Official postgraduate studies aim to deepen the student’s knowledge in academic, professional or research training, and are divided into two cycles: the Master’s degree programmes (second cycle) and PhD programmes (third cycle). Successful completion of these cycles leads to a Master’s degree and PhD degree, respectively. These programmes may be shared among the faculties, schools and institutes and may be inter-university or mixed with other public or private organisations.
Master’s and PhD programmes are carried out under the direction and academic responsibility of a faculty or school, a department, a university research institute or a specific organisation set up for this purpose, under the supervision of the Postgraduate Studies Committee.
Master’s degree programmes
Successful completion of the second cycle of university studies leads to an official Master’s degree. This cycle is dedicated to the advanced training of a specialised or multidisciplinary nature and is aimed at academic/ professional specialisation or research tasks. These programmes range from 60 and 120 ECTS credits (European Credit Transfer System), which take one to two academic years to complete. Master’s degree programmes consist of theoretical and practical training and conclude with the preparation of a final project. Furthermore, when the programme is professionally oriented, it includes work placements/internships in businesses and institutions. The official Master’s degree programmes may or may not continue on to a PhD programme.
Doctoral Studies
The third cycle of university studies is aimed at advanced training of students. Successful completion of this cycle entitles the student to a PhD degree. The programmes are distributed into a taught period and a research period. The taught period may require between 60 and 120 ECTS credits of one or more official Master’s degrees and a research period including courses, seminars and other activities oriented towards research training. The research period includes preparation and presentation of a PhD thesis, which consists of original research work. Both training and research lead to a PhD degree.