Program access information

Specific regulations. Access requirements and admission criteria.

Access requirements for new students:

• Official Spanish or European Union university degree (*).
• University degree from non-EU countries, subject to verification of the equivalence of the level of education to a Spanish university degree (resolution of the Rector).

Recommended profile

A degree in Architecture, Technical Architecture or Building Engineering is recommended, as well as having completed one of the master’s degrees affiliated to the Program or whose affinity is close to 100%.

Admission criteria

The doctoral program is organized, designed, coordinated and supervised by the Academic Committee (AC) responsible for its definition, updating and quality, as well as training and research activities. This committee is made up of between 8 and 10 members in addition to the program coordinator, all of them UPV PhD professors attached to the School of Architecture and the School of Building Engineering, including: their two respective directors, the directors of the Master’s programs attached to the program and the directors of the other departments (or professors delegated by them) specific to those schools not represented above. All members of the committee have at least one six-year period of recognized research or have supervised theses in the last five years.
It will be the CA who will ensure compliance with the program admission criteria and will be responsible for its evaluation, taking into account the following aspects:

• Academic qualifications: The program is open to Spanish or foreign graduates with a degree in architecture, urban planning, civil engineering or building engineering.

• Postgraduate training: Must have passed at least 60 credits of postgraduate training (Master’s degree) in the field of Architecture, Urban Planning or Building Engineering.

• Academic record: Both undergraduate and graduate transcripts must be provided to be evaluated by the CA.

• Training complements: The admission of the student may include the requirement of complementary training when the CA considers it necessary, depending on the student’s previous training.

The CA of the program will be responsible for evaluating the admission of students by applying a valuation index (IV) on a scale of 0 to 100 points.
Those who pass a minimum of 70 points will be admitted to the doctoral program. The IV will be calculated as indicated in the following cases:

1. In the case of having previously taken at least 60 credits at the university Master’s level, the following equation will be applied:

IV=25*ƒ E + 25*ƒ T + 40*ƒ M + 10*ƒO

Where ƒ E is the weighting factor of the academic record of the total studies (undergraduate and graduate) considering the overall average grade on a standardized scale from 0 to 1; ƒ T the weighting factor of the undergraduate degree; ƒ M the weighting factor of the graduate training and ƒ O: weighting factor between 0 and 1 depending on other merits such as other degrees, languages, research and work experience, scholarships, awards, etc., to be assessed by the Academic Committee of the Program.
The values taken by the factors ƒ T and ƒ M are given as shown in the following table:

Only those who meet an evaluation of ƒ M=1 would be exempt from taking complementary training, being able to access directly to the doctoral program. Otherwise, depending on the undergraduate and graduate training provided, the CA will determine the training complements that the student should take in order to be admitted to the doctoral program. These training complements may be acquired through the training offer of the three masters attached to the program (Master’s Degree in Architectural Heritage Conservation, Master’s Degree in Building, Master’s Degree in Advanced Architecture, Landscape, Urban Planning and Landscape), official degrees of the UPV with related contents that complement the training required to ensure the success of the doctoral training. Such training will be recommended taking into account the student’s training weaknesses and the line of research in which he/she shows interest in participating.

2. In the case of not having previously taken credits at the Master’s level and being in possession of an official Spanish Bachelor’s degree of at least 300 ECTS credits, the following equation will be applied:

IV=30*ƒ E + 60*ƒ T + 10*ƒO

Where ƒ E is the weighting factor of the academic record of the undergraduate studies considering the overall average grade on a normalized scale from 0 to 1; ƒ T is the weighting factor of the undergraduate degree and whose value is given as shown in the table presented for the previous assumption and ƒ O: weighting factor between 0 and 1 depending on other merits such as other degrees, languages, work experience, scholarships, etc., to be assessed by the Academic Committee of the Program.
Those who are assessed under this assumption must take compulsory additional training. As in the previous case, these training complements may be acquired through three master’s degree programs attached to the program (Master’s Degree in Architectural Heritage Conservation, Master’s Degree in Building, Master’s Degree in Advanced Architecture, Landscape, Urban Planning and Landscape), taught at the UPV, depending on the line of research to which they wish to be attached, and in accordance with the considerations of their tutor/director and the Academic Committee. These complements are specified in section 3.4.

