Science Doctorate Program

Presentation

The need for doctoral training for graduates in science-related degrees is defended both in the academic and professional spheres, where the need to continue researching and advancing in knowledge, techniques and methods is confirmed, and this doctoral training means the main way of training researchers.

The Rey Juan Carlos University proposes the Doctorate Program in Sciences, to provide and offer doctoral training that contributes, on the one hand, to promoting the training of people with competence in research and innovation in Sciences, and on the other, to advance, to through research, in response to the needs of society within the framework of an integrating program, whose structure and organization allow both specialization, updating and diversification of training, research and transfer in the field of the Sciences.

Within the Doctoral Program in Sciences, the different lines of research will be developed, in accordance with the requirements established in the current legislation and in the regulations of the URJC, contrasting the experience and research proficiency, and the existence of competitive projects. The line to which the doctoral student will be assigned will be determined by the access requirements and the subject of the thesis project. Each line of research, in turn, will define, without exclusion, the main topics for the development of the doctoral theses, based on the existing groups and the research experience of the assigned tutors and directors.

The Rey Juan Carlos University proposes with this Doctorate Program:

• Train new researchers and prepare teams that contribute to social, scientific and economic progress.
• Promote the training of new teachers in related disciplines.
• Specialize postgraduates who are interested in their adequate professional, scientific and technical development.
• Promote the creation of research groups and networks, nationally and internationally, and interdisciplinarity.

Objectives

The general objectives of the Doctoral Program of the Rey Juan Carlos University will be, at least the following:

• Encourage and deepen knowledge and professional, scientific and technical development of doctoral students in the field in question.
• Train new researchers capable of joining research teams.
• Promote the teaching career, deepening the research training of future teachers.
• The specialization of the student within the corresponding field, especially in its research aspect.
• Provide methodological instruments from which to approach the analysis of theory and practice from an interdisciplinary perspective, and provide basic criteria from which to face practical questions, in the different areas in which they arise.
• Have an adequate framework for the achievement and transmission of scientific advances.
• Train doctoral students so that they can play an essential role in public or private institutions involved in innovation and research, so that they can lead the transfer from knowledge to the welfare of society.

In short, this Doctorate Program at the Rey Juan Carlos University aims to train doctors endowed 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 of specialization, typical of the different lines of consolidated specialization 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.

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 Competencies

• Knowledge of the scientific method, its principles, stages of the process and typologies.
• Ability to integrate scientific knowledge, analyze it and make decisions to solve a problem with social and ethical responsibility and applying professional ethics.
• Ability to plan experiments, using the most suitable design in each case, to test the hypotheses proposed.
• Know in detail the frontier of knowledge in the scientific field of the Doctoral Thesis, be able to identify the main research challenges within it, and contribute to its methodological and conceptual development.
• Ability to handle bibliographical and documentary sources and the tools of field work related to each line of research.
• Ability to write publications and communications, structuring them according to the typical schemes used in scientific journals and prestigious conferences or congresses, both national and international.

General requirements International Doctoral School

General requirements International Doctoral School

Admission profile

The recommended entry profile (Profile 1) is that of a student in possession of an official Graduate and Master's degree in the Science or Engineering branch. The entry profile, Profile 2, refers to students who have an official Graduate degree but who have completed a Master's Degree whose subject matter is not related to the Master's Degrees in Science and/or Engineering (with a thematic overlap by subject of less than 50 % in ECTS credits of Masters in Sciences and Engineering).

Specific access requirements

Students must have completed one of the master's degrees associated with this doctoral program or other Master's studies of the same level and branch of knowledge, which are those master's degrees related to the branches of science and/or engineering.

Among other master's degrees, you can consult those offered by the URJC at the following link: https://www.urjc.es/estudios/master#ciencias

In the case of being in possession of the Diploma of Advanced Studies (DEA) obtained in accordance with the provisions of RD 778/98 or having achieved Research Sufficiency as regulated by RD 185/85, they must have completed it in related doctoral programs .

The acceptance or denial of admission will be carried out by the Academic Committee taking into account the general and specific requirements mentioned above, the assessment of the curriculum vitae and, if deemed necessary, the conduct of a personal interview. The resolution of the admission process will be carried out in accordance with what results from the application of the rules, priorities and assessment criteria established in this report.

• Students who correspond to Profile 1 (recommended profile) will not have to take specific training complements.
• Students who correspond to Profile 2 must, in general, take subjects belonging to the master's degrees related to the doctoral program (in general, official university master's degrees in Sciences and/or Engineering) until they reach the 50% overlap mentioned above and with a maximum of 18 ECTS credits.

Program Admission Criteria

The following criteria will be taken into account for the selection:

• Academic record: 50%
• Curriculum: 50% (research activities: 30%; others: 20%)

Admission criteria and procedures for part-time students will be the same as those contemplated for full-time students.

Number of new admission places

30 places

Internal quality assurance system

Manual of the Internal Quality Assurance System

Composition of the commission

Composition of the commission

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 2014 - 2015
• Results report 2015 - 2016
• Results report 2016 - 2017
• Results report 2017 - 2018
• Results report 2018 - 2019
• Results report 2019 - 2020
• Results report 2020 - 2021
• Results report 2021 - 2022

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 2016/17
• Indicators 2017/18
• Indicators 2018/19
• Indicators 2019/20
• Indicators 2020/21
• Indicators 2021/22
• Indicators 2022/23
• Indicators 2023/24
• Indicators 2024/25

Improvement actions

• Improvement actions 2014 - 2015
• Improvement actions 2015 - 2016
• Improvement actions 2016 - 2017
• Improvement actions 2017 - 2018
• Improvement actions 2018 - 2019
• Improvement actions 2021 - 2022
• Improvement actions 2022 - 2023

Renewal of accreditation

The renewal of the accreditation represents the culmination of the implementation process of the official Bachelor's and Master's degrees registered in the Register of Universities, Centers and Degrees (RUCT). The renewal of the accreditation of official bachelor's and master's 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 2024

Tracking