Enrollment: Frequently Asked Questions

Our Ph.D. Management platform allows to process your enrollment online. To access the platform, enter your UC3M username and password.

Enrollment gives access to Ph.D. tutoring and all resources to carry out your research. It also covers all rights provided by the Rules and Regulations for Ph.D. Studies in Spain.

Further information:  Enroll now

New students

As a new student, you can choose when to start your doctoral training period. Enrollment period vary accordingly:

• Students starting first semester:

Enrollment period: July 17 through 31 and September 1st through 30th (23:59 h., Peninsular Spanish time)

Start date of Ph.D. training: November 15 

• Students starting second semester*:

Enrollment period: March 1st through 30th (23:59 h., Peninsular Spanish time)

Start date of Ph.D. training: March 30

*In these cases, students benefit from a reduced tuition fee, applicable only for first-year enrollment.

Your start date will determine the length of your Ph.D. training period.

Further information: Self-enrollment guide for new students

Continuing students

As a continuing student, your enrollment period is September 1st through 30th (23:59 h., Peninsular Spanish time) of each academic year. Enrollment is mandatory every year in order to keep your academic record active.

Further information in our Self-enrollment guide for continuing students

You must select the following modules of your enrollment application: 

• Ph.D. Monitoring for your doctoral training year. Required in all cases. It will be registered by default in your application. 

• Complementary credits. Only applicable if the Academic Committee of your program established these credits as obligatory in its admission resolution, in which case you will be properly notified.

Other activities of your doctoral training may not require enrollment. If so, our Registrar's Office is in charge of the registration process:

• Specific training: Activities included in the syllabus of your Ph.D. program. 

• Research Skills training: Required for all Ph.D. students (6 credits minimum for the entire doctoral training period).  

Please note: At the time of completion of your Ph.D. training, enrollment is required for the academic year of your thesis defense, as well as in the Ph.D. thesis Defense and Assessment module.

As a general rule, enrollment on a Ph.D. program requires full-time commitment. Exceptionally, and for justified reasons, the Academic Committee of your Ph.D. program may authorize part-time enrollment. Academic fees will be adjusted accordingly.

Should the Academic Committee authorize a leave of absence (again, for justified reasons), your academic record will keep open status.

Tuition fees for doctoral studies at public universities in Madrid are established by the local Government Council of the Region of Madrid. 

• Decree 43/2022 29th of June, 2022.

I. Academic fees

• Academic monitoring of Ph.D. training year.  

-Regular fee (full-time, starting first semester): 390 €

-Reduced fee* (full-time, starting second semester): 234 €

-Reduced fee (part-time, starting first or second semester): 234 €

*Full fees will apply in subsequent years.

Enrollment in this module is required for the academic year of your thesis defense.

• Training credits.

-Complementary training (only for students who are required to take these credits as established in their resolution of admission). If the subjects are the same as subjects from an official degree, the price will be the same as in the original degree. The prices range from € 45,02 to € 80-150 €, depending on the master's program and the doctoral year of enrollment (first, second or subsequent).

-Research Skills training courses. 45,02 € per credit. Credits from other institutions also require an enrollment at UC3M . A reduced 25% fee will apply in these cases (11,25 € per credit).

• Thesis defense. 143,15 €
• Ph.D. Degree Certificate. 229,86 €

II. Administrative fees

• Registrar’s Office expenses. 6,11 €
• Opening of academic record (first-year students). 27,54 €

III. School insurance. 1,12 €. For Spanish or international students (legal residents) under 28 years of age. Further information:  Student Insurance

Students who fail to fulfill the payment for these fees will be dismissed from the Ph.D. program.

Further information on  Tuition fees

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uc3m offers a variety of channels to fulfill the payment of your academic fees:

• Bank deposit: You can make your payment in any of Bankia or Banco Santander branch offices in Spain by presenting your tuition fees invoice (abonaré) within ten days of enrollment.
• Direct billing: You must enter the bank account details where the payment will be charged, as well as the personal details of the account holder. This option requires the account to be set up in one of the countries within the Single European Payments Area (SEPA) (link)and have an IBAN code. Likewise, your current or term-time address must be within the SEPA zone, and must be the same address you registered with us upon enrolling (in the “personal data” section). Direct billing is obligatory if you are applying for a MECD scholarship.
• Virtual POS (Credit/debit card): If you do not have an account that meets the above requirements or just prefer to use your credit/debit card, you can pay via online card billing. The funds available in your card or its credit limit must equal at least the sum of your tuition fees. 

These are some of the exemptions on tuition fees applicable to our students:

• Scholarships or financial aid programs for doctoral training. These provide total or partial exemption of tuition fees payment according to the specific conditions established by each awarding institution. These aids are awarded by MECD, MINECO or Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, among others. Further information:  Doctoral Training Scholarships

• Other. Spanish students may also benefit from other exemptions provided by our administration in the following cases:

-Large Family status (general or special).

-Disabled students (minimum 33% disability).

-Victims of terrorism, including their spouses and children.

-Children of civil and military servants who perished in the line of duty.

Please note: Your exempted status will be shown in your enrollment application by default only if you informed uc3m prior to enrollment proceedings.

Upon completion and payment of your enrollment, the Doctoral School will get in touch with you and set an appointment to provide the original documents to have your enrollment validated in compliance with the access requirements to Ph.D.

Documents

According to your previous studies, the documents to be submitted are listed below: 

1. If you have taken an official Master's degree at UC3M, you are not required to submit any documents. The Doctoral School will check your records accordingly.

2. If your access degree for Ph.D. was issued by a University from Spain or a European Union country, or a state of the European Economic Area or Switzerland, it is required to provide the following original documents: 

• Access degree certificate for Ph.D. (Master's degree or equivalent) or payment receipt of issuance fees.
• Grades certificate of access degree to Ph.D. (Master's degree or equivalent).

3. If your access degree for Ph.D. was issued by a University from a country other than the ones indicated above, it is required to provide the following legalized documents:

• Access degree certificate for Ph.D. (Master's degree or equivalent) or payment receipt of issuance fees.
• Grades certificate of access degree to Ph.D. (Master's degree or equivalent).

There are different ways to have your documents legalized. Find which legalization procedure applies in your case:  Legalization of Foreign Degrees

Please note that the legalization procedure must be carried out from the home country. It is strongly recommended to do it in advance. 

Submission procedure

Original hard copies of the documents must be provided along with their photocopies. The Doctoral School will check both originals and their copies and have them certified. If the degree certificates and documents have an electronic signature or digital certification (with safe verification codes), these will be submitted by e-mail at admisiondoctorado@uc3m.es.

All documents must be submitted in Spanish, English, French, Italian or Portuguese. Certificates and degrees provided in other languages must be accompanied by an official Spanish translation: Translation of documents into Spanish | Jury Translators

The submission period will be notified by e-mail within a month after the end of the enrollment period.