Doctoral Program in Information and Communication Technologies

Composition of the academic commission

The Academic Committee is chaired by the Program Coordinator, and is made up of the coordinators of the lines of research and three representatives of the PDI, plus a member of the PAS as secretary. Currently, it is made up of:

President

Prof. Antonio Sanz Montemayor CV

Vowels

• Prof. Susana Mata Fernández CV
• Prof. Juan Manuel Vara Mesa CV
• Prof. Norberto Malpica González CV
• Professor Luca Martino CV
• Prof. Jesús M.ª González Barahona CV
• Prof. Javier Cano Cancela  CV
• Prof. Alberto Fernández Gil  CV
• Prof. Estefanía Martín Barroso  CV

Program coordinator

Prof. Antonio Sanz Montemayor. E-mail: 

Competencies and tasks of the academic committee

The competences of the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Program are:

1. The training and research activities of the Doctoral Program.
2. The assignment of tutors to the doctoral students of the Doctorate Program and the modification of the same, at any time during the period of completion of the doctorate, if there are justified causes.
3. The assignment of thesis directors to the doctoral students of the corresponding Doctoral Program, within a maximum period of 6 months from their enrollment, as well as their modification, at any time during the period of completion of the doctorate, if there are justified reasons.
4. The annual evaluation, with its possible modifications, of the Research Plan and the document of activities of the doctoral students of the Doctoral Program, as well as the reports of their tutors and thesis directors.
5. The decision on the continuity or not in the Doctoral Program of the doctoral students of that Program. This decision must be motivated.
6. The issuance of reports on the requests for incorporation and withdrawal of doctoral students as members of the Doctoral Program, to submit them for the approval of the Management Committee.
7. The authorization for the presentation of the thesis of each doctoral student of the Program.
8. The proposal of the Courts that have to evaluate the doctoral theses.

Graphics and high-performance computing

In this line of research, the aim is for students to acquire both the basic knowledge and the methodological foundations necessary to carry out research work in the fields of computer graphics and high-performance computing. Thus, the contents will be structured, among other topics, around the visualization of large sets of scientific data; navigation and exploratory analysis of large scientific data sets; medical simulation; multimodal interfaces; animation of complex mechanical phenomena; anatomical simulation for haptic devices; design of high performance systems based on cluster, grid, cloud and mobile computing; evaluation and prediction of performance in high performance systems; load balancing, planning and provisioning in high performance systems; embedded systems. This line is supported by different European and national research projects, as well as contracts with relevant companies.

Statistics and decision sciences

This line of research focuses on solving complex problems of statistical inference and decision making. Starting from real problems (eg reservoir management, counterterrorism modeling, cybersecurity, energy management, cyberpolitics, social robotics, air route management...) they provide methodological advances in areas such as prediction, adversary risk analysis, linear optimization , stochastic optimization, neural networks and support vector machines, goal programming, game theory or simulation, typically leading to the development of decision support systems. It also emphasizes issues related to big data and Bayesian methods. In these activities, we collaborate with first-class centers. It is expected, therefore, that the doctoral candidate in this line starts from a complex real problem that allows him to introduce novel methodological ideas with which to solve the starting problem.

Software engineering, information systems and services

This line offers the student the possibility of carrying out research work, both fundamental and applied, on topics related to software engineering, information systems and services, from an engineering perspective.

• Software engineering. It deals with the systematic construction of reliable and quality software. In this line, topics related to software development methodologies, agility, software architectures, quality, development team management, model-driven engineering, product lines, software evolution, formal methods, etc. will be addressed.
• Information systems. This line addresses, from an engineering perspective, issues related to the construction and implementation of information systems (CRMs, ERPs, EIS, DSS, etc.), information management and data engineering (big data, open data, linked data, geolocation data, etc.)
• Services. Given that the sector dedicated to the production and management of ICT services is increasingly broad, this line will address issues related to the construction of services, such as: methodologies for the production of services, service-oriented architectures, cloud models and ubiquitous computing, business processes, service development and deployment, service quality and service management.

Artificial intelligence

The general purpose of this line is to provide students with greater knowledge in research and innovation techniques in Artificial Intelligence, so that they are capable of tackling and solving complex and novel problems, both scientific and technological. Symbolic modeling and reasoning techniques as well as subsymbolic learning and adaptation methods will be covered. The student will learn to delve into one or more of these techniques, and combine them in a creative and innovative way, in order to generate new models, algorithms and intelligent systems that expand the frontiers of knowledge.

Human-computer interaction and educational computing

This line of research directs its activity to the study of human-computer interaction in any domain and through any device, although the trajectory of the research group has been oriented mainly to the field of education. The field of human-computer interaction has an interdisciplinary character where, together with a technical orientation in computer science, the psychological, pedagogical or social aspects of the interaction also play an important role. Doctoral thesis proposals that cover the various aspects of interaction (design, development and evaluation) are contemplated, preferably through novel forms of interaction, with emerging devices or through original applications. Given its multidisciplinary nature, the research varies from highly technical work from a computer point of view to work focused on improving social situations (mainly educational) or in the workplace thanks to human-computer interaction.

