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Authorisation for engaging in doctoral studies at the UPV/EHU with a foreign qualification issued outside the EHEA

Authorisation for engaging in doctoral studies at the UPV/EHU with a foreign qualification issued outside the EHEA

Article 6.2.c of the Royal Decree 99/2011 governing official Doctoral Studies establishes the following:

‘2. Compliance with any of the following requirements also provides access to a doctoral programme:
c) Being in possession of a qualification issued by a foreign education system outside the EHEA - no accreditation required pending verification by the university that the candidate has reached a level equivalent to that of an official Spanish university Master’s degree that provides access to doctoral studies in the country in which it is issued. Under no circumstances does access by this pathway imply the accreditation of the qualification held by the interested party, or its recognition for any purpose other than access to doctoral studies.’

Article 7 of the Management Regulations for Official Doctoral Studies at the UPV/EHU of 25 April 2024 establishes the following:

‘The admission of those with a qualification issued in a foreign country outside the EHEA will require authorisation from the Postgraduate Commission. Authorisation requests may be submitted prior to the admissions period, following the procedure established for this purpose by the Postgraduate Commission and published on the UPV/EHU website. In the event of a candidate not having submitted a request for or obtained the aforementioned authorisation at the moment they request admission onto the course (pre-enrolment), they may continue with the admissions process on a conditional basis, with said admission being automatically rendered null and void if they fail to obtain the necessary authorisation within the deadline established for formalising their enrolment in the timeframe approved by the Postgraduate Commission for each academic year.’

Consequently, in order to study on a doctoral programme at the UPV/EHU with a non-accredited foreign qualification issued by a university located outside the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), in addition to being admitted onto the chosen doctoral programme, candidates must request this authorisation from the Postgraduate Commission through the website.

Applications must be accompanied by the following documents:

  • Request form.
  • National ID card / Residence card / Passport.
  • Academic record of the undergraduate and Master’s degrees indicating all subjects taken, the mark awarded in each case and the duration in credits/hours (if the qualification was issued in a foreign language other than English, then a sworn translation into Spanish, Basque or English must be provided).
  • Legalised/apostilled degree certificate (if the qualification was issued in a foreign language other than English, then a sworn translation into Spanish, Basque or English must be provided).
  • Document accrediting that the qualification provided permits access to university doctoral studies in the country in which it was issued.

The UPV/EHU Postgraduate Commission will analyse all applications and issue a report (accepted or denied). In the event of the report being favourable, a certificate will be issued authorising the applicant to access a doctoral programme. Candidates in possession of this authorisation must submit it during pre-enrolment. Those not in possession of this authorisation during pre-enrolment should submit it as soon as possible to the designated as the administrative contact on the doctoral programme website.

This authorisation must be presented when enrolling in any doctoral programme.

Contact: doctorado@ehu.eus