Formative program

The current doctoral programme is associated with training activities, which replace the former doctoral courses. In contrast to previous programmes, the activities are compulsory. The doctoral school and the programme offer more and more activities, and it is possible to participate in activities of other programmes. The minimum requirements imposed on PhD students in our programme, to be carried out throughout the PhD, are as follows:

  • 270 hours in activities of the Doctoral School (these include both those proposed by the school and by the different programmes, including ours).
  • 50 hours in seminars on methodological and instrumental tools.
  • 40 hours of sharing with other researchers outside our own research group.
  • 20 hours for the periodic presentation in the research group.
  • 300 hours of stays in national and international centres: optional and can be substituted by the participation of the PhD student in other activities with a similar training objective, such as a proven collaboration with other research groups in which the candidate has an active and demonstrable mission.
  • 30 hours of participation in doctoral summer schools or "doctoral consortia": optional and may be substituted by the participation of the PhD student in other activities with a similar training objective.
  • 30 hours in invited seminars
  • 30 hours for attendance at conferences: optional and may be replaced by the PhD student's participation in other activities with a similar training objective, such as publications in high-impact journals, complemented by presentations of the work developed for a wide audience, beyond the student's own research group.

Activities may be replaced by activities of a similar nature. It is recommended that, as far as possible, the activities should be face-to-face, as one of the purposes is the exchange with other researchers. Tasks such as writing or publishing an article, reading articles, writing reports, conducting experiments, writing the thesis, etc. are not considered as training activities.