PhD in Agricultural and Forestry Research

2024/2025

What you learn

Agricultural and forest soils: nutrient dynamics, waste management and use. Macro and micronutrient cycles. Degradation of agricultural and forest soils. Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Fertility. Soil management and conservation.

Soil-plant-atmosphere (SPA) system. Water in the soil. Sensors for continuous recording in the SPA system. Physical properties of the soil. Agricultural and Forestry Climatology.

Waste management in agriculture.

Sustainable forest management: health and forestry (USC).

Agroforestry Systems. Fire prevention. Silvopastoral systems. (USC)

Vegetative propagation. Mycorrhizalization. Arbuscular mycorrhizae. Tree risk assessment. Integrated production and mycorrhization of crops. Prevention and health safety in the agroforestry sector. (USC).

Plant genetic resources. Crop agronomy. Crop modelling. (USC)

Vine Biotechnology (USC)

Generic skills

Systematic understanding of a field of study and mastery of research skills and methods related to that field.

Ability to conceive, design or create, implement and adopt a substantial process of research or creation.

Ability to contribute to the expansion of the frontiers of knowledge through original research.

Ability to perform critical analysis and evaluation and synthesis of new and complex ideas.

Ability to carry out a critical analysis and evaluation and synthesis of new and complex ideasAbility to promote, in academic and professional contexts, scientific, technological, social, artistic or cultural progress within a knowledge-based society.

Operating in contexts where there is little specific information

Find the key questions that need to be answered to solve a complex problem.

Design, create, develop and undertake novel and innovative projects in their field of knowledge.

Work both in a team and autonomously in an international or multidisciplinary context.

Integrate knowledge, deal with complexity, and make judgments with limited information.

Critique and intellectual defense of solutions.

Specific skills

Ability to detect the main soil and climatic strengths and weaknesses of production systems.

Ability to design and improve techniques that allow solving production problems, based on a systematic analysis of the biotic or abiotic environment, integrating the environmental component.

Ability to design production systems with a sustainable perspective.

Ability to use specific communication that allows the doctoral student to show their results at the local, national and international level.

Ability to find underlying problems in the production system and to propose integrated solutions to them.

Improve the ability to understand the socioeconomic context that allows them to contextualize the production process that is being evaluated.

Ability to integrate multi-productive systems in a sustainable way.

Improve the specific laboratory skills linked to the subject of the thesis.

Improve the specific skills of design of experiments and sampling linked to the subject of the doctoral thesis.

Ability to carry out research activity with social responsibility and scientific integrity.

Transversal skills

Systematic understanding of a field of study and mastery of research skills and methods related to that field.

Ability to conceive, design or create, implement and adopt a substantial process of research or creation.

Ability to contribute to the expansion of the frontiers of knowledge through original research.

Ability to perform critical analysis and evaluation and synthesis of new and complex ideas.

Ability to carry out a critical analysis and evaluation and synthesis of new and complex ideasAbility to promote, in academic and professional contexts, scientific, technological, social, artistic or cultural progress within a knowledge-based society.

Operating in contexts where there is little specific information

Find the key questions that need to be answered to solve a complex problem.

Design, create, develop and undertake novel and innovative projects in their field of knowledge.

Work both in a team and autonomously in an international or multidisciplinary context.

Integrate knowledge, deal with complexity, and make judgments with limited information.

Critique and intellectual defense of solutions.

Professional and academic career

The main career opportunities of the PhD in Agricultural and Forestry Research are:

  • Profitability of agricultural and forestry farms.
  • Environmental studies. Environmental restoration.
  • Environmental impact assessment.
  • Prevention of pests and diseases.
  • Recovery of contaminated soils.
  • Management of companies and commercial activities in the sector.
  • Rural development.
  • Design and implementation of water and emissions treatment technologies.

Therefore, these graduates can develop their professional activity in companies, cooperatives and agricultural and livestock farms, as well as in the field of teaching and research and in the public administration.

This doctorate is ideal for management positions in companies related to the agroforestry sector and for research, both within technology or university centres, as well as in R+D+I departments in private companies. Positions of technicians or heads of quality, production and development departments, consultants and project managers, energy resources technicians, environmental technicians, etc.

Professional and academic career

The main career opportunities of the PhD in Agricultural and Forestry Research are:

  • Profitability of agricultural and forestry farms.
  • Environmental studies. Environmental restoration.
  • Environmental impact assessment.
  • Prevention of pests and diseases.
  • Recovery of contaminated soils.
  • Management of companies and commercial activities in the sector.
  • Rural development.
  • Design and implementation of water and emissions treatment technologies.

Therefore, these graduates can develop their professional activity in companies, cooperatives and agricultural and livestock farms, as well as in the field of teaching and research and in the public administration.

This doctorate is ideal for management positions in companies related to the agroforestry sector and for research, both within technology or university centres, as well as in R+D+I departments in private companies. Positions of technicians or heads of quality, production and development departments, consultants and project managers, energy resources technicians, environmental technicians, etc.

Companies and institutions involved

The following research organisations are collaborating entities:

  • Lourizán Forestry Research Center
  • Areeiro Phytopathological Station
  • Biological Mission of Galicia

Research lines

This are the main research lines for current study.

