Phd in Spain

Why Spain?
It has some of the oldest universities of the world.
Phd is almost free but in some famous universities you may have to pay a little
administrative fee ranging from 50-300 Euros/ 10,000-40,000 PKR per year.
More chances of acceptance because of low application rate especially for students who
couldnt fetch any funding because of low CGPA or no publication.
No IELTS/TOEFL or GRE is required.
A culture and climate that attract millions of visitors and students each year.
The country's university system participates fully in the European Higher Education Area
(EHEA)
Spanish doctoral programs are attractive because of teaching and training in English as well
as support for students seeking to improve or acquire Spanish language skills.

Topics and Deadlines;

You can do your phd in almost any field of studies ranging from Biology to Engineering. Application
deadlines vary from university to university ranging from August to December

Documents required to apply;

Most of the times you just need a Bachelors and Masters degree to apply along with other identification
documents like passports. Students waiting for their results are also eligible to apply with a hope
certificate from the home university.

Some universities may ask for attestation of your degrees from Spanish Embassy, Islamabad but mostly
its not required at the application stage. After selection you may also have to provide Spanish
translation of your degrees.

Method of application;
1. Open the websites and explore them. Most of websites are in Spanish so try to use Google
translate to understand the links. I tried to provide you some links in English though but dont
just depends on it.
2. Once you read the requirements and found a relevant program in which you want to apply,
open the online application portal and fill it. Most of the universities do offer Application portal
in English but some of them still doesnt, but remember if you give a little effort to fill the
Spanish form, there would be more chances of selection because of low application rate.
3. You may have to upload your degrees/ Transcripts and other documents in PDF format.
4. Once you filled an application, you have to contact a professor via email. Remember that its not
that difficult to get acceptance from Spanish professors but still you have to read his profile,
 research papers and contact accordingly. Also mention that you applied in the --------- Phd
program and you want him to supervise your Phd. Do not ask for funding or acceptance letter
straightway. Spam emails would only decrease chances of yours and your fellows in future.
5. Once a professor accepted you, soon university would contact you with an acceptance letter
and you would be asked to pay administrative fee, if any. Meanwhile you can start the visa
process.

Funding;
Once you secured the admission, you can start looking for funding. Many big and famous universities do
have funding opportunities and even in small universities, senior professors can offer you a scholarship
but this is not that common in Spain especially just after the acceptance so you may have to hold your
nerves.

You can apply for the Government scholarship and some local scholarships later, i.e. Becas MAEC-AECID
and Becas Santander etc (Links given below). Also, you can apply for project funding in several European
institutes and your supervisor would guide you regarding it. There are many partial funding
opportunities available but to get this funding, you have to accept the offer and start your Phd as a self
finance student and demonstrate your hard work and motivation.

https://www.aecid.gob.es/es/Paginas/DetalleProcedimiento.aspx?idp=238

http://www.becas-santander.com/?lang=en

http://gestion.fundacioncarolina.es/programas

Tips;
Apply in as many universities as you can, as long as you can maintain the quality of application
Spain is very cheap as compared to other European countries, especially smaller cities so you
can live in 300 Euros/month in smaller cities. That means that partial funding or a part time job
is sufficient to finance your Phd there so dont leave these opportunities just because of
funding.
Universities from 1-10 are famous and high ranked so they would have a bit higher fee than
others but of course more chances to get funding and part time jobs because of the location.
Apply in these universities if you have reasonable profile.
If you have less CGPA or weak profile, you should consider applying in the universities from 11-
20 that are comparatively less famous so very high chances of acceptance.
Do not just depend on the links provided below, instead try to explore the website of interested
university as a whole and try to get as much info. as you can.

