Program access information

Recommended admission profile to the Biotechnology Doctoral Program

For admission to the Official Doctoral Program in Biotechnology, each applicant must provide the documentation generally required by the UPV, as well as the justification of academic merits.

According to the general regulations for access to an Official Doctoral Program it will be necessary to be in possession of an Official Spanish Degree, or equivalent, and a Master’s Degree (although the regulations also allow access to doctoral programs to those who are in any of the cases 2 a, b, c, d or e described in article 6. Requirements for access to the Ph.of RD99/2011 and detailed in the previous section).

These assumptions include being in possession of Other official university degrees, Spanish or foreign of the EHEA, that qualify for Master, with a minimum of 300 credits in the set of university studies and with at least 60 of Master level; Foreign degrees that accredit degree and Master level and qualify for Doctoral studies; Spanish bachelor’s degrees with a minimum of 300 ECTS credits, of which at least 60 are equivalent in educational value to the research credits of a master’s degree (otherwise they must receive mandatory complementary training); Graduates with two years of specialized health training programs in Health Sciences; and Applicants with another Spanish doctoral degree.

Based on these considerations, specific admission criteria are proposed for the Doctoral Program in Biotechnology. The Academic Committee will ensure compliance with these admission criteria and will be responsible for their evaluation. All members of the Academic Committee will have at least one six-year period of recognized research, having supervised theses in the last 5 years.

Access to the Official Doctoral Program in Biotechnology at the UPV is open to those applicants who hold any of the undergraduate degrees/other degrees admitted according to previous regulations (Spanish or foreign) and who accredit the necessary postgraduate training (having passed at least 60 credits of master’s degree training or equivalent level according to previous regulations, or two years of specialized health training). The accredited training must be included among the titles and areas of training related to the program described below:

Degrees related to the program

The following degrees are considered to be related to the Program: Bachelor’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Biotechnology, Agricultural Engineering, Forestry Engineering, Agricultural and Rural Engineering, Food Science and Technology, Forestry and Environmental Engineering, and the corresponding degrees in Biochemistry, Pharmacy, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Marine Sciences, Biomedicine, Biomedical Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Food Science and Technology, Oenology, Environmental Sciences, and Biological Sciences, as well as degrees with related training in the fields of Agronomy, Engineering, Life Sciences and Medicine and Public Health.

The Interuniversity Master’s Degree in Plant Breeding, the University Master’s Degree in Plant Molecular and Cellular Biotechnology and the University Master’s Degree in Biomedical Biotechnology of the UPV are considered related to the program. Likewise, other master’s degrees, or equivalent training at master’s level, in the fields of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Food Science and Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences and Medicine and Public Health are also considered related to the program.

Previous knowledge and skills

Students admitted to the program are required to have the basic knowledge and skills to develop their activities in the program. Students who have completed these degrees and received this training are considered to have basic knowledge of the fundamentals of Biochemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Microbiology, Genetics, Plant Breeding, Genomics, Cell Biology, Immunology, Physiology, etc. Given the breadth of profiles it is difficult to specify all the capabilities. For each of the degrees, diplomas, masters and equivalent training indicated there is a list of the competences and knowledge that are acquired in each of them and that are recommended for access to the program. A good level of English, B2 or higher, spoken and written, will be required and knowledge of Spanish will be positively valued.

Training complements

For admission to the program, and depending on the number of places available for the PhD in the lines of research of the Program, the CAP will evaluate the academic record, complementary training and experience of the applicant, as reflected in his or her Curriculum Vitae. Those students who accredit a related degree, which complies with the regulations described above, and a minimum of 60 credits of a Master’s degree, or equivalent training at Master’s level, related to the program, will not require complementary training.

In some cases the admission of the student may include the requirement of complementary training, when the Academic Committee of the Program considers it necessary. Complementary training will be required when the postgraduate training that is accredited (master’s degree, master’s training or equivalent according to the above assumptions) is not among the related training described above. In these cases the Commission, in agreement with the thesis director/tutor, will propose to the student a reinforcement in his/her training according to the following criteria:

• Those students who have completed a Master’s degree, or equivalent training, not related, which presents 75% of subjects related to the Program, will have a training complement of up to a maximum of 12 ECTS credits, as proposed by the director/tutor and approved by the CAP.

• Those students who have completed a Master’s degree, or equivalent training, not related to the Program, which presents 50% of subjects related to the Program, will have a complementary training of up to a maximum of 24 ECTS credits, as proposed by the director/tutor and approved by the CAP.

On the other hand, those graduates who are in case b) must take the mandatory training complements:

b) Be in possession of an official Spanish Graduate Degree, the duration of which, in accordance with Community Law, is at least 300 ECTS credits and who cannot prove that part of this training includes research training credits, equivalent in training value to research credits from Master’s studies.

