Doctoral program in Economic History

Objectives and competences

Objectives and competences

Objectives

The Interuniversity Doctorate Program in Economic History aims to train professionals capable of analyzing and interpreting the problems associated with the development and economic change of societies from a transversal, interdisciplinary and long-term perspective.
Among the socioeconomic challenges facing Europe and which have been identified by the 2020, 2030 and 2050 Strategy, there are some of the usual objects of analysis by specialists in Economic History, such as the effect of climate, energy, the growing economic interdependence, aging and demographic change, social exclusion and poverty, integration and disintegration, inequalities or migratory flows. As indicated in the 2020 Strategy itself, these are far-reaching challenges that require a common European approach, based on the shared scientific knowledge that, among other things, the social sciences and humanities can offer.
The Strategy indicates that these challenges must also be addressed jointly and in an innovative and multidisciplinary way, since they interact in complex and often unforeseen ways. Within this framework, Economic History, thanks to its interdisciplinary and long-term perspective, provides a necessary complement to the approaches of other disciplines of the social sciences, and its specialists can constitute basic pieces in multidisciplinary teams that approach transversally to these problems and their causes and try to design proposals for their solution.
Economic History is specially adapted to contribute to the priorities set by the European Commission. In the first place, Economic History helps to achieve the "Inclusive Societies" objective, through which it seeks to achieve a better understanding of the changes in European society and its consequences in terms of social cohesion. Secondly, Economic History can contribute to the achievement of the "Innovative Societies" objective, to the extent that it seeks, among other things, to understand the way in which all forms of innovation develop, achieve their goals or fail. . Finally, Economic History is an essential piece in achieving the "Reflexive Societies" objective, which aims to contribute to the understanding of the intellectual base of Europe (its history and the various European and extra-European influences), as an inspiration for our current life, and that pays special attention to the accessibility and conservation of European cultural heritage, which includes archival resources that are one of the fundamental working materials of the economic historian, as an agent that values them and gives them meaning, in the framework of the explanation of the origins of our societies.
However, beyond these specific objectives, as indicated, Economic History represents basic material for understanding the origin of most social problems, and an essential contribution to designing solutions to social problems within the framework of of interdisciplinary teams.

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

Recommended applicant profile

Ideally, candidates will have an interest in the major issues affecting long-term economic development and be motivated to carry out their own research. They must be able to reflect on and critically analyse a range of issues, taking a creative approach that leads to new questions and a consideration of new problems.

Students must have an advanced understanding of history or economics, be familiar with standard research methods in the social sciences, and have received specialized or multidisciplinary training on basic research tasks. This training is usually acquired in university master's degrees in History, Economics and other social sciences, particularly the inter-university master's degree in Economic History from the University of Barcelona, the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the University of Zaragoza. Applicants must also have good working knowledge of English, particularly listening comprehension and writing skills.

Specific admission requirements

The academic committee has set the following specific admission requirements for the standard admission pathways:

1. To be admitted to the doctoral programme, graduates of the inter-university master's degree in Economic History from the University of Barcelona, the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the University of Zaragoza or the university master's degree in Economic Growth and Development from Carlos III University of Madrid must have obtained a final grade of 7 or higher and a mark for the Final Project also of 7 or higher. Students with other qualifications must be able to demonstrate that they have an equivalent level of training. The Academic Committee will be responsible for assessing the candidates' academic records and determining whether they demonstrate the required level.

2. Candidates must provide official certification of English language proficiency (at level B2 or a recognized equivalent). Candidates who cannot provide official certification may be asked to demonstrate their language skills in a personal or online interview.

3. To be admitted, candidates must be scored at 70% or higher by the Academic Committee's evaluation.

Candidate selection criteria

Applications from candidates who meet the general requirements will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria, weighted as shown:

1) Academic experience acquired by the candidate in previous studies. The Committee will focus particularly on the standing of the issuing university and on the candidate's specific previous training in economics, history and economic
history and in general research methodology. Candidates must demonstrate that they have sufficient training to begin a thesis on economic history. Weighting: 45%.

2. Curriculum vitae. Credit will be given for previous knowledge of economics, history and economic history. In addition, the Committee will consider attendance of and participation in courses and academic conferences, participation in introductory research activities (research assignments, projects, publications, etc.) and experience of international study. Finally, credit will be given for teaching experience in economics, history, economic history and other related areas. Weighting: 30%.

3. Statement of interest. The statement of interest must clearly indicate the candidate's reasons for applying to the doctoral programme in Economic History. Credit will be given to candidates who present research proposalsorhighlight areas of interest in which they wish to work in the future. Credit will also be given for a particular interest in the research activities carried out by staff assigned to the doctoral programme. To clarify the reasons given in the statement of interest, some candidates may also be asked to attend a personal interview. Weighting: 20%.

4. Letters of recommendation by former lecturers or people who have had a close working relationship with the applicant. Credit will be given for letters of recommendation from former lecturers that describe the candidate's performance in specific subjects and on their course of study as a whole (the lecturer is usually asked to rate the candidate against other former students). Letters of recommendation must refer to the candidate's previous training, analytical skills and general motivation for learning. Weighting: 5%.

Enrolment

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

Lines of research and teaching staff

Research lines

• 101426 - Growth, economic integration and inequality
  
• 101427 - Agrarian and environmental history
  
• 101428 - Financial history
  
• 101429 - Industrial and business history
  

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

Programme-specific training activities: 

Training is offered in  

economics, history, economic history, software, methodology. 

Training Activities
 

Doctoral thesis

Thesis publications: TDX 

Thesis
 

Career opportunities

What can you work on ?

The training offered by the programme makes it possible for graduates of the programme to be professionals capable of carrying out quality research on issues of Economic History in universities or research centres, both public and private, and to be prepared to carry out work with a significant research component in the public administration, companies and the third sector, such as those carried out in consultancies or research services.
Graduates of the PhD in Economic History can be found in universities, institutions and centres both internationally (Colombia, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Chile, Sweden) and in Spain (Alicante, Basque Country and the University of Barcelona itself).

Contact us

Coordination	admissions.fee@ub.edu
Phone	934021931