Chapter II. Eligibility, admission and enrolment

Article 2. Eligibility.

1. As a general rule, in order to access a doctoral programme, students shall be required to hold an official undergraduate degree or equivalent, and a university Master’s degree or equivalent, provided that they have gained at least 300 ECTS credits in these two degree courses.
2. Any of the following students may also be eligible:
   1. Holders of an official university degree from a member country of the European Higher Education Area that qualifies the student to be eligible for a Master’s degree under the terms of Article 16 of Royal Decree 1393/2007, of 29 October, who have gained a minimum of 300 ECTS credits in their combined university studies, of which at least 60 are at Master’s level.
   2. Those in possession of an official undergraduate degree, with a duration equivalent under Community Law to at least 300 ECTS credits. Such graduates must take the specific supplementary education set out in the doctoral programme, unless the curriculum of the corresponding undergraduate degree includes research training credits, equivalent in educational value to the research credits awarded for Master’s degree studies.
   3. University graduates who, having previously obtained a specialised healthcare study place in the corresponding admission test, have successfully completed at least two years in a programme for the obtention of the official degree in any speciality in the Health Sciences.
   4. Those in possession of a degree obtained in accordance with overseas education systems, without requiring accreditation, following confirmation by the university that said degree accredits a level of education equivalent to that of the official state Master’s degree and authorises the individual in the country awarding the degree to be eligible for doctoral studies (the candidate must submit the corresponding certification). This admission shall in no case entail accreditation of the prior degree held by the interested party nor its recognition for any purpose other than that of eligibility for doctoral studies.
   5. Holders of a B.A., B.Sc. B.Arch. or B.Eng. who hold a Diploma of Advanced Studies obtained in accordance with the provisions of Royal Decree 778/1998, of 30 April 1998, or who have achieved the research proficiency regulated in the Royal Decree 185/1985, of 23 January 1985.
   6. Those in possession of another PhD obtained in accordance with previous university regulations.
   7. Those in possession of an official university degree deemed to be equivalent to Level 3 of the Spanish Framework of Qualifications for Higher Education [Marco Español de Cualificaciones para la Educación Superior], in accordance with the procedure established in Royal Decree 967/2014, of 21 November 2014, establishing the requirements and procedure for accreditation and declaration of equivalence for degrees at official university academic level and for the certification of equivalence of non-Spanish higher education studies, and the procedure for determining correspondence with the levels under the Spanish Framework of Qualifications for Higher Education of the official degrees of Bachelor of Architecture, Bachelor of Engineering, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Technical Architecture, Bachelor of Technical Engineering and Diploma.

Article 3. Admission Criteria.

1. The doctoral programme’s Academic Commission may establish additional requirements and criteria for selection and admission of students. These may include, inter alia, a requirement to have taken or to take simultaneously one or more specific subjects, to pass level tests or to sit a personal interview.
2. Admission to doctoral programmes may require that the student take specific supplementary education, as proposed from among the existing offer of official Master’s degrees. This specific supplementary education shall be considered as PhD level education for all purposes related to the awarding of scholarships and subsidies. For all purposes related to public fees, it shall have the consideration of official Master’s degree-level study courses. Said supplementary education shall be taken during the first two years of the doctoral studies.
3. The admission requirements and criteria referred to in Paragraph 1 above, and design of the supplementary education referred to in Paragraph 2, shall be established in the doctoral programme, in accordance with current regulations governing proposals for doctoral programmes.
4. In the case of students with special educational needs resulting from disability, the admission systems and procedures established for each doctoral programme must include appropriate support and counselling services, which shall include assessment of the need for possible adaptations to the curriculum, itineraries and alternative studies.

In general, the doctoral programme shall seek to ensure that the thesis is written in one of the research groups participating in the doctoral programme.

Article 4. Admission procedure.

For each academic year, the UPV/EHU’s Postgraduate Commission shall establish pre-registration deadlines by which candidates meeting the eligibility requirements must apply to the doctoral programme’s Academic Commission for admission to the doctoral programme.

In exceptional circumstances, and provided due grounds are given, the Postgraduate Commission may accept late pre-registration of candidates who meet the eligibility requirements, if approved by the doctoral programme’s Academic Commission.

Upon completion of the pre-registration period, the Academic Commission of each doctoral programme shall select students and publish its decision within the time and by the means established in the pre-registration application process. Successful candidates will also be informed of the name of the tutor allocated to them and, any supplementary education they may be required to take. In the case of students with a foreign degree from countries outside the European Higher Education Area, the Academic Commission of the doctoral programme shall send the relevant documents to the UPV/EHU’s Postgraduate Commission for final admission.

Candidates wishing to contest this decision shall have a period of 10 calendar days to submit their claim to the Academic Commission of the doctoral programme. The Academic Commission shall answer each such submission and rule on each claim within a period of 15 days, notifying interested parties of its final decision.

An appeal against this decision may be lodged with the Doctoral School within a period of 15 days and, subsequently, an appeal may be lodged under ordinary proceedings to the Vice-chancellor within a period of one month from notification of the rejection of the first appeal.

Acceptance to the doctoral programme shall in all cases be dependent on official enrolment in the Doctoral School.

Article 5. Enrolment procedure.

For each academic year, the UPV/EHU’s Postgraduate Commission shall establish the dates for enrolment in the doctoral programmes.

The enrolment procedure must follow the procedure approved by the Postgraduate Commission, as published on the Doctoral School’s website.

The enrolment fee shall be as established by the Basque Government in its table of public fees.

Students who have completed enrolment in a doctoral programme shall thenceforth be classed as doctoral students.

Doctoral students must renew their enrolment in the doctoral programme each year as per the procedure established each academic year. In particular, the research plan and customised document of activities mentioned in Articles 9 and 11 must be duly completed.