Doctoral Program in Physics 2021–2022

The RD 99/2011 highlights the high professional training of doctors in various fields, especially those that require creativity and innovation. Therefore, the doctors of the program will have acquired, at least, personal skills and abilities to:

1. Develop in contexts in which there is little specific information.
2. Find the key questions that must be answered to solve a complex problem.
3. Design, create, develop and undertake innovative and innovative projects in their field of knowledge.
4. Work both as a team and independently in an international or multidisciplinary context.
5. Integrate knowledge, face complexity and formulate judgements with limited information.
6. The criticism and intellectual defence of solutions.

• Acquisition of the necessary tools to understand the literature in the area of Physics of his/her specialization.
• Development of the capacity for analysis and criticism of experiments and theoretical developments in Physics.
• Skills to open new lines of research in Physics.
• Competencies for theoretical and/or experimental teamwork in Physics research.
• Aptitudes for the management of scientific research projects.

The requirements for access to doctoral studies are set by the RD 99/2011, of 28 January. In general, access to the programme is open to those who hold an official Spanish Bachelor's and Master's degree or equivalent, having passed a minimum of 300 ECTS credits in these two degrees.

Students with a foreign degree issued by a country included in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) may apply for admission directly (info). If the degree was issued by a non-EHEA country, the application for admission with a foreign degree that has not been recognised (info) must be submitted.

Interested parties can find more information about acceso and admission at the Doctoral School section and at the administrative office of the programme (see contact details in the general information section of the programme).

Interested students can obtain further information about

Preferred profiles: Graduates, Architects or Engineers who were in possession of the Diploma of Advanced Studies obtained in accordance with the provisions of RD 778/98 of April 30 or had reached the research proficiency regulated in the RD may be admitted to doctoral studies. 185/1985, of January 23. This doctoral program is aimed at students who have completed a master's degree in physics, but students who, meeting the general requirements, have completed a degree, bachelor's degree and/or master's degree in experimental sciences or engineering may also be admitted. Depending on the previous training of the student, two admission profiles are defined:
Profile 1: Students who have completed 60 credits of a generic master's degree in Physics or specialized in some of its disciplines.
Profile 2: Students who have completed 60 master's credits in other experimental sciences or engineering.

Regardless of the admission profile, the student must have acquired the following skills, abilities and knowledge in the degree prior to the Doctorate:

• basic knowledge in various branches of physics
• ability to obtain and handle information,
• Capacity for analysis, abstraction and synthesis.
• ability to apply the scientific method
• ability to communicate and present work (oral and written)
• capacity for autonomous study, planning and decision making,
• ability to plan and execute, under supervision, a research project
• Sufficient knowledge of English for oral and written comprehension (level B1). To be admitted to the Doctoral program, candidate students must submit an application within the period established annually in the academic calendar and according to the procedure established by the University of Zaragoza that is published annually in the BOA, and that the Academic Commission of the Program of Doctorate will value. In the admission and selection criteria, the previous academic training of the applicant and, where appropriate, her previous professional experience will be taken into account.
If deemed necessary, a personal interview will be conducted.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Preadmission: In order to apply for some pre-doctoral grants, it is necessary to have a preadmission certificate for the doctorate. This certificate in no case exempts from carrying out the final admission procedures described below.

To qualify for the preadmission certificate, the following documentation must be submitted to the administrative headquarters of the program sad488@unizar.es.

• Copy of an identity document. • Academic record of degree and approved credits of the master. • A letter from the candidate stating their motivations and preferred lines of research to carry out her/his doctoral thesis project.