We can highlight the following lines of work undertaken by the professors who are part of the research line: conversational agents, applications for mobile devices, learning through video editing, teaching innovation, interaction with multi-touch tables, learning analytics, systems based on educational objectives, systems collaborative, recommendation systems, educational visualization and animation systems, interactive visualization of big data. More information can be found on the LITE group website (http://www.lite.etsii.urjc.es/).

Optimization and processing of information in communications, bioengineering and transport

This line of research pursues the advanced and multidisciplinary training of professionals in the analysis and processing of data and signals for different areas of application: communication networks -with some emphasis on next-generation wireless networks-, bioengineering and biological signal processing and medical imaging, and optimization of energy resources -especially in transport-. Product of this training are researchers in the field of Information and Communication Technologies, with extensive knowledge of the state of the art of mathematical tools but without losing sight of the application in concrete and real problems.

This line is directed by a group of 8 professors with permanent links to the Rey Juan Carlos University plus as many doctoral professors without this permanent link. Between all these professors, they add up some results that guarantee the high quality of their research: 14 six-year terms, more than 15 doctoral theses defended in the last 5 years, or more than 50 articles in high-impact international journals.

Telematic systems and communications

In this line, it is intended that the student acquire the knowledge and skills aimed at the systematic study of the different aspects of telematics and computing systems, the design and construction of components of these systems, and innovation in this area.

To do this, a process will be followed that includes the methodological training of the student, from the initial stages in which they develop a research plan, to the final stages in which they are capable of disseminating the results of said research by different means, and can collaborate to inscribe the innovations with which it contributes in the general panorama of research in the field. The work that will lead to the presentation of the doctoral thesis will be carried out in the different specific research projects led by the professors participating in the program. Among the specific research projects underway in the context of this line of research, those that fall within the following fields can be highlighted:

• Distributed systems.
• Operating systems.
• Study of software development. Use of new methodologies in technical teaching.
• Software for robotic systems.

Artificial vision, pattern recognition and image processing

The techniques and applications related to artificial vision, pattern recognition and/or image processing constitute a consolidated research area today. At the same time, this type of specialized knowledge is increasingly in demand by the business world. The theoretical foundations and development methodologies that support these disciplines require adequate theoretical-practical training both at the research level and at the level of its application in industrial environments. With this line of research, the aim is for the student to acquire the updated knowledge and training necessary to be able to carry out quality research in artificial vision and pattern recognition. The contents of these lines are organized in relation to the following aspects:

• Theoretical foundations, algorithms and methodologies that are currently used within this line of research.
• Development of research directed towards more specific areas within this discipline, such as: robotics, medical imaging, industrial applications or biometrics, etc.
• Design, implementation and implantation of hardware/software systems based on artificial vision.

On the other hand, the orientation of this line of research will also be based on the experience in the more specific areas of work of the professors participating in it, that is, related to their publications and research projects. In particular and as a guideline, some of the following areas currently active by this research team can be mentioned: visual monitoring in video, high-performance computing for artificial vision, automatic facial recognition and the application of soft computing techniques to artificial vision, among others.

Home

The need for doctoral training for graduates in degrees related to Computer and Telecommunications Engineering 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 is the main way of training researchers.

The existence of a Doctorate Program in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is relevant above all to respond to the needs of an information society that is advancing unstoppably on a global scale. Accordingly, the ICT Doctorate Program starts with the conviction that specialization, updating and diversification of training are encouraged, disseminated and transferred to the rest of society.

Objectives

The general objectives of this Doctorate Program at the Rey Juan Carlos University are the following, all of them in the field of ICT:

• Specialize postgraduates who are interested in their adequate professional, scientific and technical development, and encourage their integration into research teams.
• Train doctoral students so that they can play an essential role in public or private R&D&i institutions, so that they can lead the transfer of knowledge from the university to society.
• Have an adequate framework for the achievement and transmission of scientific advances by doctoral students and researchers.
• Promote the research training of new professors through the co-supervision of doctoral theses.
• Consolidate existing research groups and foster their integration into national and international, mono- and interdisciplinary research networks.

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 field of specialization specific to the different lines of specialization and research topics in ICT 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.

General requirements International Doctoral School

General requirements International Doctoral School

Program Admission Criteria

The entry profile for the Doctoral Program includes either in terms of previous training, or in terms of the orientation of the line of research, with strong roots in the field of ICTs from any of the aspects included in the lines of the Program. Please review the following sections carefully.

Valuation criteria

Students interested in accessing the ICT Doctoral Program can apply for it whether they have completed any of the associated master's degrees, or if they have completed other Master's studies at the same level and branch of knowledge.

