Doctoral Programme in Health and Psychology
Presentation
There is an obvious need for research training in the health and psychology field from a multidisciplinary perspective; with our doctoral programme, we am to answer this need.
The programme's overall goal is to make sure students develop the competencies required to successfully carry out research in the fields of health and psychology. More specifically, our goal is to train researchers who are capable of asking meaningful research questions and whose solution contributes to improving people's health and well-being. In addition, we want them to be capable of developing research projects that pursue a truly transformational purpose and train them to provide methodical, innovative and searching answers to the questions raised.
Accordingly, our wish is to train motivated, creative, original researchers who wish to advance in solving significant problems in the field of study, and whose solution will impact positively on the population's well-being. The doctoral programme divided into 7 research lines which address the following topics: e-health; psychological aspects and tools; neuroscience and language disorders; nutrition and lifestyles; healthy work environments; community care and health; gender, health and sociocultural models.
There is an obvious need for research training in the health and psychology field from a multidisciplinary perspective; with our doctoral programme, we am to answer this need.
The programme's overall goal is to make sure students develop the competencies required to successfully carry out research in the fields of health and psychology. More specifically, our goal is to train researchers who are capable of asking meaningful research questions and whose solution contributes to improving people's health and well-being. In addition, we want them to be capable of developing research projects that pursue a truly transformational purpose and train them to provide methodical, innovative and searching answers to the questions raised.
Accordingly, our wish is to train motivated, creative, original researchers who wish to advance in solving significant problems in the field of study, and whose solution will impact positively on the population's well-being. The doctoral programme divided into 7 research lines which address the following topics: e-health; psychological aspects and tools; neuroscience and language disorders; nutrition and lifestyles; healthy work environments; community care and health; gender, health and sociocultural models. We have both experience and research projects in all these fields. Different thesis proposals are offered for each of the research lines.
The programme is run by the UOC Doctoral School and is closely linked with the research experience of the faculty and research staff at the Faculty of Health Sciences, the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences and the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute.
Competences
The doctoral programme develops the following basic competencies (as per Spain's Royal Decrees RD 99/2011 and RD 576/2023):
C1. Systematic understanding of a field of study and mastery of the research skills and methods related to this field.
C2. Conceiving, designing or creating, putting into practice and adopting a substantial research or creation process.
C3. Contributing to expanding the frontiers of knowledge through original research.
C4. Developing a critical analysis and assessment and synthesizing new and complex ideas.
C5. Communicating with the academic and scientific community and with society in general regarding the student's areas of knowledge, employing the formats and languages habitually used in their international scientific community.
C6. Fostering scientific, technological, social, artistic or cultural progress in a knowledge-based society, in academic and professional settings.
C7. Fostering open science and citizen science (in accordance with Article 12 of Spain's Organic Law 2/2023, of 22 March) so as to contribute to the status of scientific knowledge as a common good, with assessment of the doctoral student's performance of interdisciplinary activities relating to the different aspects of open science and citizen science, and the development of skills in both disciplines through microcredentials or similar.
Admission profiles
The PhD programme in Health and Psychology is for students who have a university degree in any of the programme's disciplines and are seeking a deeper understanding of these fields of knowledge and to make innovative and significant contributions to them through a rigorous approach to their object of study.
Career opportunities
The high-level research training in this PhD programme prepares students for a wide range of professional careers. One, the most traditional, is academic research. Future doctoral degree holders may choose to further their academic career by means of postdoctoral training (highly recommended for the purpose of honing their research skills and acquiring further experience) and/or to apply for academic posts at universities or research centres.
However, they may also find professional opportunities in a wide variety of other, broader fields. To mention just a few examples, they can work in research and innovation units in various types of hospitals or healthcare facilities or in businesses associated with their field of study that have a research and innovation department or that prioritize research, or they can choose a career in consulting. However, these are just examples: there are many openings and opportunities, which also depend on their own capacity for innovation and thorough, hard work.
Official qualification
The UOC's Doctoral Programme of Health and Psychology is a programme that has been approved by the Spanish Universities Council, and its implementation has been authorized by the Government of Catalonia, in accordance with current legislation.
The UOC's doctoral programmes have full academic validity throughout Spain; where such is the intention, they are qualifications to perform regulated professions, in accordance with the regulations applicable in each case.
The certificates for these programmes are issued together with a Diploma Supplement (DS), providing details of what the student studied, their results, the professional competencies obtained and the qualification's level in the Spanish higher education system; the aim of this is to facilitate recognition of the qualification and promote students' and graduates' mobility within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).
In other countries, the validity of the official university qualifications issued by the UOC will depend on each specific country's education laws.
Official qualification
The UOC's Doctoral Programme of Health and Psychology is a programme that has been approved by the Spanish Universities Council, and its implementation has been authorized by the Government of Catalonia, in accordance with current legislation.
The UOC's doctoral programmes have full academic validity throughout Spain; where such is the intention, they are qualifications to perform regulated professions, in accordance with the regulations applicable in each case.
The certificates for these programmes are issued together with a Diploma Supplement (DS), providing details of what the student studied, their results, the professional competencies obtained and the qualification's level in the Spanish higher education system; the aim of this is to facilitate recognition of the qualification and promote students' and graduates' mobility within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).
In other countries, the validity of the official university qualifications issued by the UOC will depend on each specific country's education laws.
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Start
18 Sep 2025
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Online
100%
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Admission: March 5, 2024
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Languages: English, Spanish, Catalan
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Official qualification
Fully online method
World's first ever online university
Personalized guidance and support
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Among the top universities
According to the World University Rankings 2024, the UOC is in the top 7% of the world's leading universities.
Programme quality
The quality of this degree programme is endorsed by the Catalan University Quality Assurance Agency (AQU), which ensures that rigorous standards, including those demanded by the EHEA, are met.