PhD in Electronic Engineering

Academic information

The academic itinerary that must be followed by the doctorate student in this Program depends on the academic records of the student, and the legislation and applicable regulations. You can check the Academic Regulations of the Doctoral Program in Electronic Engineering for detailed information on academic pathways to follow. In general, this is the itinerary to follow by new students:

First enrollment

  • Formally, the student starts the PhD studies when enrolling for the first time in the Doctorate Program in Electronic Engineering. The date of the first enrollment determines the deadline to complete the thesis deposit: 3 years for full-time students; 5 years for part-time students.
  • All students must enroll for tutorship annually during the enrollment period, typically between late September and mid-October. However, the first tutorship enrollment can happen at other periods.
  • In the case the doctorand was admitted with compulsory bridging courses, they must be completed within the first academic year.
  • Doctorands can also take courses on a voluntary basis to complete their training, provided there are places available.
  • The doctorand will be formally assigned a thesis supervisor within the first 6 months of the first registration in the program. The thesis supervisor is normally the tutor assigned in the admission process, unless agreed otherwise. In any case, a doctorand-supervisor commitment agreement  must be signed by the doctorand and the assigned supervisor.

Second enrollment: Thesis Research Plan

  • The doctorand must write and defend a Thesis Research Plan during the first academic year. This plan shall be presented before an evaluation committee after the second enrollment.
  • The second enrollment is for Tutorship and for Research Plan.
  • Students may update annually the workplan in their Research Plan, according to the real progress and related to the workplan initially scheduled.

Annual Evaluation. Specific and Cross-Disciplinary Training

  • At the end of the first two years of the PhD, students must have completed a minimum of specific and cross-disciplinary (transversal) training activities. These can be offered by UPC or external institutions. Check the transversal training offering at UPC.
  • At the end of the first two years of the PhD, students are expected to demonstrate progress in their thesis by having some publication in a journal or conference. The Department of Electronic Engineering offers, conditioned to the resources available, aids for publication in international journals or conferences. Check out the Scholarships and Grants section for current grant calls and conditions.
  • Students must enter all activities in the DRAC database, from which the Doctoral Student Activity Report (DAD) can be generated annually for the annual assessment..
  • The Academic Committee of the Doctorate Program will use this information, together with the report of the supervisor, to assess annually the progress of the student (annual tutorship evaluation).

Thesis deposit and defense

  • Once the research project has achieved its objectives, in agreement with the supervisor of the thesis, the doctorand shall deliver the thesis report to the Academic Committee for the Doctoral Program in order to approve the deposit.
  • The enrollment for thesis deposit is in addition to tutorship enrollment, and can take place at any time within the academic year.
  • The Academic Committee will verify that the thesis is backed by some evidence of quality (see Academic Regulations). Otherwise, reports will be requested to two external reviewers.
  • Once authorization by the Academic Committee is received, the procedure of deposit and defense specified in the regulations of the University will be followed.

Time limits for PhD completion

  • According to the current legislation, doctoral studies can be done on a full-time or part-time basis; they have a limited duration in each of these cases; and there exists the possibility to apply for a temporal interruption of the studies during one academic year. Please check the Academic Regulations for more information.


In the different subsections of the menu on the left you will find further information on each of these aspects.