Admission:

The application should be sbmitted:

• During the ordinary term: through the virtual secretariat.
• During the extraordinary term: the application form for admission should be completed and submitted, together with the rest of the required documentation (see below) in the electronic register, in any of the official register offices indicated in art. 16, Law 39/2015 or via e-amil in the Physics doctorate office sad488@unizar.es
  
  

• Copy of an identity document.
• Academic degrees (bachelor's degree and master's degree). • Academic record (degree or bachelor's degree and master's degree). • Curriculum vitae. • Certification of knowledge of languages ​​(if you have one) • A letter from the candidate stating their motivations and preferred lines of research to carry out her/his doctoral thesis project. The letter should include the names of the proposed tutor, that should belong to the Teaching Staff, and director (they can be the same person) and record their approval and signature.

• If asking for admission in the  extraordinary term: the form "Admisión en estudios de doctorado" (there is an english version) filled and a report stating the reasons to ask for admission time-barred (e. g. access to a research contract or other circumstances)

In view of the documentation presented, the Academic Committee of the program will determine if it is necessary to meet additional requirements, including passing specific tests.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

If the Doctorate is in some special situation of a professional, familiar or personal nature, the Commission will admit the completion of the Doctorate in a part-time basis according to the rules stipulated by the University of Zaragoza. Main access qualifications:
Official University Master's Degree in any area of Physics, from a higher education institution in the European Higher Education Area or from foreign countries if the Master' Degree allows access to Doctorate studies in Physics in the country of expedition.
Those who posses at least 60 ECTS at the master's level in Physics, and have an official university degree in Science and/or Engineering, will also be eligible. Selection criteria:
In the event that the number of applications exceeds the number of admissions offered, the Academic Committee will assess the suitability of the candidate according to the following scale:

Adequacy to the program: up to 30 points • Bachelor's degree in Physics: 20
• Bachelor's degree in other experimental sciences or engineering: 15
• Master in Physics: 10
• Master's degree in other experimental sciences or engineering: 7 Academic record: up to 40 points
• Note of the degree/bachelor's degree (scale 0-10) * 3
• Master's degree (scale 0-10) * 1

Curriculum vitae: up to 25
• Work experience in physics: 5 points per year full time
• Publications in journals with impact factor (IF): nº points= FI Knowledge of languages: up to 5 points
• Knowledge of English: basic-B1 (1), medium B2 (3), high C1 or higher (5)

Complementary courses: In the case of students who have completed an official University Master's degree in some area of ​​Physics, the equivalence of ETCS and their admission to the doctorate (Profile 1) may be carried out. In the other cases (Profile 2), and following a report from the tutor, the student during the training period will take the courses stipulated by the Academic Committee until completing the credits not recognized.

Doctoral students, as researchers in training and students of the University of Zaragoza, must register annually with the corresponding fees for the academic supervision of the doctoral programme while they continue their doctoral training. The enrolment period will be the one established for this purpose in the calendar of the corresponding academic year.

As a general rule, enrolment will be done online through the Virtual Secretariat of the University of Zaragoza, having previously obtained a personal identification number (PIN) and password from the identity management service of the University of Zaragoza. Those who are unable to enrol online will be allowed to do so in person by going to the Doctoral School Section during opening hours. For the first, second and subsequent enrolments, doctoral students will have to present various documents about their previous studies, depending on whether they have been studied in countries within or outside the European Education Area.

The website of the Doctoral School provides complete and updated information about the enrolment procedure including key points, prices, discounts and insurance,  legalisation and translation of documents and various practical details.

The procedures for the supervision of students on the programme are set out in article 11 of Royal Decree 99/2011 regulating doctoral studies. Thesis supervision is also covered by Title I of the Regulations on Doctoral Theses of the University of Zaragoza.

Doctoral students admitted to the programme will register annually for academic supervision at the University of Zaragoza. The academic committee of the programme will assign a thesis supervisor and a tutor, who may or may not coincide. The thesis supervisor will be responsible for the overall management of the student's research tasks, for the coherence and suitability of the training activities, for the impact and novelty of the subject matter of the doctoral thesis in his/her field, and for guiding the planning and, where appropriate, its adaptation to that of other projects and activities in which the student is enrolled. The tutor is responsible for ensuring that the training and research activity is in line with the principles of the programme and the Doctoral School and will ensure the interaction of the PhD student with the programme's Academic Committee, the body responsible for supervising the progress of the research and training and for authorising the presentation of the thesis of each PhD student on the programme.

