Research in Optometry and Vision Sciences has experienced a meteoric rise in recent years. Advances in technology and instrumental measurement techniques have allowed for unprecedented progress in the theoretical knowledge of the processes and mechanisms of vision, which have resulted in significant advances in clinical techniques related to them, both in the field of Ophthalmology and Optometry and Vision Sciences. This has resulted in a substantial increase in research journals dedicated to sciences related to Optometry and Vision Sciences, as well as in the number of articles published worldwide in these areas. Publications that traditionally only tangentially considered work in these areas, now promote them, given the importance derived from these advances, which immediately translate into findings of clinical relevance in the treatment of visual problems, whether pathological or non-pathological.

The PhD in Optometry and Vision Sciences at the University of Valencia is born from the institution's extensive experience in research in these areas. The Department of Optics at this University saw the birth of one of the first research groups in Vision Sciences in this country, which is recognized as one of the most active and prolific in this field, translated into hundreds of publications in high-impact scientific journals and dozens of doctoral theses, which due to their original connection with the subject of Physics of Vision were assigned to the area of Physics.

The implementation of the Optics and Optometry studies multiplied the interest in research in the area of Optometry and Vision Sciences, which due to the impossibility of graduates to develop a doctoral thesis, has generated an unusual interest in doctoral studies. It is particularly interesting to note that, in the area of socioeconomic influence of the University of Valencia, there are also research centers with a significant dedication to the area of Optometry and Vision Sciences, such as the Medical Ophthalmology Foundation (which has signed cooperation agreements on research tasks with the Vision Sciences group of the University of Valencia), declared a University Research Institute attached to the University of Valencia.

The content of the Doctorate studies in Optometry and Vision Sciences is also in line with those offered and to be offered by other public and private universities in the Spanish state, such as the Complutense University of Madrid, the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, the University of Granada, the University of Santiago de Compostela, the University of Murcia, the University of Valladolid, the University of Alicante, the University of Zaragoza, and the European University of Madrid.

This program is part of the R&D&I strategy of the University of Valencia within the area of Health Sciences, completing the current offer of doctoral programs and following its specifications. It should be noted in this regard that the VLC/CAMPUS Campus of Excellence initiative promoted by the University of Valencia, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Polytechnic University of Valencia specifically includes an innovation and research platform dedicated to Health Science and Technology, as well as an International Postgraduate and Doctoral School.

The aim of this program is to evolve and develop to make the most of the possibilities offered by these platforms.
This program offers places for full-time students with a duration of four years and, with prior authorization from the academic committee, they may undertake part-time doctoral studies with a duration of seven years (both options with the possibility of requesting an additional extension to increase the duration by one more year).

The various doctors assigned to the doctoral program maintain various collaborations with other academic and research institutions, both national and international. It is worth highlighting the large number of joint publications with researchers from these academic and research institutions, as well as joint research projects carried out.