In any case, the following cases are presented with the corresponding maximum number of credits:

Degree of affinity	Maximum number of credits
Master’s degree of affinity 100 % s/CA – Coef fM= 1	0 credits
Master’s degree of affinity 75 % s/CA – Coef fM= 0,75	12 credits
Master’s degree of affinity 50 % s/ CA – Coef fM= 0,5	18 credits
Degree 300 cr. ECTS without a master’s degree	24 credits

The applicant is required to provide, together with the other required documentation, a Preliminary Thesis Proposal (PPT)containing: proposed title, candidate, proposed director(s), motivation, objectives, research methodology and a preliminary list of sources (bibliography, archives), noting that if the application proposes a doctor of the program as thesis director, he/she must sign the approval of the preliminary thesis proposal.

As described in the section on admission criteria, the Academic Committee of the program, after studying the student’s curriculum and training, will define the list of training complements to be taken. These training complements will be acquired through the postgraduate academic offer of the university, in particular and mainly the three masters attached to the program:

1. Master’s Degree in Architectural Heritage Conservation.
2. Master’s Degree in Advanced Architecture, Landscape, Urban Planning and Design.
3. Master’s Degree in Building

considering the specific training required by the doctoral student for the adequate development of his or her research work.

The training complements will be coherent with the lines of research developed in the Human Resources section, considering, as a guideline, the following situations:

1.Line of Architectural Projects:

• Subjects of the Master’s Degree in Advanced Architecture, Landscape, Urban Planning and Design, in its specialties of Urban Planning, Architecture and Sustainable Habitat, Microarchitectures and Interior Design.

2.Architectural Composition: History, Theory, Design and Restoration:

• Subjects of the Master’s Degree in Advanced Architecture, Landscape, Urban Planning and Design, in its specialties of Urban Planning, Architecture and Sustainable Habitat, Microarchitectures and Interior Design.
• Subjects of the Master’s Degree in Architectural Heritage Conservation.

3.Architectural heritage: interpretation, conservation and development:

• Subjects of the Master of Advanced Architecture, Landscape, Urbanism and Design, in its specialties of Architecture and Sustainable Habitat, Microarchitectures and Interior Design and Technology of Architecture.
• Subjects of the Master’s Degree in Architectural Heritage Conservation.

4.Line of research in Color, Surveying and Graphic Analysis of Architecture and Structures:

• Subjects of the Master of Advanced Architecture, Landscape, Urbanism and Design, in its specialties of Architecture and Sustainable Habitat, Microarchitectures and Interior Design and Technology of Architecture.

5.Construction Technology Line:

• Subjects of the Master of Advanced Architecture, Landscape, Urbanism and Design, in its specialties of Architecture and Sustainable Habitat, Microarchitectures and Interior Design and Technology of Architecture.
• Subjects of the Master’s Degree in Architectural Heritage Conservation.
• Subjects of the Master’s Degree in Building.

6.Applied Physics in Architecture and Urbanism research line:

• Subjects of the Master of Advanced Architecture, Landscape, Urbanism and Design, in its specialties of Architecture and Sustainable Habitat, Microarchitectures and Interior Design and Technology of Architecture.
• Subjects of the Master’s Degree in Building.

7.Building Engineering research line:

• Subjects of the Master’s Degree in Advanced Architecture, Landscape, Urban Planning and Design, specializing in Architectural Technology.
• Subjects of the Master’s Degree in Building.

Only those who fall under assumption (a) described in the admission criteria and who meet a score of ƒ M=1 would be exempt from taking complementary training, and would be able to directly access the doctoral program.

Basics

• 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 process of research or creation.
• Ability to contribute to the expansion of the frontiers of knowledge through original research.
• Ability to critically analyze, evaluate and synthesize 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.

Personal skills and abilities

• To develop in contexts where there is little specific information.
• Find the key questions to be answered to solve a complex problem.
• Design, create, develop and undertake novel and innovative projects in their field of knowledge.
• Work both in a team and autonomously in an international or multidisciplinary context.
• Integrate knowledge, deal with complexity and make judgments with limited information.
• Intellectual criticism and defense of solutions.

Other competencies

• Ability to write scientific publications and efficiently within the field of some research lines of the program.
• Ability to understand, formulate and use the methodologies, research techniques and their applications within the field of one of the research lines of the program.
• Ability to analyze, formulate and apply solutions to research on architectural projects and/or develop strategies for the regeneration of urban settlements and landscape.
• To develop and articulate studies on cultural and architectural criticism, related to history, composition or aesthetics.
• To develop studies and methodologies aimed at the recovery and management of heritage and landscape environments, including architectural surveys and/or mural stratigraphy and metrological and geometric analysis for the recognition of current or historical architectures.
• Ability to know and develop new processes for the construction of architecture, as well as studies on structural pathologies and building materials.
• To develop studies on architectural and urban sustainability, both in the design of project strategies and in the acoustic and energy management of buildings, as well as environmental studies applied to architecture, territory and landscape.