Doctoral Programme in Medieval Studies

Students who have completed any of the following master's courses will have access without the need to take supplementary training:

• Master’s in Medieval European Studies: Images, Texts and Context, offered by USC.
• Students with the Diploma of Advanced Studies obtained through the following USC programmes: Galician Philology; Galician Linguistics; Theory of Literature and Comparative Literature; Studies on the History of Art and Music; Economy and Society in History: Medieval and Modern Ages; German Philology; The Middle Ages. Images, Texts and Contexts; Classical Antiquity Texts and Languages.

Other profiles:

In the case of candidates with profiles different to those mentioned above, the Academic Committee evaluates each case individually. The possibility of requiring supplementary training will be considered (maximum 12 ECTS), depending on the academic transcript provided.

In the case of profiles of prospective students who have not taken a Master's course, they will need to provide proof of equivalence in training in research credits, at least equal to those of the Master's degree which provides direct access, which will be 60 ECTS.

Points for each merit are evaluated by the committee in the following way:

• Academic transcript: 60%
• Knowledge of languages (English/ French/ German/ Italian/ Portuguese), candidate must provide documentary proof: 10%
• Curriculum: 10%
• Professional experience (candidates must provide documentary proof): 5%
• Research experience (candidates must provide documentary proof): 5%
• Other merits: Competitive grants, distinctions, participation in congresses, courses, workshops: 10%

• Admission profile

  The admission profile establishes the knowledge, skills and abilities that students wishing to access this programme must possess and, consequently, the most suitable qualifications for access to the programme and which determine admission and, where appropriate, the need for PhD students to undertake complementary training or not.

  The Master’s degree that will allow admission to this PhD programme without the need for additional training will be that of Medieval European Studies. Images, Texts and Contexts, offered by the USC. Students with the DEA degree obtained through the following USC programmes will also have access to the programme without complements: Galician Philology, Galician Linguistics, Theory of Literature and Comparative Literature, Studies on History of Art and Music, Economy and Society in History: medieval and modern times, German Philology, Classical Antiquity Texts and Languages. And, in general, according to RD 822/2021, which establishes the organisation of university education and the procedure for quality assurance, all the master’s degrees included in the areas of Philology, Classical Studies, Translation and Linguistics, History of Art and Artistic Expression and Fine Arts, History, Archaeology, Geography, Philosophy and Humanities.

• Requirements

  Access

  The general access and admission requirements are those set out in Royal Decree 99/2011, of 28 January, which regulates official PhD studies, and as amended by Royal Decree 576/2023, of 4 July. These are:
  1. In general, in order to access an official PhD programme, it shall be necessary to hold an official Spanish Bachelor´s degree, or equivalent, and a Master´s degree or equivalent, provided that at least 300 ECTS credits have been obtained in these two courses as a whole.
  2. Access may also be granted to those who are in one of the following situations:
  a) To hold official university degrees or equivalent Spanish degrees, provided that at least 300 ECTS credits have been passed in these courses as a whole, and accredit a level 3 of the Spanish Qualifications Framework for Higher Education.
  b) To hold a degree obtained in accordance with foreign education systems belonging to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), without the need for homologation, which accredits a level 7 of the European Qualifications Framework, provided that this degree entitles access to PhD studies in the country of issue of the same. This admission shall not imply, in any case, the homologation of the previous degree held by the interested party nor its recognition for purposes other than access to PhD studies.
  c) To hold a degree obtained in accordance with foreign education systems outside the EHEA, without the need for its recognition, after verification by the university that it accredits a level of training equivalent to that of the official Spanish university Master´s degree and that it entitles the holder to access PhD studies in the country in which the degree was awarded. This admission shall not imply, in any case, the homologation of the previous degree held by the interested party, nor its recognition for purposes other than that of access to PhD studies.
  d) To hold another PhD or Doctorate degree.
  e) Likewise, university graduates who, after obtaining a place in training in the corresponding entrance examination to specialised health training posts, have passed with a positive evaluation at least two years of training in a programme for obtaining the official qualification in one of the specialities in Health Sciences, may also be admitted.

