PhD in Protección del Patrimonio Cultural

2023/2024

What you learn

The program covers a large number of topics on Cultural Heritage, given that more than 50 teachers participate, mainly from the three universities of Galicia, but also from other universities in Spain, Europe and other countries. Among the various areas covered by the Program, the most prominent focus on several issues:

  • - Characterization, study of the deterioration and conservation of materials and Heritae items.
  • - Research on conservation procedures and restoration of Heritage items.
  • - Historical, archaeological and anthropological research of Cultural Heritage.
  • - Research of the Geological and Paleontological Heritage.

Generic skills

  • - Systematic understanding of a field of study and mastery of the skills and research 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 broadening of the frontiers of knowledge through original research.
  • - Ability to critically analyze, evaluate and synthesize new and complex ideas.
  • - Ability to communicate with the academic and scientific community and with society in general about their fields 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.
  • - Develop in contexts where there is little specific information.
  • - Find the key questions to be answered to solve a complex problem.
  • - Design, create, develop and undertake innovative projects in their field of knowledge.
  • - Work both as a team and autonomously in an international or multidisciplinary context.
  • - Integrate knowledge, deal with complexity and make judgments with limited information.
  • - Criticism and intellectual defense of solutions.

Specific skills

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  • - To acquire the capacity to address, from a scientific point of view, new research challenges in the protection of Cultural Heritage..
  • - Acquisition of rigorous and in-depth scientific knowledge on some aspect related to the protection of Cultural Heritage.
  • - Acquire the ability to apply the scientific method in the study, conservation and management of Cultural Heritage.
  • - Ability to create, develop and undertake novel and innovative projects in the field of Cultural Heritage research.
  • - Ability to work in teams in a coordinated and complementary way.
  • - Adquirir capacidad autocrítica y saber evaluar el rigor y originalidad de los resultados de la investigación.
  • - To acquire self-critical capacity and to know how to evaluate the rigour and originality of the research results.
  • Acquire the ability to integrate into multidisciplinary research groups in the field of Cultural Heritage protection.
  • Professional and academic career

    Professional and academic career

    The Program includes a broad framework of actions and subjects. Therefore, it extends from teaching positions and researchers in all the areas covered, in Universities and Research Centers. Likewise, the academic scope extends to collaboration with related organizations and that depend on City Councils, Provincial Councils, Autonomous Communities and the Institutions of the Country.

    Companies and institutions involved

    The PhD keeps numerous collaborations at the local, regional, national and international level with public organisms and companies related to Cultural Heritage. There is a very close collaboration with most of the professors members of the Program and that materialize in multiple collaborative projects.

    Research lines

    This are the main research lines for current study.

    • Characterization of materials and environment, diagnosis and direct intervention.
    • Cultural heritage: territory, identity and memory.
    • Geotechnologies applied to heritage.

    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 Program consists of transversal and specific training activities:

    • - Introduction to research.
    • - Basic analytical procedures in Heritage.
    • - Rocky materials used in Cultural Heritage. Influence of mineralogy and texture on the susceptibility to deterioration and on the effectiveness of treatments.
    • - Urban planning and environmental law in the management of Cultural Heritage.
    • - Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage.
    • - Cartographic Products and New Technologies.
    • - Iberoamerican Cultural Heritage.
    • - Cleaning methods applied in stone of the built Heritage: chemical, mechanical and laser. Effectiveness.
    • - Colorimetry course applied in the Cultural Heritage.
    • - Knowledge of the urban geological environment.
    • - Colonizers of granitic monuments.
    • - Search, selection and management of scientific information bases.
    • - Tools and keys for communication and dissemination of research works.
    • - Defense of the Research Plan.
    • - Presentation of communications in international scientific congresses.
    • - Realization of research stages.
    • - Value and meaning of Cultural Heritage.
    • - Technologies and forms of alteration of the Cultural items.
    • - Conservation and restoration of works of art.

    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.

    Teachers

    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.