Innovation in Digital Communication and Media

For access and admission to doctoral studies, the provisions of Royal Decree 576/2023, of July 4, which regulates official doctoral studies, will apply.

The objective admission criteria are linked to academic requirements, research merits, and accredited knowledge (B2) of a foreign language commonly used in the scientific community (English).

The general admission criterion involves presenting a Doctoral Thesis Project proposal related to the program's research line. This proposal should include the objectives, justification for assignment to a research line, methodology, expected results, necessary resources, proposed tutor, and thesis director.

The Academic Committee of the doctorate will evaluate the alignment of the proposal with the program's research line, its feasibility, scientific interest, and the availability of associated research staff.

The recommended academic profile for students aiming to access the Doctorate in Innovation in Digital Communication and Media should ideally hold a degree in Communication fields such as Journalism, Audiovisual Communication, Advertising and PR, Marketing, or Digital Communication. However, students from specialized master’s degrees in communication that lack research subjects, including the Master's Final Project, must complete specific complementary training courses as outlined in section 3.4.

The Academic Committee will determine the appropriate training courses based on the student’s access degree, utilizing subjects from university master’s programs that directly grant access to this doctoral program. These courses will be mandatory for students entering the program with only a graduate degree of 300 ECTS credits or more that does not include research credits in their study program.

Pursuant to Royal Decree 576/2023, dated July 4, amending Article 6 of Royal Decree 99/2011, issued on January 28, which governs official doctoral studies, candidates are generally required to possess an official Spanish Bachelor's Degree, or its equivalent, and a Master’s Degree to gain admission to an official doctoral program. Additionally, admission is granted to individuals who meet any of the specified exceptional criteria:

• a) Candidates must either hold an official Spanish university degree, or an equivalent degree, having earned at least 300 ECTS credits and attained Level 3 of the Spanish Framework of Qualifications for Higher Education.
• b) Individuals with degrees from foreign educational systems within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), without the need for official approval, and that accredit a Level 7 of the European Qualifications Framework, provided the degree allows for doctoral study in the country of issuance. It should be noted that admission under this criterion does not equate to homologation of the applicant’s prior degree, nor its acknowledgment for any purposes beyond entry into doctoral education.
• c) Candidates with a degree from foreign educational systems outside of the EHEA can also be considered for admission without the need for formal approval. The university will verify that the degree certifies a level of education equivalent to an official Spanish university Master’s degree and allows for doctoral studies in the country where the degree was issued. Admission in this category does not constitute homologation or recognition of the prior degree for any purposes beyond doctoral education.
• d) Individuals with an additional Doctorate degree.
• e) Additionally, university graduates who have secured a position in specialized health training and have successfully completed at least two years in a program to obtain an official degree in any of the Health Sciences specialties are considered eligible for doctoral studies.

The following scale is established for access to said doctoral programs:

• Academic record of the degree that grants access to the doctoral program: 35%.
• Academic record of the master's degree that grants access to the doctoral program: 40%.
• Research experience or other merits linked to research: 20%.
• Accredited knowledge of a foreign language commonly used in the scientific community to which the doctoral program belongs: (5%). Language certification will be valued starting at the B2 level of the European Language Framework.

The academic committee of the degree is responsible for the admission procedure.

• Application completed and signed
• Updated Curriculum Vitae
• Certified copy of the bachelor's diploma (or undergraduate diploma) *
• Certified copy of the official Master's diploma*
• Certified copy of the Bachelor's (or undergraduate) academic transcript *
• Photocopy of DNI (Spanish) or passport (foreigners)
• A PDF copy of your Final Research Project or Diploma of Advanced Studies (if applicable)
• A letter of recommendation (from your FRP director or from any person who can refer research experience)
• Proof of work activity (in case of applying for part-time admission)
• An outline of the thesis project containing Objectives (and/or Research Questions) / Methodology / Expected results
• Accredit the equivalent of B2 level in English of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)
• Accredit the equivalent of B2 level in Spanish from the CEFR, in the case of non-Spanish speakers

* In the case of non-European diplomas: "apostille" in documents issued in countries that have signed the Hague Convention or legalization through diplomatic channels, in other cases.
** If the documentation has not been issued in Spanish, it must be accompanied by the corresponding official sworn translation.

Send the application with all the documentation by email to escueladoctorado@nebrija.es

Provisional admission resolution 24-25

• September 1 - 23 Please email your completed and signed admission application, along with the required program documentation. Refer to the "Application" section on our website for more details.
• September 30 You will receive an email notification about the provisional decision regarding the admission to the doctorate program.
• October 1 – 3 A three-day period will be provided, starting from the date of the provisional admission notification, for you to submit any claims via email.
• Until October 4 All claims will be resolved.
  An email notification will be sent out with the final list of admitted applicants.
• October 1- 18 if you are admitted, please mail the completed and signed application, along with the previously sent documentation, to the following address:
  
  Universidad Nebrija – Escuela de Doctorado
  Campus de La Berzosa
  28240 Hoyo de Manzanares (Madrid).

Please note, if the required documentation is not provided within the specified period, the Doctoral School will cancel your enrollment application.

• October 1 - 31 You can self-enroll through the Universitas XXI application.
  Please email the proof of payment for the registration fees and annual tuition fees for the doctorate program to admincp@nebrija.es and escueladoctorado@nebrija.es.
  Students who are admitted but fail to enroll within the period specified by the Doctoral School will forfeit their place in the program.

Students who meet the general admission requirements, and have completed the studies indicated in the "admission profile" paragraph or similar to them, but do not have a university Master's degree whose structure contains at least 16 ECTS credits in research subjects, including the Final Research Project, are willing to take the appropriate formative credits. If admitted, the student would have to complete the necessary complementary training courses in accordance with what is established by the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Program. To this end, the candidate will be offered complementary training courses in Communication research methodology. Students who access the doctoral program from the master's degrees that grant direct access will not have to take any additional training courses, unless they wish to take them voluntarily. In the event that students lack the prior training required in the program, after admission and enrollment, they will need to take specific training courses. The Academic Committee of the program, in response to the degree of admission, must decide -after a report from the tutor- which training courses are appropriate for each student, for which subjects from the Master's degrees that grant direct access to this doctorate program may be used. In any case, these training courses will be compulsory for students who access the program while only having a bachelor's degree of 300 ECTS credits or more, which does not include research credits in their curriculum. In order for the complementary training courses to be adequate and consistent with the admission profile, the scientific field and the objectives of the program, the offer of subjects to be taken as complementary courses must meet the needs of the program. In the case of this program, the student must take the subject Research Methodology in Communication from the Master's Degree in Political, Crisis and Emergency Communication (6 ECTS credits). In the case of students not coming from Bachelor's or Master's degrees in Communication, training in the following subjects will be recommended: Informative and entertainment writing on the Web (4 ECTS credits), Transmedia Journalism (4 ECTS credits) and Data Journalism: digital tools for visualization and presentation of data (4 ECTS credits) of the Master's Degree in Digital and Data Journalism. The completion of these training courses will be simultaneous to the enrollment in academic tuition in the program. In this case, students must enroll in these training courses and, in addition, formalize the enrollment of academic tuition in the program. However, the training courses must be passed in the first year of enrollment. If not, the student will be withdrawn from the program.

• Procedures and assignment of tutor and thesis director
• Documentary commitment to supervise doctoral thesis

Each academic year, until the thesis is read, the student must renew enrollment within the established period.

• In the first year, the doctoral student must pay the registration fees and the annual tuition fee:
  • Full time: €450 of Registration Fees and €1,100 of annual tuition fees.
  • Part-time: €980 of Registration Fees and €570 of annual tuition fees.
• Starting the second year and until the end of the thesis, the student must pay the tuition fees annually, full time €1,100 or part time €570
• In order to defend the thesis, the doctoral student must pay the thesis deposit: €1,600.
• Issuance of the doctoral diploma: €311
• Partial exemptions from doctoral fees can also be requested annually from the Doctoral Commission for doctoral students who actively collaborate in Nebrija research groups, among others.