• Admission rules

  Students will be selected for admission to the programme on the basis of the following criteria:

  • Official USC Master’s Degree in Medieval Studies. Images, Texts and Contexts (100%). The PhD Programme has been epistemically related to the Master’s Degree since its foundation.
  • For students without this degree:
  o Academic record (60 %) determined by the grades obtained in the Master’s degree (or DEA or research proficiency).
  o Knowledge of a foreign language at level B1 or higher and knowledge of languages other than mother tongue, etc. Candidates must provide supporting documentation (10 %).
  o CV (10 %).
  o Professional experience (candidates must provide supporting documentation) (5%).
  o Research experience (candidates must provide supporting documentation) (5%).
  o Other merits: Competitive scholarships, prizes, attendance at conferences, courses, seminars: 10%.
  The same criteria will be applied to admit all students regardless of whether they are full-time or part-time.

• Title extinction

  The PhD programme may be terminated for any of the following reasons:
  • Failure to pass the accreditation renewal process established in article 10 of RD 99/2011.
  • Failure to accredit compliance with the requirements established by the state or regional regulations in force.
  • A proposal is made to terminate the programme as part of the degree review and improvement process in accordance with the procedure approved by the university.
  • The occurrence of any exceptional situation that prevents the correct development of the PhD programme.
  Termination shall have the following effects:
  • It will entail the loss of its official status and its removal from the RUCT.
  • It will not be possible to enrol new students in the PhD programme.
  • In any case, all affected students must be informed of the termination and of the consequences for the development of their studies.
  The University shall adopt the necessary measures to guarantee the academic rights of the students who are taking these studies under the terms established in the resolution for the termination of the study plan, and shall approve the procedure for the termination of the PhD programmes within the University.

• Latin and Medieval Philology

  Teachers	Area
  Manuel Enrique Vazquez Bujan	Latin Philology
  José Carracedo Fraga	Latin Philology
  Eva Maria Castro Caridad	Latin Philology
  Jose Maria Anguita Jaen	Latin Philology
  Joel Varela Rodriguez	Latin Philology

• Literary traditions in vernacular languages

  Teachers	Area
  Elvira Fidalgo Francisco	Romance Philology
  Santiago Lopez Martinez-Moras	Romance Philology
  Maria Esther Corral Diaz	Romance Philology
  Maria Isabel Moran Cabanas	Galician and Portuguese Philology
  Emilio Gonzalez Miranda	German Philology
  Maria Pilar Lorenzo Gradin	Romance Philology
  Victor Millet Schröder	German Philology
  Marina Arbor Aldea	Romance Philology
  Santiago Gutierrez Garcia	Romance Philology
  Antonio Chas Aguión	International Doctoral School
  Debora Gonzalez Martinez	Romance Philology
  Mª Cleofé Tato García	International Doctoral School

• Edition and transmission of medieval texts

  Teachers	Area
  Elvira Fidalgo Francisco	Romance Philology
  José António Souto Cabo	Galician and Portuguese Philology
  Maria Pilar Lorenzo Gradin	Romance Philology
  Victor Millet Schröder	German Philology
  Marina Arbor Aldea	Romance Philology
  Antonio Chas Aguión	International Doctoral School
  Debora Gonzalez Martinez	Romance Philology
  Eduardo José Pardo De Guevara Valdés	International Doctoral School
  César Olivera Serrano	International Doctoral School
  Mª Cleofé Tato García	International Doctoral School
  Isabel Beceiro Pita	International Doctoral School

• The medieval civilization in its historical dimensions

  Teachers	Area
  Jose Miguel Andrade Cernadas	Medieval History
  Israel Sanmartín Barros	Medieval History
  Xose Manoel Sanchez Sanchez	Medieval History
  Mariña Bermudez Beloso	Medieval History
  Diana Pelaz Flores	Medieval History

