Access Procedure

1.- Requirements for previous qualifications

If the previous titles have been issued by a University of the European Higher Education Area, a copy of said titles (Bachelor's or Master's Degree) and of the academic certifications, legalised and with their official certified translation into Spanish shall be provided. If your degree has been issued by a University which does not belong to the European Higher Education Area, your validated title may be provided. In the event that you have not validated your title, you can process the "Recognition of Equivalent Level of Education".

2.- Recognition of equivalent level of education

If your degree has been issued by a University outside the European Higher Education Area, the required academic documentation shall be provided for (duly legalised and translated), which will be reviewed by the Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia to verify that your studies uphold an educational level which is equivalent to the official Spanish degrees and which entitles you, in the country that issued the degree, to access doctoral studies. Obtaining a favourable resolution for the level of education recognition is an essential requirement to apply for admission to the Doctoral Programme of your interest, although this favourable resolution does not automatically imply admission. To request the recognition of an equivalent level of education, applicants must submit the corresponding application to the Doctoral School Academic Registry, together with the documentation detailed therein.

The documentation provided shall be examined by a Committee set up for said purpose, which shall issue a technical report. The UCAM's Doctoral Committee, in the light of the technical reports, will be the body responsible for resolving these applications within a maximum period of 3 months.

Equivalent Level of Education Request

The validation of a foreign degree is the official recognition of it as equivalent to an official Spanish university degree.

3.- Differences between validation and recognition of equivalent level of education

The validation grants the foreign degree, from the date on which the corresponding accrediting document is issued, the same effects, both academic and professional, as the Spanish academic degree or title. The recognition of Equivalent Level of Education does not imply the validation of the degree or its recognition for other purposes than studying the official Master's Degree or Doctorate at the Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia.

4.- Procedure and required documentation

1. Contact UCAM's Doctorate Service, which shall provide you with the contact of the coordinator of the Doctorate Programme to which you wish to access, in order to assess the feasibility of your admission and receive information on the active research areas in the programme.
2. Once you have contacted the programme's coordinator and studied the feasibility of the proposal, submit the scanned detailed documentation via email at eiducam@ucam.edu. The Doctoral School Academic Registry of the Universidad Católica de Murcia, will inform you if everything is correct, or whether additional documentation is required. Upon validation, you will be given details of the postal address where the documents are to be sent.

Required documentation for students belonging to the European Higher Education Area

• Copy of Passport.
• Application for Admission to the Doctoral Programme.
• Bachelor's Degree, with its official certified translation into Spanish.
• Personal Academic Transcript of the Bachelor's Degree in which the official duration in academic years of the programme followed, the subjects, the total hours of each subject and your grades, with their official certified translation into Spanish are stated.
• Official Master's Degree at postgraduate level, with its official certified translation into Spanish.
• Personal Academic Transcript of the Official Master's Degree, in which the official duration in academic years of the programme followed, the subjects, the total hours of each subject and your grades, with their official certified translation into Spanish are stated.
• In addition to the certificate, ANECA's equivalence document of average grades shall be submitted.

If your title is from an EU or EEA (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland) Member State: legalising your documents is not required. We only require the official certified translation.

If your degree is from another university in the EHEA: you need to legalise your documents through diplomatic channels or with the Hague Apostille, and the official certified translation into Spanish.

IMPORTANT: The ORIGINAL COPIES of all documents and translations must be brought or sent to the university. In case you provide photocopies, they must be attested copies or contain the ORIGINAL STAMP of the Embassy or Consulate of Spain in your country.

