Health, Disability, Dependency and well-being

2024/2025

What you learn

This official PhD program aims to provide future researchers with a series of skills, among which the following stand out:

Generic skills

Basic and general skills:

  • Systematic understanding of Disability, Dependency and Well-being, and mastery of the skills and research methods related to this field of study.
  • Ability to conceive, design or create, implement and adopt a substantial research or creation process.
  • Ability to contribute to expanding the frontiers of knowledge through original research.
  • Ability to carry out critical analysis and evaluation and synthesis of new and complex ideas.
  • Ability to communicate with the academic and scientific community and with society in general about their areas of knowledge in the modes and languages commonly used in their international scientific community.
  • Ability to promote, in academic and professional contexts, scientific, technological, social, artistic or cultural advancement within a knowledge-based society.
  • Specific skills

    Personal abilities and skills:

  • Develop in contexts in which there is little specific information.
  • Find the key questions that must be answered to solve a complex problem.
  • Design, create, develop and undertake new and innovative projects in their field of knowledge.
  • Work both as a team and autonomously in an international or multidisciplinary context.
  • Integrate knowledge, confront complexity and make judgments with limited information.
  • Criticism and intellectual defense of solutions.
  • Other skills:
  • Be able to determine the appropriate research methodology to develop research in the field of disability, dependency and well-being.
  • Know how to conduct a research process comprehensively in the field of Disability and Dependency, paying special attention to the ethical-legal aspects that characterize research in this area.
  • Be able to identify the correct research question to design a research project that can lead to a significant contribution.
  • Develop the ability to initiate, manage and lead research teams and projects with a high degree of transfer of the knowledge generated to both the health system and the productive sector.
  • Acquire the skills necessary to make an original and relevant scientific contribution.
  • Professional and academic career

    Professional and academic career

    The PhD degree in this field offers qualified professional development opportunities in the academic, research, business and management fields related to Disability, Dependency and Well-being.

    Research lines

    This are the main research lines for current study.

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    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 16: Applications.

    EIDUDC teaching and training activities

    EIDUDC teaching and training activities

    Programme-specific teaching and training activities

    The CAPD (Academic Commission of the PhD Program) will establish in each specific case the specific training complements adapted to the entry profiles, taking into account that accreditation of knowledge in research methodology will be essential.

    The CAPD understands that the need for training complements to carry out PhD studies with guarantees of success is limited to training in research methodology in those cases in which students have not completed Master's studies that specifically include this training.

    In the case of students who come from degrees without direct access, the student must take up to 15 credits of content from the subjects of the different Master's degrees linked to the PhD program, to be determined by the CAPD, based on the line of research in which the student will develop his/her PhD thesis.

    Both full-time and part-time students will have to carry out the following training activities:
    • Writing the research plan.
    • Oral presentation of the research plan.
    • Update of the review of works and provisional writing of the research work.
    • Carrying out the experimental part of the work (pilot study, improvement of the techniques, interventions or measurements to be carried out, sampling, data collection, statistical treatment).
    • Research seminars where the progress of research work is shared.
    • Sending, acceptance and presentation of an oral or written scientific communication to a national or international conference.
    • Preparation and acceptance of a scientific article in an indexed journal.
    • Final writing of the research work.

    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 31: 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 30: 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.