The supervision of doctoral students will be set out in the Doctoral Charter which, once enrolment has been completed, will be signed by the doctoral student, his/her tutor and supervisor, the programme coordinator and the director of the School for Doctoral Studies. For further information on thesis supervision, please contact the programme's administrative office (see contact details in the programme's general information) or the programme coordinator.

The mechanisms for monitoring doctoral students are in accordance with the provisions of Article 11. Doctoral supervision and monitoring of RD 99/2011, of 28 January, which regulates official doctoral studies.

Before the end of the first year of enrolment, the PhD student must present a document that includes the research plan and the personal training plan. This may be improved and detailed throughout their stay on the programme and must be endorsed by the supervisor and tutor.

The research plan shall include, at least, the methodology to be used and the objectives to be achieved, as well as the means and timetable for achieving them.

The personal training plan will contain a forecast of the different training activities to be carried out during the doctoral thesis (courses, seminars, mobility actions, etc.).

The activities document is the record of all the activities - stays, courses, attendance at conferences, etc. - that the PhD student carries out from enrolment in the doctoral programme until the submission of the doctoral thesis.

These documents, as well as the director's and tutor's reports, are managed through the doctoral management application, SIGMA.

The academic committee of the programme will annually evaluate the progress of the doctoral student in terms of his/her research plan and the activities document together with the reports that the director and tutor must issue for this purpose. A positive evaluation will be a prerequisite for continuing on the programme. In the event of a negative evaluation, the PhD student must be evaluated again within a maximum period of six months. In the event that significant shortcomings continue to occur, the Academic Committee must issue a reasoned report, after hearing the interested party, and the doctoral student will be definitively withdrawn from the programme.

Once the thesis has been completed, the PhD student must proceed to its deposit and defence in accordance with the provisions set out in the thesis regulations of the University of Zaragoza and in the procedure that develops it, available on the EDUZ regulations website

The Doctoral School of the University of Zaragoza offers its doctoral students various transversal training activities focused on facilitating the acquisition of the necessary skills to actively participate in the knowledge society and to successfully manage in a complex and changing labour market. The activities in module 1, Communication skills, help PhD students to effectively disseminate research and its results and to share knowledge in an attractive way, both in writing and orally. Module 2, Scientific Information Management, provides training in searching, processing and managing bibliographic information. Module 3 includes activities that improve the doctoral student's readiness to manage in a professional environment. The activities in module 4, Research and Society, provide doctoral students with a space for reflection on issues of interest to participate fully and responsibly in today's diverse, digital and global society. Module 5 contains activities on instrumental or technical aspects necessary to apply cutting-edge research methodologies.

The training offer is completed with online activities for all G9 doctoral students, teaching and research training activities organised by the Institute of Education Sciences of the University of Zaragoza and with those carried out within the framework of inter-university and international Doctoral Conferences.

The complete offer for each academic year is published here.

Title: Attendance at seminars, courses or schools external to the program (compulsory).
Duration: 15 hours
Control procedures: Participation in this activity will be provisionally included in the doctoral student's activities document. The participant will provide a certificate of attendance at the seminar. The evaluation will be carried out in accordance with the national or international character of the school or course and with the active participation of the doctoral student in it (with the presentation of the results of the work or the performance of tests). The academic commission of the doctoral program will assess the information and will award the Qualification of Pass or Fail, which will be included in the activities document.

Title: Attendance at Congresses and Workshops (compulsory).
Duration: 24 hours
Control procedures: Participation in this activity will be provisionally included in the doctoral student's activities document. The participant will provide information on: · Name of the Congress, workshop, etc… · Place and date of celebration. · Title and authors of the contribution · Type of participation: Invited Oral, Oral, panel, etc. In the evaluation of the activity, the national or international character of the event will be valued, as well as the type of participation. The academic commission of the doctoral program will assess the information and will award the Qualification of Pass or Fail, which will be included in the activities document.