Required documentation for students NOT belonging to the European Higher Education Area

• Copy of Passport or ID Card.
• Recognition of Equivalent Level of Education Request
• Bachelor's Degree, legalised and with official certified translation into Spanish if required.
• Personal Academic Transcript of your Bachelor's Degree in which the official duration in academic years of the programme followed, the subjects, the total hours of each subject and your grades, with their official certified translation into Spanish are stated.
• Master's Degree, legalised and with official certified translation into Spanish if necessary.
• Certification Issued by your home University stating that the degree obtained entitles the student to access the Doctoral Programmes in the country issuing the degree (it must be signed by the competent authority of the home university or, even, the Ministry of Education). Said document must also be duly legalised and have an official certified translation into Spanish, if required.
• In addition to the certificate, ANECA's equivalence document of average grades shall be submitted.

Documents must be duly legalised (with the Hague Apostille or through diplomatic channels).

The ORIGINAL legalised documents or copies of the documents with the original legalisations (stamps and signatures) must be provided for.

To legalise documents:

• For documents issued in countries which have signed the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961, an "apostille" issued by the competent authorities of the country is sufficient.
• Documents issued in countries which have not signed the Hague Convention shall be legalised through diplomatic channels, following these three steps:
  1. Ministry of Education of your home country for qualifications and study certificates and the corresponding Ministry for birth and nationality certificates.
  2. Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the country which sent said documents.
  3. Diplomatic representation or Spanish consulate in said country.

Official Certified Translation Modalities

• By an official certified translator, duly authorised or registered in Spain.
• By any Spanish diplomatic or consulate representation abroad.
• By the diplomatic or consular representation in Spain of the country of which the applicant is a citizen or, if appropriate, of the country which issued the document.

Equivalence of Doctoral Degrees

Students with doctoral degrees issued by foreign universities may apply for its recognition as equivalent to the Doctoral title by the Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia by submitting the following documentation:

• Standarisation request
• Certification proving the nationality of the applicant (attested photocopy of the Identity Document or Passport).
• Attested photocopy of the Doctoral Degree title whose verification is requested or of the certification accrediting its issuance.
• Attested photocopy of the academic transcript of the studies carried out by the applicant to obtain the undergraduate and postgraduate degree, which include, among other things, the official duration in academic years of the programme followed, the subjects, the total hours of each subject and your grades.
• Explanatory memorandum of the thesis conducted, written in Spanish, which specifies the members of the jury and grade obtained.
• A copy of the doctoral thesis.
• Curriculum vitae (in Spanish) of the applicant.

Documents issued abroad shall comply with the following requirements:

• They must be official and issued by the competent authorities in accordance with the legal system of said country.
• They must be legalised through diplomatic channels or, if appropriate, through the apostille of the Hague Convention. This requirement shall not apply to documents issued by the authorities of the Member States of the European Union or signatories to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (link to the legalisation regulations).
• They must be accompanied, if appropriate, by the corresponding official certified translation into Spanish. An official certified translation of the copy of the doctoral thesis is not required.

In case of doubt about the authenticity, validity or content of the documents provided, the necessary steps shall be taken to verify them, and the competent authority issuing said documents may be contacted to validate the dubious aspects.

Applications shall be submitted to the International Doctoral School of the Universidad Católica of San Antonio de Murcia.

They may also be sent by post to the following address:

Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia

INTERNATIONAL DOCTORAL SCHOOL

Campus de los Jerónimos, s/n

30107 Guadalupe (Murcia) – SPAIN

The application must undergo the following reviews and validations

1. Administrative review carried out by the Academic Registry of the International Doctoral School.
2. Academic Review carried out by the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme related to the area of knowledge of the Doctoral Thesis to be recognised. For this purpose, external evaluators may be appointed to estimate the academic value of the work carried out as well as the relevance of the recognition of the doctoral degree awarded.

The Academic Commission shall issue a resolution proposal to the Standing Committee of EIDUCAM, which, in view of the proposal, shall decide favourably or unfavourably on the application for recognition.

In the event of a favourable decision, the Academic Registry of the Doctoral School shall request the special registration number which must be included in the issuance of the corresponding credential from the General Directorate of Universities.

In the event of an unfavourable decision, the applicant shall be informed of the decision and the reasons for not granting recognition.