Application
APPLICATIONS OPEN
1st call: 3rd to 31st March 2025 (9 places)
2nd call: 2nd June to 15th July 2025 (5 + remaining places)
3rd call: 1st to 12nd September 2025 (1 + remaining places)
This PhD programme is biennial.
Who can apply | Submission of applications | Evaluation Criteria | Annual Fee
1- Applicants for admission to the Doctoral Programme in Democracy in the 21st Century must be:
a) Holders of a master's degree or legal equivalent;
b) Holders of a bachelor's degree, holders of a particularly relevant academic or scientific curriculum that is recognized as attesting capacity to carry out this cycle of studies by the Academic Board of the Faculty of Economics.
2 - The recognition referred to in subparagraph b) of paragraph 1 only allows access to the cycle of studies leading to a PhD Degree and does not grant its holder the recognition or equivalence to a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree.
Available places: 15
Applications must be exclusively submitted via the online Platform InforEstudante. Instructions are available here.
Required documentation
- Motivation letter, written in Portuguese or English, with a maximum of 1 page. The text must present, clearly and objectively, the reasons that justify the application, by highlighting the academic, professional and research interests of the applicant, and explaining how the programme
aligns with his/her goals and future plans (MANDATORY);
- Detailed and updated academic, scientific and professional curriculum (MANDATORY);
- Qualification certificates. Supporting documents must be submitted with the final classification obtained for the completion of the degree(s) and the respective positive scale(s) for certificates issued by foreign institutions (MANDATORY, except if the origin course is a course taught at the University of Coimbra);
- Research proposal, written in Portuguese or English, with a maximum of 2 pages. The research proposal must clearly and objectively present the research topic, the objectives of the study and its scientific, social or political relevance. The text must highlight the alignment of the project with the doctoral program and, whenever relevant, mention the methods or approaches that the candidate intends to explore. It is possible to include up to 5 bibliographic references (MANDATORY);
- Diploma of proficiency in English (if available) or declaration by the applicant on knowledge of English, rated on the scale of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages Europass (A1 to C2); (MANDATORY);
- Identity Document (Mandatory for international applicants).
NOTES
If the documents mentioned above are written in a foreign language other than Spanish, French, and English, it is mandatory to present a translation to Portuguese undertaken by a translator recognised by the Portuguese diplomatic representation.
The submission of the authenticated original documents is mandatory to the applicants admitted who enrol and register and must be done until the 31st of December of the year of entry in order to complete their personal file. Further information
1. Academic Curriculum: Bachelor's/Master's degree [Weighting 8/20]
Assessment of the applicants’ academic curriculum based on the following criteria:
a) Final grade of the Bachelor’s degree weighted with a factor of 0.6;
b) Final grade of the Master's degree weighted with a factor of 0.3;
c) Scientific field of the Bachelor’s degree: 1 point is awarded if it belongs to the scientific field of the PhD degree course(or other Social and Human Sciences) and 0 points are awarded concerning other cases;
d) The scientific field of the Master's degree: 1 point is awarded if it is included in the scientific field of the PhD Degree course (or other Social and Human Sciences) and 0 points are awarded concerning other cases.
2. Scientific Curriculum [Weighting 2/20]
Assessment of the applicants' scientific curriculum based on the following criteria:
a) Scientific publication: one point for each publication is added, up to a maximum of 6 points;
b) Participation in research projects carried out in R&D institutions: one point is awarded for each project, up to a maximum of 5 points;
c) Participation in congresses, seminars and other scientific events: one point is added for each participation, up to a maximum of 6 points;
d) Other scientific activities (awards, scholarships and/or research scholarships, etc.): one point is added for each activity, up to a maximum of 3 points.
3. Professional CV [Weighting 4/20]
Assessment of the applicants' professional curriculum based on the following criteria:
a) The professional activity with the highest number of points will be taken into consideration, according to the undermentioned assessment:
i) Teacher or trainer within the scientific field of the PhD degree course (or other Social and Human Sciences), or direction or coordination activities in public administration, in civil society organisations or in private companies, provided that they are relevant within the scope of the curricular structure of this programme: 16 points;
ii) Technical or administrative support activities in the organisations mentioned in subparagraph i): 8 points.
b) Up to a maximum of 4 points may be awarded for the enhancement of other components of the professional experience, namely:
- Vocational training or advanced training courses, provided that they are relevant to the curricular structure of this programme.
- Involvement in initiatives that promote the strengthening of citizenship or democracy.
4. Proposal of the Thesis Theme [Weighting 3/20]
Assessment of the theme to be developed in coordination with the PhD programme. The research proposal must clearly and objectively present the research theme, the objectives of the study and its scientific, social or political relevance. The text should highlight the alignment of the project with the PhD programme and, whenever it is relevant, it should mention the methods or approaches that the applicant intends to explore. It is possible to include up to five bibliographic references.
5. Motivation [Weighting 3/20]
Assessment of the motivations to attend the PhD programme by highlighting its coordination with the applicant’s interests and the way it integrates into his/her academic, scientific or professional pathway.
Note: Evaluators may choose to conduct an interview with the applicants, with the aim of clarifying aspects of the curriculum (academic, scientific and professional), as well as evaluating motivation, research interests and other factors considered relevant for carrying out the doctoral program in “Democracy in the 21st Century”. The committee that will carry out the interviews will be made up of Marcos Andrés Spognardi (President), Ana Raquel Borges Barros de Matos and António Manuel Simões Paiva de Carvalho.
Part-time registration: Admitted (for the doctoral thesis only)
Other information
- Application is subject to the payment of a 50.00 euros fee, which is non-refundable, even in case of invalidation of application and of non-placement.
- Applications are submitted online.
- Applicants who do not have the documents attesting the required qualifications or other documents until the end of the deadline for applications may apply conditionally. If they do not submit the required documents until the new deadline provided, their application will become "Not Admitted". Then, they can move their application onto the following call for applications without any additional charges.
- In applications definitively considered valid, and after the evaluation period has started, it is not possible to add or replace the documents presented. To add new documentation, a new application must be submitted in the next phase, if any.
- After the last phase of applications, and if there are still places available, applicants may submit their application by means of a request, beyond the deadline, which will be duly appraised by the coordination of the Course /Organisational Unit.
- Further information about academic issues, including the academic calendar.
- Contacts: E-mail; Telephone: (00351) 239 247 195; In person assistance at the Student Hub of the University of Coimbra (Schedules).