Doctoral Programs Admission Rules Article 1 (Object) The following rules govern the procedure for applying for the PhD Programs in the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra, according to the Regulations of the Doctoral Programs of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC). Article 2 (Scope) All rules apply to all FCTUC PhD programs except for Joint/Collaborative Doctoral Programs. Article 3 (General) 1 - All candidates must comply with the rules regarding the qualifications required to apply for the PhD Programs. In accordance with article 64 of the Academic Regulations of the University of Coimbra (ARUC), the following candidates may apply to the Doctoral Programs: a) Holders of a Master degree (MSc) or equivalent degree; b) Lecturers who have passed educational and scientific capacity exams; c) Holders of Bachelor's level degree (BSc) who have a relevant scientific and/or academic curriculum acknowledged to be suitable for this cycle of studies by the Scientific Board of the FCTUC; d) Holders of a relevant academic, scientific or professional curriculum acknowledged to be suitable for this cycle of studies by the FCTUC Scientific Board; 2 The acknowledgment mentioned in subsections c) and d) of nº1 of this article, only allows admission to the cycle of studies leading to the PhD degree; it does not grant the holder equivalence to, or acknowledge, a BSc or MSc degree. 3 According to nº 2 of the article 67 of the ARUC, specific access criteria for each course may be established.
Article 4 (Applications) 1 Applications are submitted online using the specific form available at the FCTUC website. 2 Submitting an Application requires the payment of a fee. Article 5 (Application procedure) 1 Applications must include the following documents: a) Copy of the student s identity card or passport; b) Document(s) proving that the candidate meets the conditions referred in article 64 of the ARUC; c) Document detailing courses and grades obtained (for degrees other than those concluded at FCTUC); d) Document stating the number of hours and the syllabuses of the degree held (for degrees other than those concluded at FCTUC); e) Academic and Professional Curriculum Vitae, in the Europass format (http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/), specifically mentioning the suitability of the student s instruction in the 1st and 2nd cycles for the 3rd cycle chosen. f) Letter of motivation and intent; g) Two letters of recommendation. 2 - a) If the student is not able to present all the documents required at the time the application is made, unofficial documents may temporarily replace the official ones referred to in subsections b), c), and d) of no. 1 of this article. In these circumstances all official documents must be submitted by the end of the deadline specified in the application calendar or the application will not be considered and the application fee will not be reimbursed. b) If the content of the official documents delivered differs from that of the unofficial ones submitted with the application, the candidate should explicitly mention this circumstance when the official documents are submitted. The Faculty of Sciences and Technology has the right to re-evaluate the application in question and cancel it if the new data may disqualify the candidate. 3 Foreign students must have the documents referred to in b), c), and d) of nº 1 of this article validated by legal education services, consular services or by the Hague Apostille. Documents should be written in Portuguese, Spanish, French or English. If not, they should be translated into Portuguese by an official translator acknowledged by the Portuguese Diplomatic Representation.
4 - All documents should be delivered in pdf digital format. Only candidates who are accepted need to deliver the officially certified hard copy originals by the deadline stipulated in the calendar. Article 6 (Selection and ranking) 1 Selection and ranking of candidates aims at maximizing the success of the students in the Doctoral Program they have applied for. The ranking may be based on the following elements: a) Academic and Professional Curriculum; b) Suitability of the 1st and 2nd cycles instruction for the 3rd cycle requisites; c) Letter of motivation and intent; d) Letters of recommendation; e) Knowledge and competence tests/exams; f) Interview. 2 The publication of the criteria used to assess the different elements included in the selection and ranking process should be available at the FCTUC website 15 days before the application deadline. 3 The selection and ranking of candidates is conducted by the Doctoral Program coordination committee, or by a selection committee that it may appoint. 4 After the selection process candidates may be admitted or rejected. The acceptance of a candidate may be unconditional if all that is required is the candidate s intention to enrol in the program, or conditional on the conclusion of any courses that may be advised. In these circumstances the candidate may only enrol in the Program if he/she has passed these courses/subjects before the start of the Doctoral Program. Article 7 (Accreditation of competences) 1 Students may ask the Doctoral Program s coordination committee for accreditation of the PhD Program courses. Accreditation may be granted for the full curricular part of the Program. 2 For prior accreditation the student should fill in the specific fields in the online application.
3 - Accreditations are decided during the selection and ranking process by the Doctoral Program s coordination committee or by a selection committee that it may appoint. Article 8 (Deadlines) 1 - The deadlines are specified in the calendar attached to these rules. 2 The Director of FCTUC may accept applications outside the scheduled deadline whenever it is deemed that the applicants can be included in the programs, on the advice of the relevant scientific boards. Article 9 (Vacancies) 1 The Doctoral Programs may not have pre-established vacancies, whereas the acceptance of candidates depends only on the defined criteria, according to article 16 of the Regulation of Doctoral Programs of FCTUC. 2 The Rector of the University of Coimbra shall decide whether there are to be any vacancies and the number thereof, on the recommendation of FCTUC. 3 If sufficiently well justified the number of vacancies may be increased after the application deadline. Article 10 (Exclusion) 1 Candidates who at any time provide false statements/declarations, will be disqualified. 2 The Director of the FCTUC, or someone appointed by the Director, shall decide on disqualification. 3 Candidates who provide false statements/declarations, may not register or enrol in that year in any Doctoral Program of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra. Artigo 11 (Tie-breaking) Whenever two or more applicants tie for admission and there is only one vacancy left, additional vacancies are created. Article 12 (Publication of results)
The ranked lists of admitted students are published through notices in the usual locations and on the FCTUC website. Article 13 (Claim or complaint) 1 Once the lists mentioned above have been published, applicants have 10 days to make any claim or complaint. 2 The claim/complaint must be addressed to the Director of the FCTUC and delivered to the Academic Affairs office of the FCTUC. Article 14 (Decision on the claim/complaint) The Director of FCTUC shall decide on the claim/complaint within 5 days of receipt thereof. Article 15 (Outcome of claim or complaint) If any claim/complaint is considered valid and there is no available vacancy, one will be created. Article 16 (Enrolment and registration) 1 The rules of enrolment and registration are established in article 70 of the ARUC. 2 Candidates accepted for a Doctoral Program should enrol within 60 days, except in the circumstances mentioned in subsection 3 of this article. 3 Candidates admitted to a Doctoral Program whose enrolment is dependent on the granting of a scholarship will be allowed a period in which to decide to enrol as long as they have explicitly mentioned their situation in their application. The enrolment shall be kept on hold in the Academic Affairs office of FCTUC. Applicants have a year from the date of the start of the application to decide on their enrolment. After that deadline the application expires automatically. 4 During the period established in subsection 3 of this article, the applicant must send a statement to the Doctoral Program s coordination committee declaring his/her intention to enrol in the Program once conditions allow him/her to do so. The Doctoral Program coordination committee shall decide whether enrolment shall be in the current program or the next one, depending on when it receives the statement. 5 Whenever a student fails to register and enrol by the scheduled deadline, the next student on the ranked list will be notified by letter, until the vacancy is filled or
until the last student has been contacted.
Article 17 (Omissions) Any omissions will be resolved by order of the Director of FCTUC. Article 18 (Entry into force) The present rules shall take effect the day after their publication on the FCTUC website, where they shall remain for as long as they are valid.