Doctoral Studies Philosophy:

The Doctoral Studies in Social Economy aims to advanced training in research techniques and leads to obtaining the official qualification of Doctor, which is valid throughout the national territory, with full effects and constitutes the degree of higher importance within the educative system in Spain.

The programme enables students to acquire the methodology of scientific research and the specialisation in the knowledge of different programmes in the area of Social Economy, in particular on issues of Cooperatives, Nonprofit organisations, Associations, Foundations and Organisations of the third social sector. In the programme we analyse its lines and research approaches and we use the research methodology applied and adapted to the field of Social Economy. The research in Social Economy is addressed from multiple disciplines, among them, Law, Applied Economics, Business Organisation, Accounting, Financial Economy, Marketing and Sociology.

In the immediate surroundings of the future doctoral studies there is a great Research Centre in Social Economy, the CIRIEC-Spain (www.ciriec.es) of great prestige at Spanish and Latin American level, with which the University of Valencia has a cooperation agreement since 1989. As a result of this agreement  a Centre for Research and Documentation in Social Economy CIDEC (www.uv.es/cidec) was created, the most important in Spanish language and one of the most powerful at Spanish level. The CIRIEC as scientific society has scientific journals in economy and social sciences of high impact, the journal “CIRIEC-España, revista de economía pública, social y cooperativa” and the legal journal of social economy. It also manages, along with the University Institute on Social and Cooperative Economics, three Observatories of Social Economy, with the financing of regional, national and international public administrations, such as the Spanish Observatory of Social Economy.

The interest and scientific importance of the doctoral programme is given by the quantity and quality of centres and bodies dedicated to research in Social Economy and Cooperatives and that participate actively in the Master’s. CIRIEC-Spain belongs to CIRIEC-International, a scientific society with more than 50 years old and based in Liege (Belgium), which encourages scientific work groups of international nature, a scientific journal of high impact and scientific conferences specialised in social economy.

Also, constantly conferences and seminars are held,  in which  from the academic point of view are addressed the study of Social Economy. An example of this is the University Conferences in Social Economy and Cooperatives that are held in the Faculty of Economics of the University of Valencia organised by IUDESCOOP of the University of Valencia.