The training complements may be acquired through the training offer of the Official Masters of the UPV selected among the subjects of the 3 Masters associated to the Program, which are listed below:

OFFICIAL INTERUNIVERSITY MASTER’S DEGREE IN PLANT BREEDING

Complementary Statistics for Plant Breeding. Applications of genomics to plant breeding. Experimental Designs for the Evaluation and Selection of Materials. Applications of In Vitro Culture in Plant Breeding. Advanced Genetic Analysis. Plant Reproductive Biology and Biotechnology. Development and Application of Molecular Markers in Plant Breeding. Plant Genetic Resources. Instrumental Techniques in Plant Breeding. Crops: Breeding Objectives. Population Genetics Applied to Breeding. Advanced Quantitative Genetics. Ornamental plant breeding. Breeding methods. Genetic improvement of stress resistance. Genetic improvement of quality. Breeding of tree species. Plant variety rights and commercial production of propagating material. Breeding for yield in agricultural systems. Specific breeding. Transgenic Plants

OFFICIAL MASTER’S DEGREE IN BIOMEDICAL BIOTECHNOLOGY

Molecular biology of cancer. Advanced Cell Biology. Molecular Biology and Advanced Genetic Engineering. Drug and biopharmaceutical development. Cardiovascular diseases. Immune system diseases. Infectious and liver diseases. Metabolic diseases. Neurological diseases. Aging, Human genetics. Structural and functional genomics. Human genomics. Advanced immunology. Biomedical biotechnology from a business perspective. Proteomics and metabolomics. Assisted reproduction. Model system. Cell therapy and regenerative medicine. Gene therapy. Legal and ethical aspects of biomedical biotechnology.

OFFICIAL MASTER’S DEGREE IN MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY

Advanced concepts and techniques in plant biotechnology. Emerging techniques in plant biotechnology. Molecular Bases in Plant Biotechnology. Applications in Plant Biotechnology. Introduction to the professional/research sector. The training will be recommended taking into account the formative weaknesses of the student and the line of research in which he/she is interested in participating.

Weighting of admission criteria

For admission to the program, each applicant must provide the documentation generally required by the UPV, as well as justification of academic merits. The commission will adjust to the available places, weighing the merits provided by the student in the following way:

1.-The evaluation of the academic record of the undergraduate degree and/or equivalent training according to the previous regulations, considering the overall average grade on a standardized scale, will be worth 40% of the final score.

2.- The evaluation of accredited postgraduate training, academic record of master’s degree or equivalent training according to previous regulations, or specialized health training with an official degree in Health Sciences, will be worth 45% of the final score.
In this section each student will be evaluated on only one of the two criteria 2a or 2b.

• 2.a The evaluation of the academic record of the master’s degree, or equivalent training, considering the overall average grade on a standardized scale, will be worth 45% of the final score.

• 2.b As an alternative to the evaluation of the master’s degree transcript, in the case of students of degrees that can access specialization phases in the area of Health Sciences, the evaluation of the two years of training in the program for obtaining the official degree of the corresponding specialty will be valued with 45% of the final score (it is reminded that it is a requirement for access to the program that this type of students have passed two years of training in the specialization program).

3.-Other merits: professional experience, publications, accredited levels of English higher than B2, other languages, training courses, participation in teaching activities, will be valued in such a way that they account for 15% of the final score.

It has been established that for the next courses the number of new places offered will be 15. These new places can be either full-time or part-time, so as not to discriminate against students who must combine their studies with a professional dedication. However, given that the capacity of the Program’s research groups is sufficiently large, the number of admissions may be increased considering the capacity of the associated research structures.

The PhD Academic Committee will analyze applications for admission of students with special educational needs due to disability, without in any case this disability being an additional criterion for non-admission. All the accessibility services available at the UPV will be made available to these students through the UPV’s Service for Students with Disabilities (CEDAT Foundation): Advice, Accompaniment in the classroom and in the study, Loan of technical aids for study, transport and communication, etc. Also, if necessary, the committee will evaluate the need for possible curricular adaptations.

As established in the section on access requirements, for those students who do not have training related to the program, the CAP will establish, at the suggestion of the thesis tutor, the complementary training deemed necessary to develop the activity in the Program. The tutor will seek, where appropriate, the opinion of the thesis supervisor, if he/she is not the same.

At the proposal of the thesis director/tutor and with the approval of the academic committee, the student will be offered a reinforcement in his or her training consisting of:

• Those students who present 60 credits of a Master’s degree related to the program will not require complementary training.
• Those students who have taken a related Master’s degree but do not reach 60 credits, must complete the minimum of 60 credits.
• Those students who have taken a non-related Master’s degree, with at least 50% of subjects related to the Program, will have a training complement of up to 30 credits, as proposed by the director/tutor and approved by the CAP.
• Those students who have taken a non-related Master’s Degree, with less than 50% of subjects related to the Program, will have a 60-credit training complement, as proposed by the director/tutor and approved by the CAP.

The training available in the UPV masters associated to the program presents the ideal characteristics as training complements, if necessary.

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.