Title: Research stays in other Centers (compulsory).
Duration: 40 hours
Control procedures: Participation in this activity will be provisionally included in the doctoral student's activities document. The participant will provide a brief report with the approval of the director on the research stay carried out that includes the objectives sought and the results obtained. With this report, and where appropriate, with the information from the director about the stay, the academic committee of the doctoral program will assess the information and award the Qualification of Pass or Fail, which will be included in the activities record.

Doctoral students enrolled on doctoral programmes benefit from the mobility grants established in various national and international calls for applications. The calls of the Erasmus+ programme stand out. In the Modality Erasmus+ Studies, doctoral students can choose from a wide range of destinations as most of the agreements signed by the University of Zaragoza with other universities include places for doctoral students from all branches.

This mobility is carried out in accordance with the procedure Q-312_1. Procedure for the Management of the International Mobility of Undergraduate, Master and PhD Students.

With regard to the Erasmus+ Internships mode, doctoral students have access to two calls: the University of Zaragoza's own call and the one carried out by the Campus Iberus of International Excellence for the universities that are part of it, including Zaragoza.

Other interesting mobility calls are the Erasmus+ Short Mobility, the UNITA mobility, the external internships, those specifically aimed at Ibero-American students and those that finance international stays for pre-doctoral students, among others.

The mobility of doctoral students at the University of Zaragoza is also encouraged through the signing of co-supervision agreements with several foreign universities.

The Doctoral School of the University of Zaragoza has rules, regulations and procedures to facilitate the achievement of its various objectives. It is worth highlighting the Internal Regulations of the Doctoral School, the Instruction of the Doctoral School: Requirements for access, admission, dedication and permanence in the doctoral studies of the University of Zaragoza adapted to R.D. 99/2011. 99/2011; the Procedure for the elaboration of the Report on the Quality of Doctoral Studies and its different Programmes (ICED); the Code of Good Practices for the School and the doctoral programmes; the Doctoral Charter; the Procedure and model agreement to request the mention of doctorate industrial in the thesis or the Regulation of extraordinary doctoral awards. The aforementioned documents, drawn up with the participation and consensus of the various bodies of the Doctoral School, are published on its website.

The regulations section of the Doctoral School's website contains other important regulatory references for doctoral studies such as RD 99/2011 regulating official doctoral studies, the Regulations for Doctoral Studies (2012) and the Regulations on doctoral theses (2014), both from the University of Zaragoza.

Rules of duration and permanence in the doctorate are established in Instrucción de23 de mayo de 2018 de la Escuela de Doctorado relativa al acceso, admisión,dedicación y permanencia en los estudios de doctorado de la Universidad deZaragoza (R.D. 99/2011).

Full-time thesis should be complete in three years, from the date of admission to the doctoral program, although the Academic Committee of the program may authorize the extension of this period for one more year. Part-time doctoral students will have five years from their admission to the presentation of the thesis, and the Academic Committee may authorize an extension for two more years. Exceptionally, an additional year of extension can be added.

PhD candidates may request a change in dedication (full-time / part-time) as well as the temporary withdrawal for justified reasons of the Academic Committee. They can cause a definitive withdrawal and see their file closed in these cases: if the available time to deposit the thesis is exceeded or if they receive two consecutive negative evaluations of the research plan.

These processes are explained in detail on our website (info) and the doctoral students are told how to proceed in cases of temporary withdrawal (info).

Doctoral activity in an academic year is governed by the deadlines established in the specific doctoral academic calendar. This calendar, which is approved well in advance, sets the periods for application for access, admission to programmes, registration at the University of Zaragoza, presentation by doctoral students of the research plan and the activities document, as well as the deadlines for the defence of doctoral theses.

The website of the Doctoral School publishes the calendar for the current academic year, as well as for the two previous years.