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Doctoral Programme in Sustainability


Sustainability research involves specialists from different origins and backgrounds with a variety of disciplinary perspectives but with the common will to contribute to the development of society by providing future generations with the options and skills required to forge their own path.

The Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya's Doctoral Programme in Sustainability encompasses the research and courses that deal with the current challenges to sustainability: exhaustion, distribution and management of natural resources, including energy and water; climate change impacts and adaptation and mitigation mechanisms; modelling of socio-environmental systems and assessment of their evolution and development; poverty and imbalances in urban and rural environments; technological innovation and integrated concepts in construction, architecture and management of public services and the environment; and preservation and promotion of environmental and cultural heritage.

Sustainability Science and Technology is a field of research with a great interdisciplinary capacity, which allows the integration of many disciplines. It offers us the opportunity to make original contributions, not only in the understanding and resolution of the problems that condition the well-being and development of towns and societies, but also in the configuration of a new perspective of analysis of our reality, integrating not only approaches from different disciplines but also to the actors themselves in the change processes.

This doctoral program therefore opens the door to professionals and researchers with the will and ability to face these challenges and provide solutions through academic contributions of international impact.

Academic year
  • Starts: October 1st
  • Ends: September 30th
Duration 3 years (full-time) or 5 years (part-time)
Delivery On-campus
Places 10
Official degree Ph.D. Degree in Sustainability by the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (recorded in the Spanish Ministry of Education's degree register)
Dedication

When pre-enrolling to the degree, students must choose their dedication, which may be:

  • Full-time
  • Part-time
Fees

More information on fees & discounts

More information on grants

Academic coordinator Martí Rosas Casals
Secretariat UPC-Campus Nord
Building C2, Room 202
Phone: +34 934 017 094
Email: doctorat.SOS.camins@upc.edu
More information UPC's Doctoral School

When?

Open all year

How?
  • Check that you fulfill all admission requirements.
  • Make sure all your documents are properly legalized.
Where?

On-line at UPC's pre-enrolment site.

Who assesses the applications?

The academic committee of the doctoral programme is in charge of assessing and admitting the candidates.

  • it prioritizes those applicants having the support of their thesis supervisor.
  • Availability of scholarships or grants is essential.
When will I know if I have been admitted?

Within a month's time since the admission procedure started.

Document generated by this procedure

If you are admitted to the program, the Support Unit to Doctoral Studies of Barcelona School of Civil Engineering will issue the letter of admission.

MORE INFORMATION

New doctoral students

How?

On-site.

Where?

At the Support Unit to Doctoral Studies of Barcelona School of Civil Engineering.

Building C-2, 2nd floor
Room 202
08028 Barcelona

When?
  • Ordinary call: From 1st till 31st October.
  • Extraordinary call: During the month of Frebuary

Former students

How?

On-line

Where?

At e-Secretaria

When?
  • Ordinary call: From 1st till 31st October.
Documents generated by this procedure
  • Enrolment form (e-Secretaria)
  • Enrolment certificate (e-Secretaria)

MORE INFORMATION

Who monitors my work?

The academic committee of the doctoral programme is in charge of monitoring the student's work yearly.

When?
  • In July. The director and the student will previously receive an email indicating how and when they will have to present the documentation so that the academic Committee of the program can carry out the evaluation.
ATTENTION: Failing to submit the required documents will result in a FAIL score.
When will I know the result?

In September, when the Academic Committee issues the final results, students will receive an email to inform that the records are available at e-Secretaria.

Documents generated by the procedure
  • Official academic record

MORE INFORMATION

What is it?

A research plan is a document that briefly defines the research activity that will take place and guides the student through the process.

How do I write it?
When will I submit and defend my research plan?

During the 1st academic year, students must submit their research plan and then publicly defended in front of the assessing pannel.

Public defenses are scheduled within two calls:

  • in June (for students that have enroled for the first time in September).
  • in February (for students that have enroled for the first time in February's extraordinary call).

For specific dates, please contact the secretariat for each program.

What does the public defense entail?

The public defense consists of an oral exposition of the written Research Plan during no more than 20 minutes, followed by a 5-minute time for questioning or commenting on the part of the assessing pannel. The mark will be either "Satisfactory" or "Non satisfactory”. In case of receiving a "Non satisfactory" mark, the Doctoral Commission can offer the student up to 6 months to make the necessary amends.

The assessing pannel will consist of three doctors, two belonging to the Doctoral programme and a third one foreign to the programme. Neither the director of the thesis, nor the supervisor may be part of the pannel.

MORE INFORMATION

When?

From October 1st till September 30th.

ATTENTION: The Support Unit to Doctoral Studies will not formalize thesis registrations on public or local holidays (which includes low-occupancy periods), or school holidays (18st-23th December 2024 and 22th-31th July 2024). Theses registered before September 30th 2024 will be considered part of the 2023-2024 academic year.

MORE INFORMATION

To apply for...

  • A change to full- or part-time
  • A change of thesis supervisor
  • An extension
  • A temporary withdrawal
Where?

Access the general request area of the UPC electronic site and upload the specific form for each procedure to ED (forms).

 

For information and procedures on...

  • Co-supervisor
  • Agreements
  • Industrial doctorates
  • Grants
  • Mobility
  • Legalization of documents
  • Equivalences
Where?

Please visit the UPC's Doctoral School for more information.