Sr University Program names and fields of Application procedure

No. specializations
1 Higher Polytechnic http://www.upm.es/Estudiantes/Est http://www.upm.es/internacional
 University of Madrid
2 Higher Polytechnic
University of Valencia
3 University of Valencia
4 Autonomous University of
Madrid
5 Autonomous University of
Barcelona (High tuition
fee as compared to
others)
6 University of Granada
7 University of Santiago de
Compostela
8 University of Barcelona
9 University of Salamanca
10 Complutense University of
Madrid
11 University of Jaen
12 University of Malaga
13 University of Cadiz
14 University of Alicante
15 University of Seville
udios_Titulaciones/Estudios_Doctora
do/Programas_de_Doctorado
http://www.upv.es/entidades/EDOCT
ORADO/info/967761normali.html
http://www.uv.es/uvweb/universida
d/es/estudios-
postgrado/doctorados/oferta-
programas/doctorados-ramas-
conocimiento-1285957738812.html
https://www.uam.es/UAM/Doctorad
os/1234895363737.htm?language=es
http://www.uab.cat/web/estudiar/d
octorado/todos-los-doctorados-
1345666945070.html
https://www.ugr.university/pages/do
ctoral_candidates/doctoral_program
mes
http://www.usc.es/doutoramentos/e
n o/en/how-to-get-to-study-to-usc
http://www.ub.edu/escola_doctorat/
ca/ofertaformativa/oferta-
programes-doctorat-rd992011
https://doctorado.usal.es/en/doctora
tes
https://www.ucm.es/english/phd-
programmes
https://estudios.ujaen.es/listaDoctor
ados
http://www.uma.es/doctorado/info/
72153/doctorados-2014-2015/
https://posgrado.uca.es/web/oferta_
doctorados.php?curso=2016/17
https://edua.ua.es/es/oferta-de-
estudios/estudios-de-doctorado-rd-
99-2011.html
http://www.doctorado.us.es/oferta-
estudios-doctorado/oferta-plan-2011
/Students/StudiesDegrees/PhD+st
udies/Admission
http://www.upv.es/entidades/ED
OCTORADO/index-en.html
http://www.uv.es/uvweb/universi
dad/es/estudios-
postgrado/doctorados/admision/c
alendario-preinscripcion-
1285964405321.html
https://www.uam.es/ss/Satellite/
es/1242681890931/sinContenido/
Acceso_y_admision_a_Programas
_de_Doctorado.htm
http://www.uab.cat/web/estudiar
/doctorado/acceso/alumno-de-
nuevo-acceso-rd-99/2011-
1345666952125.html
Online Application Portal
http://doctorados.ugr.es/
http://www.usc.es/studyinsantiag
http://www.ub.edu/escola_doctor
at/ca/informacioacademica/nous-
estudiants-requisits-dacces
https://doctorado.usal.es/en/prer
egistration-matriculation
https://www.ucm.es/english/pg-
entry-requirements
http://www10.ujaen.es/conoceno
s/servicios-
unidades/sga/doctorado
https://www.uma.es/doctorado/i
nfo/34500/admision-2016-2017/
http://www.uca.es/posgrado/prei
nscripcion
https://edua.ua.es/es/secretaria/s
ecretaria-
administrativa/matricula/admisio
n-acceso-y-matricula-en-los-
estudios-de-doctorado.html
http://www.doctorado.us.es/inici
o/noticias/495-admision-y-
adaptacion-a-los-programas-del-
plan-2011-de-estudiantes-de-
doctorado-procedentes-de-
programas-del-plan-2007
16 University of Almeria http://cms.ual.es/UAL/ht/estudios/d
octorado/index.htm
17 University of Zaragoza http://155.210.12.154/acad/doctora
do/eInicio.php
18 University of Extremadura https://www.unex.es/organizacion/s
ervicios-
universitarios/servicios/servicio_beca
s/funciones/tercer_ciclo/oferta-de-
programas-de-doctorado-r.d.-99-
2011
19 University of Burgos http://www.ubu.es/escuela-de-
doctorado/programas-de-doctorado
20 University of Castilla La http://eid.uclm.es/en/doctoral-
Mancha programs/
http://cms.ual.es/UAL/estudios/g
estionesacademicas/acceso/docto
rado/preinscripcion/index.htm
http://wzar.unizar.es/servicios/do
cto/
https://www.unex.es/organizacio
n/servicios-
universitarios/servicios/servicio_b
ecas/funciones/tercer_ciclo/ofert
a-e-infor.-pd-r.d.-99-2011
http://www.ubu.es/escuela-de-
doctorado/preinscripcion-y-
admision-doctorado-rd-992011-
curso-academico-20172018
https://doctorado.uclm.es/preinsc
ripcion/