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 of the Doctoral Program, based on the following criteria:

• Curricular profile of their previous studies (prioritizing according to the degree of affinity to the lines of the program): 40%.
• Academic record: 30%.
• Professional and research experience within the lines of the program: 30%

There is no type of special entrance test that the applicant must take. However, the Academic Committee reserves the exceptional possibility of requiring a personal interview with a student to clarify or comment on any of the above evaluation and selection criteria.

The resolution of the admission process will be carried out through a procedure in accordance with criteria of merit, equality and capacity.

Profile 1 - recommended access

The recommended admission profile is that of a student in possession of an official Spanish Graduate and Master's degree in the field of Science or Engineering. Students who correspond to this profile should not take specific training supplements.

Specifically, you can access having completed one of the URJC University Master's programs in these branches and related to the lines of research, namely:

• Master in Computer Graphics, Games and Virtual Reality
• Master in Interactive Computing and Multimedia
• Master in Decision Systems Engineering
• Master in Information Systems Engineering
• Master in Telematics and Information Systems
• Master in Free Software
• Master in Information and Communication Technologies in Biomedical Engineering
• Master in Artificial Vision
• Interuniversity Master in Multimedia and Communications

You can also access having completed the URJC University Master's programs that enable you to exercise regulated professions, namely:

• Master in Computer Engineering
• Master in Telecommunications Engineering

Additionally, the Master or Postgraduate programs offered by the URJC in recent courses fall within this profile, such as:

• Master in Telecommunication Networks in Developing Countries
• Master in Advanced Hardware and Software Systems

Lastly, other Master's programs with related topics fall within this profile offered by other universities with a thematic overlap by subjects of more than 50% in ECTS credits to any of the previously mentioned Master's degrees, as well as foreign Master's programs with related topics and that allow access to doctoral studies in computer science or telecommunications in the country of origin of the students. It is considered that people interested in accessing this doctoral program who have this profile will have solid knowledge in Mathematics, Computer Science or Telecommunications, linguistic fluency to read and communicate in Spanish and English (levels B2 or C1 and above), and notions on the basis of the scientific and engineering method and research.

Profile 2 - alternative access and training complements

The alternative admission profile includes the cases of students in possession of an official Spanish or foreign Graduate and Master's degree from the branch of Sciences or Engineering who have completed a University Master's Degree whose subject matter is not related to the Master's programs mentioned above. , but with a thematic overlap by subjects of less than 50% in ECTS credits to any of the Masters associated with the doctoral programme.

Students corresponding to Profile 2 must take the subjects belonging to the master's degrees associated with the doctoral program indicated by the Academic Committee after the evaluation of their CV until reaching the 50% overlap indicated in the definition of this profile and with a maximum of 18 ECTS credits.

These training supplements will be mandatory in a number of subjects equivalent to 18 ECTS credits for those students who access the doctoral program with a Bachelor's degree whose duration is at least 300 ECTS, unless the study plan of the corresponding degree degree includes research training credits, equivalent in educational value to the research credits from Master's studies.

The training complements that are offered will be constituted by the subjects of the Masters associated with this Doctoral Program. The contents, learning outcomes, training activities and evaluation systems are available in the teaching guides of the subjects on their respective web pages, which are detailed below:

• Master in Computer Graphics, Games and Virtual Reality
• Master in Interactive Computing and Multimedia
• Master in Decision Systems Engineering
• Master in Information Systems Engineering
• Master in Telematics and Information Systems
• Master in Free Software
• Master in Artificial Vision
• Interuniversity Master in Multimedia and Communications

Number of new admission places

50 places

Contact with possible thesis directors

 Those students who are interested in developing their Doctoral Thesis in the ICT Doctoral Program at URJC, but have not reached an agreement with any of the potential program directors, can request that the program's Academic Committee help them identify possible thesis directors.

To do this, they must follow the following procedure:

1. Send an email to the Coordinator of the Program with a CV in free format and a paragraph describing the type of subject and the lines of the program in which the potential doctoral student has special interest to carry out his Doctoral Thesis.
2. The Program Coordinator will send the information of these applicants to the Coordinators of each line of the Program, so that they can distribute it among the potential directors who have expressed their interest in the line.
3. From that moment, the student and the potential directors have a period of about 15 days to contact, talk and reach an agreement for the supervision of the applicant's Doctoral Thesis. It must be taken into account that an applicant can talk to several potential directors at the same time, but the final agreement is with the director or directors endorsing the thesis topic reached in the agreement.
4. If an agreement is reached, the applicant and the director/s must notify the Program Coordinator before the established term expires. If no agreement has been reached, the applicant will also notify the Program Coordinator within the same period.

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 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

Improvement actions

• Improvement actions 2014 - 2015
• Improvement actions 2015 - 2016
• Improvement actions 2016 - 2017
• Improvement actions 2017 - 2018
• Improvement actions 2018 - 2019
• Improvement actions 2019 - 2020
• Improvement actions 2020 - 2021
• Improvement actions 2021 - 2022

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 2020