  • Biotecnología de vid
  • Botánica ecológica agroforestal
  • Genética y mejora de las especies vegetales cultivadas
  • Gestión de residuos en agricultura. Valorización de residuos y subproductos en agricultura. Fabricación y uso de enmiendas y fertilizantes. Fabricación y uso de sustratos. Agua en el suelo agrícola.
  • Gestión forestal sostenible: sanidad y selvicultura
  • Micorrizas arbusculares. Plagas y enfermedades de plantas agrícolas, forestales y ornamentales. Pequeños frutos. Frutos subtropicales. Plantas ornamentales leñosas. Praticultura.
  • Propagación vegetativa. Micorrización. Evaluación de riesgo de arbolado. Producción integrada y micorrización de cultivos. Prevención y seguridad agroforestal.
  • Protección de cultivos. Viticultura. Pequeños frutos. Producción integrada de patata
  • Recursos fitogenéticos. Agronomía de cultivos. Modelización de cultivos
  • Sistema suelo-planta-atmósfera. Propiedades físicas del suelo. Sistema uelo-planta-atmósfera. Agua en el suelo. Sensores para registro en contínuo en el sistema SPA. Climatología agrícola y forestal.
  • Sistemas Agroforestales. Prevención de incendios. Sistemas silvopastorales. Plantas medicinales y aromátca. Micología. Botánica forestal y ornamental.
  • Suelos agrícolas y forestales: dinámica de nutrientes, manejo y utilización de residuos. Ciclos de macro- y micronutrientes. Degradación de suelos agrícolas.. Química Agrícola y fertilidad de suelos.

Planning for teaching

Additional subject teaching

Candidates who do not meet all the necessary prior learning conditions for the programme may be required to complete additional courses in the form of subjects and modules from UDC Master’s and undergraduate programmes. The number of credits from additional subject teaching will not exceed 15 ECTS credits, which students may choose to complete before or after enrolment in the PhD programme.

Students who do not opt to complete additional coursework prior to enrolment should register for their extra subjects or modules at the same time as the PhD. Failure to complete additional coursework within a period of three consecutive terms will result in the termination of the student’s registration.

See also UDC PhD Policies and Regulations, Article 5: Applications.

EIDUDC teaching and training activities

EIDUDC teaching and training activities

Programme-specific teaching and training activities

Se ofertan como complementos de formación, con un total de 15 créditos ECTS, las siguientes materias:

  • 1) Iniciación a la investigación.
  • 2) Diseño de experimentos.
  • 3) Expresión escrita y oral en el ámbito de la investigación agraria y forestal.
  • 4) Análisis estadístico de datos.

Estos complementos de formación son optativos para aquellos alumnos que acedan con una titulación de las que se valoran preferentemente en el proceso de admisión del programa. Sin embargo, en el caso de titulaciones no preferentes podrán ser exigidas, según el criterio de la Comisión Académica hasta completar un máximo de 15 créditos ECTS.

ACTIVIDADES OPTATIVAS DE FORMACIÓN

  • Seminarios de investigadores del programa. Semestral.
  • Presentación en seminario del estado actual de conocimientos sobre el tema en el que se desenvuelve la tesis. Anual.
  • Participación con presentación oral o póster en un congreso nacional. Anual.
  • Participación con presentación oral o póster en un congreso internacional. Anual.
  • Realización de estancia en un centro nacional distinto de aquel en el que se desarrolle la tesis.
  • Realización de estancia en un centro internacional.
  • Elaboración de un artículo científico en revista con revisión por pares de ámbito nacional.
  • Elaboración de un artículo científico en revista del ISI.
  • Realización y presentación de un informe anual sobre el desarrollo de la tesis doctoral. Anual.
  • Realización de cursos vinculados con actividades transversales (informática, idiomas, laboratorio, docencia).

Supervision agreement

The PhD supervision agreement defines the academic relationship between the candidate and the University, the rights and responsibilities of each (including any intellectual and/or industrial property rights resulting from the candidate’s research), the procedures in place in relation to conflict resolution, and the duration of the agreement. It also specifies the duties of the PhD tutor and supervisor.

The supervision agreement must be signed by the candidate, tutor and designated university representative (or representatives) within a maximum period of one month as from the date of registration. The supervisor’s signature may be added subsequently, once a supervisor has been appointed.

When the document has been signed by all the relevant parties, the agreement is then added to the candidate’s record of activities.

See also UDC PhD Policies and Regulations, Article 13: Supervision agreement.

Research plan

The candidate must prepare a research plan within six months of registration, with information regarding methodology, objectives, resources and milestones. The research plan is submitted together with the report of the supervisor and/or tutor for approval by the Academic Committee for PhD Programmes (CAPD). Improvements to the plan may be introduced with the approval of the supervisor and/or tutor based on the annual review of the student’s research progress.

Research plans are subject to annual review by the CAPD, including the report(s) of the supervisor and/or tutor and the candidate’s record of activities. Students will be permitted to continue with their studies if the outcome of the review is satisfactory. If the outcome is negative, the student will be required to submit a new plan within a period of six months. If the committee is still not satisfied, the candidate will be removed from the programme.

See also UDC PhD Policies and Regulations, Article 15: Research plan.

Student mobility

UDC holds student mobility agreements with universities and other third-level institutions across four continents. Students are offered several opportunities each year to apply to study abroad in one of these centres (for a single term or for a whole year), with the guarantee that all credits obtained will be duly recognised in their academic record upon their return.

For each round of applications, the University publishes the list of exchange options available to students and, where relevant, the specific conditions associated with each. Students may also apply to the University for funding for international work experience placements and internships.

Work experience placements are accredited in the student's academic record and the European diploma supplement. Students are free to decide in which host company or academic institution within the EHEA they wish to carry out their placement. To assist them in their search, the University has created an online noticeboard with jobs postings and other news.

Work-study placements in A Coruña are arranged by the International Relations Office (ORI) of the UDC in collaboration with the international relations coordinators in the student’s home university. The general entry criteria, rights and obligations of students, and admission and acceptance procedures for the programme, are regulated by the UDC Mobility Policy.