Collaborating institutions

Specific compulsory and elective activities

The training activities scheduled for this doctoral programme are as follows:

Compulsory activities:

• Attendance at doctoral working groups.

Under the coordination of the directors of the research groups, the doctoral programme organises short working sessions in which the programme’s doctoral students present their research developments and receive argued opinions from their academic peers.

• Preparation of a research article submitted to an impact scientific journal.

The implementation of a scientific writing process is an inherent condition of doctoral training. In this activity, the doctoral student progresses, on an annual basis, towards the preparation of a publication, including the process in the different scenarios of the scientific community.

• Giving a seminar on the research project.

The doctoral student must give a seminar on the doctoral thesis project aimed at the teaching community, students on the doctoral programme and students on the department’s master’s degree programmes. The doctoral student acquires communication skills and is challenged by his/her academic peers.

• Participation in summer schools.

Summer schools are spaces for project exchange and collaborative networking. These are mobility platforms for interested students, as they bring together experts, guests and students from different countries around the world, through which exchange agreements, networking and other forms of academic collaboration between participants can be established.

• Participation in journal clubs.

The PhD programme designs annual sessions corresponding to journal club activities, taught in English, in which thematic discussions are held on preparing, presenting, reading and debating scientific articles published in specialised journals.

• Participation in collaborative meetings between research groups.

The doctoral programme designs an annual session in which the lines of work of each research group present in the doctoral programme are presented. Thus, each of the students, in accordance with their thesis project, can be linked to the research sessions of one of the groups on the programme.

• Participation in internal seminars of the research group/department.

The link to the training activities carried out by the research groups allows the doctoral student to take on research dynamics in academic settings. Likewise, the doctoral student’s participation is an additional tool for developing the doctoral thesis.

Elective activities:

• Attendance at seminars or conferences given by experts in the field of knowledge.

The doctorate programmes annual conference and seminar sessions specialising in subjects related to communication sciences. Visiting lecturers enable an academic dialogue between the doctoral student and the guest academic.

• Research stays in national or foreign, public or private centres.

Research stays enable doctoral students to increase dialogue between researchers from different countries, plan joint research initiatives and strengthen their own research projects through the exchange of opinions and arguments.

• Participation in job market sessions.

The participation of doctoral students in this type of sessions is relevant and provides them with the necessary entrepreneurial tools to better cope in the world of work. Changes in the world of work mean that the university must prepare its students under new rules and demands that high-level research processes must assume.

• Participation in symposiums of young researchers.

As a formative complement, the meeting with other young researchers is a space for contrasting ideas and proposing topics for dialogue, work and the construction of research networks. Participation in symposia alongside other young people allows the doctoral student to share his or her points of view with other researchers who are interested in common themes.

• Participation in the development of a research project.

The design and implementation of research projects is a constant in the professional world of doctoral training. Having contact with these types of projects is fundamental for acquiring basic experience in one of the specific branches of the future doctoral student’s professional development.

• Participation in workshops or methodological specialisation courses.

Aware that training in research methodologies is one of the main tools that a student can have, the doctoral programme, with the official master’s programme, holds an annual specific course on methodology that is open to the participation of doctoral students.

• Presentation of a paper (poster or oral) at a national or international conference.

The presentation of a paper at a conference opens the door to academic deliberation and the confrontation of ideas under a scheme accepted by the international academic community. The process of acceptance, review, and preparation for the presentation of the paper prepares the doctoral student for a routine of academic production that is close to academic practices.

• Presentation of a paper at a departmental scientific conference.

The presentation of a paper at a departmental scientific conference prepares the PhD student to better cope with their scientific dissemination activities. They also make it possible to discover the state of the art of the object of study in a specific region and to review the main contributions of the academic community in the doctoral student’s environment.

• Training activities to improve understanding of the field of study.

The strategic direction of some additional training activities for doctoral students, aimed at acquiring concepts, methodologies, tools or professional experiences close to the field of study of the communicologist, allow a greater approach and knowledge of the fundamental problems of the area.

• Actions for the professional training of doctoral students.

The professional training days for doctoral students present interesting tools for the job placement of highly qualified professionals. The training courses are intended to improve the employability of doctoral graduates further.

• Collaboration in teaching (scholarship holders).

Scholarship holders in programmes that are obliged to carry out teaching tasks collaborate in educational activities. The teaching support activities enable doctoral students to gain first-hand knowledge of the teaching function and to develop basic skills in the field of university teaching.

• Course on linguistic competence for scientific communication.

The acquisition of specific language skills and competencies for scientific communication is a sine qua non-requirement for publishing in specialised journals with high impact factors, for participating in high-level international conferences, and for disseminating research advances within the international scientific community.

• Entrepreneurship and business courses.

The entrepreneurship courses seek to diversify the professional possibilities of future PhDs. Likewise, the relationship between the productive sector and the university can be strengthened by directly linking highly trained professionals with business creation processes.

• Project management course.

The PhD programme values training in project management as a professional tool that can be applied to the design and implementation of strategic applied research projects resulting from local, regional, national or international calls for proposals.

• Language courses or courses to improve teaching in English.

This is a fundamental activity for developing the doctoral student’s professional activities. The acquisition of skills and competencies in the main language of scientific communication is an obligation that doctoral students must fulfil to increase their chances of inclusion in the international scientific community.

• Course on job search techniques.

The participation of doctoral students in this type of course is relevant for their professional projection. On the one hand, it provides an overview of the job offers in the sector and, on the other, it provides basic information on the main job search areas for highly qualified personnel.

• Statistical techniques course.

This is a fundamental activity for developing professional activities in training a doctor in communication sciences. Acquiring skills and competencies in statistical techniques provides the logical and methodological tools necessary for doctoral research.

• Teaching innovation course or workshop.

A course or workshop on teaching innovation is a tool that strengthens each doctoral student’s educational skills. It provides didactic and pedagogical tools necessary for the development of the teaching profession and encourages the development of different activities in the classroom.

• Intellectual and industrial property course.

The participation of doctoral students in this type of course is relevant, as it provides knowledge of the legal conditions that regulate scientific and industrial production. Knowledge of intellectual property regulations is an added value for the day-to-day work of doctoral students and, of course, for active doctoral students.