University of Valencia logo Logo Doctoral Programme in Clinical Psychology and Health Logo del portal

1. Do I have to complete the Master’s Degree studies for applying it?

In order to access to the Doctoral Programme regulated by the R. D. 99/2011 it will be necessary, in general:

  • To hold the Spanish qualifications of Undergraduate Degree, or equivalent and of University Master’s Degree (it will be necessary to accredit 300 ECTS.)
  • Other possible ways for entering to Programme are:
    • To hold a degree obtained according to foreign educational systems, without the need of its accreditation, after verification by the university that it certifies a level of training equivalent to the official Spanish qualification of the Master’s Degree and which confers in the issuance country of the degree the access to doctoral studies. This admission doesn’t not imply the accreditation of the previous degree or its recognition for other purposes.
    • To hold other Spanish Doctoral qualification.
    • To be doctoral student under previous university regulations.
    • Holding a degree or a licenciatura (former Spanish undergraduate degree) in Psychology, or a validated degree (such as, licenciatura in Philosophy and Education Sciences, Psychology Section.)
    • Licenciados (holders of a licenciatura) who hold a Diploma de Estudios Avanzados (a tertiary education degree) according to the provisions of the RD 778/1998 or who have achieved research proficiency regulated in the RD 185/1985, as far as they meet the conditions stated in the previous point.
    • For degrees obtained abroad it is important that you remember that it is necessary:
      1. To translate officially the documentation which is written in a language other that Spanish and/or Catalan.
      2. To legalise officially the documentation if you come from outside the European Higher Education Area.

2. I have studied outside Spain, what steps should I take regarding to the legalisation of my studies?

If you have studied outside Spain and you hold a degree issued by a foreign university you should present the documentation translated by an official translator if the University that issued the degree belongs to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), if it doesn’t belong to the EHEA, apart from the translations you should also submit the legalisation of the documents.
You can consult the legalisation ways on Doctoral Studies Service. If you still have doubts, you can contact with the administration of the doctoral programmes: doctorado@uv.es

3. Can I access it with any other Master’s Degree?

No, you cannot. You must have taken the Master’s degree in Developments in Research and Treatment in Psychopathology and Health (now phasing out), which is related to this doctoral programme, or the current one Master’s degree in General Health Psychology. In cases when these studies have not been taken, the completion of other students of the same level and branch of knowledge must be proved. In the latter case, the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme in Clinical and Health Psychology can establish the compulsory character of taking some optional subjects of the current University Master’s degree in General Health Psychology.

4. If I have entered to the Official Master’s Degree with a Diplomatura, Technical Engineering or Technical Architecture (Former Spanish Undergraduate Degrees) (equivalent to 180 ECTS) and the Master’s Degree has less than 120 ECTS, Can I access to the Doctoral Programme?

No, you cannot. As established in the article 6 of the RD 99/2011 for accessing to the doctoral programme, it is necessary to certify 300 credits, as it is explained in a previous section. In case of not reaching 300 ECTS, you can:

  • Make the adaptation to the Undergraduate Degree.
  • Complement the credits needed with others from Master’s Degree in General Health Psychology, which is worth 60 ECTS.

5. What rating system is used for admitting a student?

The following criteria will be considered:

  1. Average grade of the undergraduate degree/licenciatura academic record (20%).
  2. Average grade of the Master’s degrees named in previous sections (30%).
  3. Knowledge of languages, mainly knowledge of English, adjusting to the currently existing official certifications and that prove officially the knowledge level of the language (10%).
  4. Other achievements related to academic training, proved collaboration and professional experience in Clinical and Health Psychology (30%).
  5. Personal interview (10%).

Having already a thesis director will be deemed extremely important. The teaching staff and the research lines can be found in this website.
If the person who directs the thesis is not from the Doctoral Programme in Clinical and Health Psychology, it will be necessary that the CAPD in Clinical and Health Psychology gives its agreement to who was going to direct the thesis and, furthermore, it will be essential that the supervisor of the thesis is member of the teaching staff of the Doctoral Programme. We insist on these requirements in subsequent sections.

