Calls
If you are thinking of applying for a doctoral programme, it is vital that you choose the line of research you want to pursue and contact the lead researcher with whom you will have to prepare your candidature.
There are two forms of admission for UOC doctoral programmes. In each case, admission depends on a favourable decision from the corresponding programme’s academic committee:
To apply for admission, follow the steps indicated for your chosen programme.
Once you have applied, you will be able to find more detailed information on the admission procedure in Procedures> Doctoral programme admissions documentation on the Virtual Campus.
Via the form, you will need to tell us if you wish to apply for a UOC grant and attach all the relevant documentation – both academic and admissions documentation.
Another competitive grant: Consult Other grants section.
Calls and resolutions
Call for admission to online Doctorate 2026-2027
- 1 December 2025: Start of the application period for admission to the doctoral programmes.
- 31 January 2026: End of the call for applications for access and admission to doctoral programmes.
- 4 March 2026: Publication of the provisional lists of submitted applications.
- 5 March to 11 March 2026: Period for appeals of submitted applications (documentation subject to amendment).
- 17 March 2026: Publication of the final lists of submitted applications.
- 11 May 2026: Publication of the provisional resolution on the accepted online and granted candidates (Interuniversitay programmes).
- 12 May to 22 May 2026: Period for appeals of the selection of online and granted candidates (Interuniversitay programmes).
- 29 May 2025: Publication of the final resolution on the candidates admitted to the doctoral programmes and those who are granted (Interuniversitay programmes).
- July 2026: Start of the enrolment period 2026-27.
- September 2026: Start of the academic year 2026-27.
You can see the calendar for the interuniversity doctoral programme in Business Administration and Management on its web page.
Number of vacancies:
- eLearning: 20
- Networks and Information Technologies: 20
- Bioinformatics: 5
- Humanities and Communication: 15
- Health and Psychology: 20
- Business Management: 15
- Tourism: 12
- Society, Technology, and Culture: 15
- Law, Politics, and Economics: 12
Extraordinary call for the Tourism PhD program
- June 2026: Start of the extraordinary application and admission period.
- July 2026: End of the extraordinary application and admission period.
The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) will be offering the following doctoral programmes:
- Bioinformatics (programme run jointly with the following universities: UAB, UPC, UdG, UdL, UVic-UCC)
There is also the possibility of doing doctoral programmes in the industrial doctorate format, which enables successful applicants to receive grants through agreements with companies. Students doing industrial doctorates will have a supervisor at the university and a tutor in the company.
In order to apply for a doctoral program at the UOC, enter the link of one of our programs and follow these 4 steps:
Step 1
Apply for the Welcome and Information Service
Step 2
Access the Campus and contact the researcher
Step 3
Apply for admission
Step 4
Send the digital documentation
- No applications submitted after the deadline or without all the correct supporting documents will be accepted. We recommend not waiting until the last moment; this should enable you to deal with any doubts or technical issues that may arise.
- For the interuniversity doctoral programme in Business Administration and Management, you should observe the procedures and dates published on its web page.
The Government of Catalonia sets the prices each academic year for credits and other academic services for the Catalan public universities and the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.
The UOC is legally required to apply the prices set in Government of Catalonia Decree 128/2022, of 28 June, which sets the prices for academic services for public universities.
Price and enrolment Fees
- Price per credit: 32,28€/cr
- Price per learning resources credit: 15,16€/cr
Biannual Fees:
- Fee for supervision, tutorship and continous assessment of the doctoral thesis: 200,56€
- Fee for the management of your record: 54,54€
- Fee for learning support services: 101,47€
Fees:
- Fee for requesting your certificate : 218,15€
- Fee for oral examination and defence of the doctoral thesis: 156,87€
- Fee for requesting your record: 54,54€
Research, transfer and entrepreneurship courses
Research, transfer and entrepreneurship courses have an academic value of between 2 and 3 credits each. If you want to check the price set for each of the courses you can go to the main page of the program that interests you:
The organized period of research of the UOC Doctoral School is offered in two modes:
Full-time face-to-face teaching mode
Students who are beneficiaries of a competitive predoctoral grant, such as UOC - Doctoral School grants for completing doctoral theses or grants awarded by other agencies (such as the Ministry of Science and Innovation and the University and Research Aid Management Agency, AGAUR), the host institution of which is the Fundació per a la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (FUOC), are offered a full-time face-to-face study system, with the exception of the methodology courses, the thematic research seminars and the bridging courses liable to be incorporated into their pathway.
The teaching-learning process of the methodology courses, the thematic research seminars and the bridging courses is carried out through the University's Virtual Campus or the virtual environment that has been established. The remaining learning activities, and the research activity undertaken by the students, are usually done in the Doctoral School spaces and at the University's two research centres: IN3 and the eLearn Center.
The building in which the Doctoral School is based is the venue for the doctoral research seminar sessions and the complementary methodology workshops, and preferably where the research group seminars, the final project examinations, the annual progress assessments, etc. are done, and where this group of doctoral students usually conducts their research work, without prejudice to the temporary stays that they take at other higher education institutions or other research centres as part of this activity and the travel that they undertake for their field work and in disseminating their research work.
In accordance with Royal Decree 99/2011, the duration of full-time doctoral studies will be a maximum of 4 years, which will start as of the admission of the doctoral student on to the programme and run until submission of the doctoral thesis. If after this period of 4 years, the application for submission of the thesis has not been made, the Academic Committee may authorize an extension of one year.
Distance education mode
For the remaining students on the organized period of research of the doctoral degree, it is offered in the distance education mode, with the exception of the oral examination of the doctoral thesis, which is face-to-face. In accordance with Royal Decree 99/2011, doctoral students who undertake doctoral studies part time will have 7 years as of admission on to the programme until submission of the doctoral thesis. If after this period of 7 years, the application for submission of the thesis has not been made, the Academic Committee may authorize an extension of an additional year.