Doctoral program in Legal and Political Sciences

Presentation

The Doctorate Program in Legal and Political Sciences is a Doctorate program specialized in studies in Private Law, Public Law and International Relations and Criminology, Labor and Social Security Law, Political Science and Public Management, aimed at offering training researcher of excellence in these lines, with a multidisciplinary and international orientation.

Its main objective is the training of high-level researchers who are in possession of the official Spanish Bachelor's degrees, or equivalent, and a Master's degree, or equivalent, provided that they have passed at least 300 ECTS credits in the set of these two teachings, and who are interested in deepening the areas of Law, International Relations, Political Science and Public Management.

Objectives

This program will allow:

• Offer quality doctoral training, endorsed by researchers and groups with recognized experience.
• Consolidate the excellent doctoral training in Legal and Political Sciences that has been provided and promote doctoral training in the proposed areas in which the University already has experienced researchers.
• Train new researchers.
• Specialize postgraduates who are interested in their adequate professional, scientific and technical development.
• Promote the training of new teachers in related disciplines.
• Facilitate the training of thesis directors.
• Promote quality doctoral research with the company, through the creation of synergies and interaction channels from the university academic perspective.
• Promote the creation of research groups and networks, national and international, and interdisciplinarity and that focus their research on the challenges of society identified in the EU Research and Innovation Framework Program, the State Plan for Scientific Research and Technical and Innovation and the current Regional Plan for Scientific Research and Technological Innovation related to the scope of the doctoral program.

In short, this Doctorate Program at the Rey Juan Carlos University has as its immediate objective the training of doctors equipped with a critical scientific spirit, capacity for research and teamwork, through teaching organized in two areas, one general (techniques and research methods, tools and resources for the same) and another area of ​​specialization typical of the different lines of specialization and consolidated research topics that are developed in it.

Competences

Basic skills

• Systematic understanding of a field of study and mastery of research skills and methods related to that field.
• Ability to conceive, design or create, put into practice and adopt a substantial research or creation process.
• Ability to contribute to expanding the frontiers of knowledge through original research.
• Ability to carry out a critical analysis and evaluation and synthesis of new and complex ideas.
• Ability to communicate with the academic and scientific community and with society in general about their fields of knowledge in the modes and languages ​​commonly used in their international scientific community.
• Ability to promote, in academic and professional contexts, scientific, technological, social, artistic or cultural progress within a knowledge-based society.
• Ability to promote Open Science and Citizen Science, in accordance with article 12 of Organic Law 2/2023, of March 22, as a way to contribute to the consideration of scientific knowledge as a common good, through the evaluation of transversal activities carried out carried out by the doctoral student related to different dimensions of Open Science and Citizen Science, as well as the training acquired in both disciplines in micro-credential or similar format. (From the application of RD 576/2023, of July 4)

Personal abilities and skills

• Get along in contexts in which there is little specific information.
• Find the key questions that must be answered to solve a complex problem.
• Design, create, develop and undertake new and innovative projects in their field of knowledge.
• Work both as a team and autonomously in an international or multidisciplinary context.
• Integrate knowledge, deal with complexity and make judgments with limited information.
• The criticism and intellectual defense of solutions.

Other skills:

• Identify open or unresolved problems in the Program's knowledge areas.
• Acquire advanced scientific knowledge in the areas of knowledge of the Program, which allows you to generate new ideas within a line of research.
• Understand the procedure, value and limits of the scientific method in the areas of knowledge of the Program to identify, locate and obtain the data required in a research work, as well as design and guide basic and applied research, in addition to treating and evaluating data from a critically, and to draw conclusions and discuss them with existing prior knowledge.
• Assess the importance of documentary sources, be able to handle them, and search for the necessary information for the development of any research work.
• Study and understand publications within your field of study/research, as well as their cataloging and scientific value
• Acquire the necessary knowledge about the financing mechanisms for research and technology transfer, as well as current legislation on data protection and the legal protection of results.
• Prepare impactful and innovative scientific publications in the areas of knowledge of the Program.
• Prepare, present and defend a doctoral thesis in the areas of knowledge of the Program in which: a) a state of the art and critical analysis of the field of study, b) a systematic presentation of its original contributions, and c) a critical evaluation of this.
• Autonomously manage and organize your work, while developing the ability to work as a team.
• Develop an ethical and socially responsible vision of research and innovation.

General requirements International Doctoral School

General requirements International Doctoral School

Program Admission Criteria

The PhD programme is aimed at students with a clear research vocation in the fields of Legal and Political Sciences, who have advanced knowledge of the fundamental concepts of these disciplines and who have the willingness and ability to acquire new knowledge, competencies and research skills applied to them.

1 Profile

Consequently, the admission profile for the Doctoral Program in Legal and Political Sciences will correspond preferably, but not exclusively, to students from Bachelor's, Degree or Master's degrees related to content in Law, Political Science and Public Management, International Relations, Labor Relations and Human Resources, Social Work, Tourism, Criminology, and related disciplines.

2 Profile

More specifically, the PhD candidate's training will need to be in line with the content of the lines of research chosen from among those offered by the programme, in addition to demonstrating, in his or her academic credentials and CV, a minimum of research experience related to the lines of the Programme.

In order to successfully complete a doctorate, it will be necessary to demonstrate creative, innovative and problem-solving skills associated with the field of research, academic work and the scientific construction of knowledge, as well as an entrepreneurial profile, capable of achieving short- and medium-term objectives. Likewise, the requirement to carry out quality, constant and rigorous work requires autonomous work and planning skills, which are essential in the scientific-research work that doctoral students must develop in the doctoral program.

The acceptance or denial of admission will be carried out by the Academic Commission, taking into account, in addition to the general and specific requirements of the Program, the following criteria:

A minimum grade of 5 out of 10 is required to be admitted. This doctoral programme does not require any special entrance exam that the applicant must take. However, the Academic Committee of the doctoral programme reserves the right to request a personal interview with a student in order to clarify or comment on any of the above assessment and selection criteria; in particular, those relating to the minimum level of Spanish language in the case of non-Spanish speaking students. It is highly recommended that the candidate provide a certificate of the merits claimed in the CV.

Number of new admission places

The number of new admission places will be 40 students, reserving 5% of the places for students with disabilities.

Internal quality assurance system

Manual of the Internal Quality Assurance System

Composition of the commission

Composition of the Commission

Code of good practices

Code of good practices

Results report

Once the follow-up of the Doctorate Program has been carried out, the most relevant quantitative information is shown on the results obtained in the follow-up of said Degree, differentiated by academic year.

Report by academic year:

• Results report

General information collection plan

Within the quality assurance system of the Rey Juan Carlos University, the following surveys are being carried out as part of the general information collection plan:

• Survey addressed to new students of doctoral programs
• Doctoral student satisfaction survey with the doctoral program
• Satisfaction surveys of the doctoral student with the training activities of the doctoral program
• Assessment surveys of supervisors and thesis tutors
• Faculty satisfaction survey with the doctoral program

Survey results:

• Indicators

Improvement actions

• Improvement actions

Renewal of accreditation

Renewal of the accreditation represents the culmination of the implementation process of the official qualifications registered in the Register of Universities, Centers and Qualifications (RUCT). The renewal of the accreditation of official degrees is organized in three phases: self-assessment report, external visit and final assessment. In the first phase, the university describes and assesses the status of the degree with respect to the established criteria and guidelines. The result is the Self-Assessment Report (IA) that is presented. The second and third phases are carried out by a group of evaluators external to the evaluated title.

• Final report renewal of accreditation

Tracking