6. When to do the pre-enrolment and where to apply for it?

The admission application form is made during a single period that is established by the Office of the Principal, it generally start at the end of July and finish in October. Each academic year may vary slightly, the updated information is available on the Doctoral Studies Service.
The admission application form is done telematically through the Doctoral Studies Service.
In the case that you have planned to prepare the doctoral thesis on the premises of the University of Valencia and you still do not have a thesis supervisor and/or director in the Doctoral Programme, it is very important that as a previous step to the pre-enrolment you contact with the research line in which you wish to develop the doctoral thesis. This Doctoral Programme deems essential to have the support of a member of the teaching staff from the Programme who accepts your admission in their working team, or who supervises your thesis in case your director is not part of the programme. This in an informal process that you should make on your own account.
Exceptionally, those students who have external funding may apply for admission to the programme beyond the official deadline established by the University of Valencia. To do this you should contact the Programme Academic Committee (doctorpcs@uv.es) for tailored assessment.

7. Do I need to have a supervisor and/or thesis director before to pre-enrol?

The answer is yes, you do, as it has been stated in a previous section. It is very important that, as a previous step to the pre-enrolment, you contact first with theresearch line in which you wish to develop the doctoral thesis. For this Doctoral Programme you have to have the support of a member of the teaching staff who accepts your admission in their working team, or who supervises your thesis in case your director is not part of the programme. This in an informal process that you should make on your own account.

8. Can I prepare the doctoral thesis in a part-time basis?

Yes, you can develop the doctoral thesis in a part-time basis, provided that you have included this preference in your pre-enrolment application form and the Academic Committee has approved it. To do this, we highly recommend you that in the motivation letter you include the reasons that prevent you from developing the doctoral studies in a full-time basis, and to have the approval of your tutor and/or director.

9. What is the duration of the doctoral studies?

For the students enrolled in programmes regulated according to the RD 99/2011, 3 full-time years (plus 2 extensions of one year each) and 5 (plus 2 extensions, the first of two years and the second of one) in a part-time basis are established. For the purpose of this calculation the sick leaves, maternity leaves or leaves for any other cause provided by current regulations will not be taken into account.
Remember that if the years established have passed through without presenting the application form for the submission of the thesis you should apply for the extension to the Academic Committee. You should make such application form within the usual term (from 1 to 25 July) established for the annual monitoring of activities by the Academic Committee.
The doctoral student can apply for a temporary withdrawal in the programme for a maximum of one year, extensible to another year. This application should be sent to the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme within the usual term (from 1 to 25 July) that is set for the annual monitoring of activities by the Academic Committee.

10. How do I know if I am accepted?

Since the end of the deadline set for the application for admission, the Academic Committee of the programme has 15 working days to notify the result of the admission process. The admission results will be communicated by the coordinator of the programme to the Doctoral Studies Service, which will publish the list of students excluded, admitted and on the waiting list. The University of Valencia will contact with the students “admitted” by email and will inform them about the procedure to be followed for preparing their enrolment in the corresponding doctoral programme, after the publication of the list of students admitted, excluded and on the waiting list.

11. How do I prepare the enrolment?

Once you have been admitted to the doctoral programme you should prepare the enrolment as academic supervision. The enrolment should be prepared telematically and organised by the Doctoral Studies Service of the University of Valencia. In those cases where background credits are required you should enrol thereof at the time of preparing the academic supervision enrolment.
At the moment of enrolling in the programme, your tutor (always a member of the Doctoral Programme) will be the person responsible of helping you and assessing with you the training activities to be performed throughout the Programme. By other who direct the thesis and will be in charge of the supervision of the doctoral thesis. When the person who supervises the thesis is a member of the teaching staff of the Doctoral Programme, it is usual for your tutor to be one of the thesis directors.
After formalising the first year enrolment, the doctoral student, the University, the tutor, and if applicable the director should jointly subscribe the doctoral commitment document, related to, among other questions, procedures of conflict solving which can be applied to aspects concerning to copyright or industrial property and in general to the monitoring functions of the research activity of the doctoral student.

12. Who should I contact if I have doubts once enrolled in the programme?

The websites of the Doctoral Programme and the Doctoral Service are the main points of information. They contain all the necessary information for the follow-up of the Doctoral Programme, use them independently as the main consultation point.
If you can not resolve your doubts in this way, your supervisor is the first person you should contact in case you have doubts. If your supervisor can not help you, he/she will direct you to the Doctoral Programme contacts: