Access to doctoral programmes for students holding a non-recognised foreign qualification issued by a country outside the European Higher Education Area

Individuals holding a qualification obtained under foreign education systems outside the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) may be admitted to doctoral programmes without the need for recognition, subject to verification that the qualification attests to a level of education equivalent to that of the official Spanish Master’s degree and that it entitles the holder, in the country where the qualification was awarded, to access doctoral studies.

The application, which will incur the fee specified in the Decree on Public Fees, must be submitted within the deadlines set out in the academic calendar, via the Solicit@ platform (Doctoral School catalogue), accompanied by the following documentation:

• A photocopy of your identity document or passport.

• Higher education qualification (official Master’s degree or equivalent, and prior official studies) legalised as appropriate in accordance with the country of issue. At the time of submitting the application, only photocopies of the legalised documents may be provided; the original legalised documents must be presented at the time of formalising the

  Personal academic certificate for those studies, with the same legalisation as the degree.

• Certificate issued by your home university stating that the degree obtained entitles you, in the country of issue, to enter a PhD programme (this must be signed by the competent authority at the home university or, alternatively, by the Ministry of Education).  It must contain at least the following information:

  • Name of the person signing

  • Position held at the home university

  • Contact details of the signatory

  • Details of the PhD student (including first name, surname, identity number and degree obtained)

  • Country in which the degree was obtained.

  • Date the degree was awarded.

  • The regulations governing entry to the PhD programme with the degree in the country where the university is located

  • Date

  • University seal

  • Signature

The fee is payable via the application platform itself, using a point-of-sale terminal (POS), by credit or debit card.

Documents issued in a language other than Spanish, English or French must be accompanied by their official translation into Spanish.

The applicant must also submit an application for admission to the relevant PhD programme, which will be subject to a favourable decision by the competent body regarding admission to the PhD programme. To avoid the candidate having to submit the documentation required for admission twice, the Doctoral School will forward it to the headquarters of the doctoral programme indicated in the application for admission. Therefore, it will not be necessary to attach to the application for admission any documentation that has already been submitted in the application for entry. Once admission has been granted, the applicant will be notified and will need to submit this, together with the rest of the documentation required for admission. 

Enquiries: docto@unizar.es