• History of medieval art

  Teachers	Area
  Mª Del Rocio Sanchez Ameijeiras	History of Art
  Julio Vazquez Castro	History of Art
  Begoña Fernandez Rodriguez	History of Art
  Maria De Fatima Diez Platas	History of Art
  Marta Cendon Fernandez	History of Art
  Mª Dolores Barral Rivadulla	History of Art
  David Chao Castro	History of Art
  Maria Dolores Fraga Sampedro	History of Art

• Books, report and archives in the middle ages

  Teachers	Area
  José Carracedo Fraga	Latin Philology
  Francisco Javier Varela Barreiro	Galician and Portuguese Philology
  Ana Isabel Suarez Gonzalez	Historiographic Science and Techniques

Its main objective is to provide students with interdisciplinary and transversal training, enabling them to acquire the highest level of professional and research skills. Medieval studies in Santiago have consolidated research groups that are recognised nationally and internationally, as well as stable and cutting-edge lines of work that will allow the most qualified students to obtain the best grants at national and regional level to develop their doctoral theses.
In addition to these guarantee references, the PhD has collaboration agreements with selected Spanish and European centres, so that those students who wish to do so can carry out stays there to enrich their scientific careers.
The main objective of the programme is to recover the different aspects of medieval heritage with the appropriate combination of specialisation and dissemination, so that the PhDs trained in the programme will have solid professional and/or research experiences that contribute to the conservation, enhancement and dissemination of the cultural legacy of an essential historical period in the formation of European civilisation.
This PhD is a unique offer in the SUG and is configured as a new alternative in the field of Humanities. Its main objective is to provide students with an interdisciplinary and transversal training, so that they acquire the highest level of professional and research skills.
Medieval studies in Santiago have consolidated and nationally and internationally recognised research groups, as well as stable and cutting-edge lines of work that will allow the most qualified students to obtain the best grants at national and regional level to develop their doctoral theses. In addition to these guarantee references, the PhD has collaboration agreements with selected Spanish and European centres, so that those students who wish to do so can carry out stays there to enrich their scientific careers.
The main objective of the programme is to recover the different aspects of medieval heritage with the appropriate combination of specialisation and dissemination, so that the PhDs trained in the programme can gain solid professional and/or research experiences that contribute to the conservation, enhancement and dissemination of the cultural legacy of a historical period that was essential in the formation of European civilisation.

• Basic skills

  - Systematic understanding of a field of study and mastery of research skills and methods related to that field.
  - Ability to conceive, design or create, implement and adopt a substantial research or creative process.
  - Ability to contribute to the expansion of the frontiers of knowledge through original research.
  - Ability to carry out critical analysis, evaluation and synthesis of new and complex ideas.
  - Ability to communicate with the academic and scientific community and with society in general about their fields of knowledge in the modes and languages commonly used in their international scientific community.
  - Ability to promote, in academic and professional contexts, scientific, technological, social, artistic or cultural progress within a knowledge-based society.
  - Ability to promote Open Science and Citizen Science, in accordance with article 12 of Organic Law 2/2023 of 22 March, as a way of contributing to the consideration of scientific knowledge as a common good, through the evaluation of transversal activities carried out by the PhD student related to different dimensions of Open Science and Citizen Science, as well as the training acquired in these disciplines in the form of micro-credentials or similar.

• Other competencies

  - Ability to carry out research in the field of medieval studies from a multidisciplinary perspective.
  - Ability to communicate and discuss the research carried out at national and international scientific meetings in the speciality.
  - Ability to transfer knowledge and disseminate the research results achieved in national and international scientific forums in the field of knowledge of the programme.

The profile of the programme’s graduates will enable them to acquire advanced training in research techniques. A PhD in ‘Medieval Studies’ has a training - both transversal (interdisciplinary) and specific (focused on a specific chronological period) - that makes them suitable for positions of responsibility in museums, libraries, archives and companies/agencies linked to the preservation, interpretation and study of artistic and cultural heritage, public and private research centres and the media, especially in an autonomous community such as Galicia, where medieval heritage is the richest and most relevant.

The main objective of this Masters degree is to train professionals and researchers in aquaculture; professionals with a solid recognised training at job level and researchers whose training allows them to carry out their research, with cutting-edge technologies, while keeping abreast of problems in production processing.