The access requirements to carry out PhD studies under the protection of Royal Decree 99/2011, modified by the Royal Decree 576/2023.
The applications of new admissions to doctoral programmes will take place through the Virtual Secretariat, in the periods established in the Calendar of the general enrollment period. Students must fill in their personal and access data required in the admission application, including therein their identity document, copy of the academic degree which provides access to the PhD and, if applicable, additional and specific documents which may be required by the doctoral programme to which they apply for admission.
Students will complete in the admissions application a form in which they provide a sworn statement that they have the access requirements to doctoral studies without having to bring the original documents at the time and without prejudice of having to bring them within the enrollment process.
The Academic Commissions of Doctoral Programmes will carry out the selection of students and will publish the provisional and final list of students who are admitted and excluded, according to the selection criteria established in the programme, in the Electronic Office of the USC and the Virtual Secretariat of the applicant.
Against this decision students may file complaint to the Academic Commissions within the established time in the general enrollment period.
General requirements
Are those common and minimum requirements at an academic level in order to access doctoral studies.
In general, in order to access an official doctoral programme, it will be necessary to have the official Spanish degree titles, or equivalent, and a university Master, or equivalent, as long as it is over, at least, 300 ECTS credits as a whole in these two sectors of education.
In addition, there are other possibilities that allow access to the official doctoral studies, which are regulated in artícle 6 of the RD 99/2011.
Specific requirements and admission criteria
Are those specifically stated by each doctoral programme. For consultation, they are specified in the web for each of the programmes.
Students with foreign qualifications
1. The student with a foreign degree without validation may apply for admission to doctoral studies provided they prove a level of studies equivalent to an official Spanish university master title that authorises the access to doctoral studies in the country where the title will be given. This admission will not imply, in any case, the validation of the previous title nor recognition for other purposes than access to these studies.
2. If necessary, in the student application for admission, there is also the possibility of simultaneously doing the application for equivalence. The CAPD will value the academic adequacy of the studies completed by the applicant and this circumstance must be included in the proposal of those accepted in the programme.
3. The resolutions of equivalence will be recorded in the student´s record and can be certified as any other aspect included.
4. Students may enrol without having to wait for the equivalence resolution, but the validity of their enrollment will remain conditional upon this declaration.
You may request the equivalence via the email address sxa@usc.es
In the Academic Management Service (Servizo de Xestión Académica) you can apply for the equivalence of studies completed in the country of origin of the PhD student to enter the course and the academic equivalence of the doctor title completed in a foreign university. Please refer to the following link for more information.
Depending on the access profile of a particular applicant, the doctoral programme may establish the need to take certain training activities that complete the knowledge of the student; this training is called training supplements.
The academic commission of the programme and on its behalf, the coordinator will have to specify, where appropriate, the additional training that each PhD student must take and pass in order to be admitted, monitoring and controlling the additional training taken.
1. The additional training must not exceed 15 ECTS.
2. The realisation of these supplements will be prior or simultaneous to enrollment under academic supervision in the doctoral programme.
3. If the enrollment of these supplements is prior to the academic supervision it will cause the following effects:
- The student will only enroll in the training supplements.
- The supervising commitment shall not be signed and the document of activities shall not be opened for the PhD student until their achievement.
- The development of these shall neither count for the purpose of time limit established for the completion of the thesis, nor the effects of common entry requirements for the doctoral programme.
4. In the case of completing the additional training simultaneously with the academic supervision, the student must enroll for such training at the time of enrolling for the academic supervision in the doctoral programme, and must be completed in the maximum period of three consecutive terms; if not, the PhD student will have to leave the corresponding doctoral programme.
1. Application
Those who meet the general and specific requirements for the admission into each doctoral programme may submit the pre-registration form, within the period specified in the enrollment period. The application will be completed through the virtual secretary of the USC.
2. Documentation
The student will complete their personal access data required in the application for admission, also including:
a) National Identity Document (Spanish Citizens), NIE (residents in Spain) or Passport (foreigners).
b) Copy of the academic degree which provides access to the PhD.
c) If necessary, the specific documents which may be required by the Doctoral Programme where admission is applied.
In the case of foreign qualifications approved by the Spanish Ministry of Education, the copy of the approved credential of the foreign title by the Spanish Ministry of Education should be added.
In the case of non-accredited foreign titles, you must add the relevant equivalence application. More information.
3. Resolution
Once the period of submission of applications for pre-registration is over, the Doctoral Academic Commission (CAPD) for each Doctoral Programme will assess the applications according to the criteria for admission and assessment provided in each Doctoral Programme.
The Academic Management Service will publish the provisional lists of those accepted and excluded in the Electronic Bulletin Board of the USC.
4. Rectification
In the event that the pre-registration application to a doctoral programme results in “conditional acceptance”, in order to enroll, the student should proceed to address the resolution of his application within the established period. If the resolution is not completed within the established period, the student will lose the right to the reservation of a place initially assigned to them, which will be offered to the next candidate in the waiting list.
5. Claiming Period
Not happy with the resolution published, the student may submit a claim, within the established period, addressed to the Coordinator of the CAPD and submitted through the Electronic Office at the USC or any of the locations listed in Law 39/2015 of the 1st October, of the Common Administrative Procedure for Public Administrations.
Once resolved, the Academic Management Service will publish in the Electronic Bulletin Board at the USC the final list of those students admitted, as well as the waiting list, if applicable.
Registration for PhD studies for students with non-EHEA degrees
This call is aimed at graduate students from an educational systems outside the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) who hold a degree deemed homologated or equivalent to an official Spanish university degree, or to another degree conferred by an institution of higher education belonging to another Member State of the EHEA or a degree declared equivalent by the Ministry of Education, and that qualifies them for a PhD program.
Graduate students from educational systems outside the EHEA will also be eligible without validating their degree. As long as the University of Santiago de Compostela is able to verify that: their degree attests to a level of education equivalent to the corresponding Spanish university degree; and that in the issuing country qualifies the holder for PhD studies.
Students who reside in Spain or are or were enrolled in any degree of the three Galician universities are excluded from this call. Students from education systems of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) are also excluded. These students may request admission for the general fee.
You must make your application by meeting the deadlines set through the Virtual Secretary’s Office declaring the details of the academic records of the university degrees that give you access.