carried out at the Faculty are framed. In these fields, a doctoral programme is offered to train professionals with internationally competitive advanced research skills, including aspects of research management, design and development.
The programme includes, among others, research related to astrophysics, astronomy, biophysics, cosmology, massive data, atomic physics, nuclear physics, particle physics, gravitation, condensed matter physics, applied physics, photonics, meteorology, quantum technologies, electronic materials and microtechnologies or nanotechnologies, complex systems or instrumentation and communications systems.

Competences

Doctoral studies guarantee, as a minimum, the acquisition by the doctoral candidate of the following basic competences as well as those others that appear in the Spanish Higher Education Qualifications Framework:
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.
g) Ability to promote Open Science and Citizen Science as a way to contribute to the consideration of scientific knowledge as a common good.

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

Ideally, candidates should hold a master's degree in Physics or related sciences. Candidates with other qualifications will also be considered, provided that they meet the general academic requirements.

In addition to the general admission requirements, the Academic Committee has set the following specific requirements:

1. Access from related degrees, depending on the specific content and its compatibility with the research areas covered by the doctoral programme.

2. For international students, a level of Catalan or Spanish equivalent to the Diploma in Spanish as a Foreign Language (intermediate level) or B1 (Catalan).

3. A level of comprehension equivalent to B1 in any of the languages commonly used in the field in question, particularly English and French.

The admission process is overseen by the Academic Committee for the doctoral programme.

1. Qualification used for admission (0-2 points), assessed as follows:

a) Admission from one of the following UB master's degrees in the field of physics or related areas (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. Academic record for the bachelor's degree or pre-EHEA degree used for admission (maximum 4 points, depending on the grade point average). The grade point average will be assessed on a scale of 0 to 4 divided by 2, or 0 to 10 divided by 5. Correction factors will be applied to qualifications issued outside Spain, as provided for in the regulations of the ANECA programme.

3. Academic record for the master's degree (maximum 4 points, depending on the grade point average). The grade point average will be assessed on a scale of 0 to 4 divided by 2, or 0 to 10 divided by 5. Correction factors will be applied to qualifications issued outside Spain, as provided for in the regulations of the ANECA programme.

4. Statement of interest, research proposal or letters of recommendation (maximum 2 points).

5. Curriculum vitae (maximum 4 points), assessed as follows:

a) Research experience in any of the areas covered by the theoretical and practical content of the doctoral programme (maximum 1 point).

b) Professional experience in any of the areas covered by the theoretical and practical content of the doctoral programme (maximum 1 point).

c) Publication record, attendance of conferences, and other activities related to the doctoral programme, such as participation in excavations, artistic activities, culture and heritage management, field work, etc. (maximum 1 point).

d) Master's degree grants awarded in competitive calls, excluding mobility or general grants (maximum 1 point).

6. The candidate has already received a doctoral grant (3 points) or has applied for one at the time of admission (1 point). Spanish grants equivalent to FI (research training) or FPU (university lecturer training) will be taken into consideration, as will competitive grants awarded in other countries.

7. Other academic merits (international placements, knowledge of languages such as English, French, Portuguese, Italian and German (maximum 1 point)

Enrolment

You can find all the information and enrolment prices at the Doctoral School

Lines of research and teaching staff

Research lines

• 101223 - Astronomy and astrophysics
  
• 101226 - Applied physics and optics
  
• 101222 - Condensed matter physics
  
• 101225 - Particle physics and gravitation
  
• 101227 - Electronic materials, sensors and micro- and nanosystems
  
• 101224 - Meteorology
  

Teachers

Research plan and progress reports

You can find all the information at the following links:

• Research Plan
• Activities document
• Annual monitoring report and evaluation and DADDAD
• Guide to good practice in doctoral thesis supervision and tutoring
• Code of good practices of the Doctoral School of the University of Barcelona

Training activities

List of programme-specific training activities  

The training activities included in this programme are: 

1. Participation in national and/or international scientific conferences and/or meetings in the doctoral student’s field of research; participation must be arranged in agreement with the thesis supervisor and tutor. This is an optional activity. 

2. Conference presentations. This optional activity aims to foster the communication of the results of the research conducted by the doctoral student at national or international scientific meetings. 

The doctoral student must arrange this activity in agreement with the thesis supervisor and tutor. 

3. Mobility. This optional activity aims to expose students to different working and communication environments in order to foster autonomy and critical capacity among UB doctoral students. This activity must be overseen by the thesis supervisor.  

4. Drafting of articles for publication in scientific journals and book chapters. Through this activity, which is compulsory, doctoral students contribute to the preparation of manuscripts that include the results of their research for publication in scientific journals, preferably indexed. The doctoral student must learn to use databases and to adopt an appropriate style for the transmission of scientific knowledge, and develop the ability to effectively communicate and synthesize information.  

5. Participation in doctoral student sessions as an optional activity. 

6. Participation in national or international training courses that complement the student's training. This is an optional activity arranged in accordance with the thesis supervisor and tutor.  

Training Activities
 

Doctoral thesis

Theses subject to data protection regulations:  

The Regulations governing doctoral studies of the University of Barcelona of 7 October 2020 will apply. 

Schedule of thesis readings 

Thesis publications: TDX 

Thesis

Career opportunities

What can you work on ?

At the end of their doctoral studies, doctoral students will have achieved a complete and competitive training in one or more of the lines of research developed in the Faculty of Physics. This training will allow them to opt for different professional opportunities, from postdoctoral research positions in centres of international prestige, whether universities or research institutes, to incorporation in companies in the public or private, national or international sector, carrying out tasks of management, direction, design and development of research.
In this sense, the programme aims to respond to a wide range of potential university graduates from scientific and engineering fields interested in professional opportunities related to astrophysics, astronomy, biophysics, cosmology, massive data, atomic physics, nuclear physics, particle physics, gravitation, condensed matter physics, applied physics, photonics, meteorology, quantum technologies, electronic materials and microtechnologies or nanotechnologies, complex systems or instrumentation and communications systems.

Contact us

PhD coordination: aparrenog@ub.edu