Economic and Management Sciences

Conditions of access

 The access and admission to the Program are governed by the provisions of Article 30(1) of Decree-Law no. 74/06 of March 24, republished by Decree-Law no. 115/2013 of August 7, namely: 
. Holders of a master's degree or legal equivalent, whose curricula vitae show adequate basic scientific preparation; 
. Holders of a bachelor's degree or legal equivalent, with a particularly relevant academic or scientific curriculum that is recognized by the Scientific Council as attesting ability to carry out the Programme; 
. Holders of an academic, scientific or professional curriculum that is recognized by the Scientific Council as attesting their ability to carry out the Programme. 

Criteria for selection of the candidates

The criteria for selecting candidates and their respective weights are as follows:

1. Academic curriculum, according to the following parameters: 
1.1. Classification of postgraduate training (if deemed suitable for the programme), with a weight of 30%: 
- If the candidate holds the academic part of a master's degree or a postgraduate course, the respective classification counts for 50%; 
- If the candidate holds a master's degree, the final grade for the master's degree will count for 100%.

1.2. Classification of the bachelor's degree (if deemed suitable for the programme), with a weight of 15%.

2. Assessment of the curriculum and its relevance to the programme, with a weight of 20%.

3. Motivation letter and interview, with a weight of 35%.

Notes: 
- The classifications in criteria 1.1. and 1.2 are on a scale of 0 to 20 (rounded to the unit) 
- Foreign degrees will be assessed via the formula of the Direção Geral do Ensino Superior, which is as follows:

Cfinal = {[(C-Cmin)/(Cmax-Cmin)]*10} + 10

where:

Cfinal = final classification (on a scale from 0 to 20 points); 
C = final classification of the foreign diploma;
Cmin = minimum mark to pass in the country of origin 
Cmax = maximum mark in the country of origin

- In the first call, only applicants with a bachelor's, or a post-graduate course obtained from international educational institutions present in the last editions of the Times Higher Education or the Shanghai ranking will be admitted to the Ph.D. programme.

- Whenever applicable, all applications received in a particular application phase will be analyzed under equal circumstances with applications that have transitioned from the previous phase. However, candidates not selected in a particular phase do not automatically transition to the next phase. Therefore, if they remain interested in the doctoral programme, they must submit a new application.

- The Doctoral Programme Directive Board reserves the right to waive the interview if it determines that sufficient information has already been provided in the application. If an interview is required, it will be individual and in English and it may take place by videoconference.

- In the first call, applications with a final grade below 14 out of 20 values will not be accepted. In the following calls, applications with a final grade below 13 out of 20 values will not be accepted. 
 

Necessary documentation

Mandatory documentation 
- Application form indicating the choice of doctoral branch (if applicable) and compulsory completion of fields 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6, dated and signed. The application form is available for download here;

- Identification document with photo;

- Proof of compliance with the conditions for admission required in this notice;

- Proof of payment of the application fee. 
Failure to submit the above-mentioned documents and/or incomplete completion of the Application Form will result in the rejection of the application.

Other documentation 
- An up to date Curriculum Vitae containing details of published or documented work (e.g. certificates of courses, indication of DOI/ISBN/links of published work);

- Motivation letter. The motivation letter should be written in English, be about 1000 words long, and include a discussion of the following topics (among others that seem relevant to you): 
• Reason for pursuing a Ph.D., and in particular the one you are applying for; 
• why you want to do your Ph.D. at the Faculty of Economics of the University of the Algarve; 
• what you would like to explore in your Ph.D. thesis (try to write a broad summary containing the topic you would like to explore and, if possible, its relevance, the methodologies and methods you plan to use, and the main bibliographical references on the topic). We strongly advise you to explore the research profiles of the professors at the Faculty of Economics of the University of the Algarve ( https://fe.ualg.pt/en/education-staff). If desired, in your motivation letter, you may identify those whose research aligns with the topics you wish to explore. If you are admitted, during the first year of the course, you will have the opportunity to attend various thematic and methods seminars, with the possibility of changing your work plan; 
• the time you intend to devote to the Ph.D. studies (full-time or part-time); 
• whether you intend to carry out a professional activity during the period of the Ph.D. studies and, if so, how you expect to reconcile this with your student activity; 
• how the Ph.D. programme will be financed (own resources, grants, etc.); 
• where you intend to live during the period of your Ph.D. studies and whether you have thought about housing arrangements (if necessary).

. Failure to submit the above documentation will lead to penalties in the assessment of the application.

Note: 
- Foreign students must present official information regarding his/her final classifications in the Bachelor degree and in the Postgraduate course (as applicable), as well as the scale(s) (minimum and maximum) used to attribute them. This declaration must be written in Portuguese or English, duly validated by a competent authority. Students who do not comply with this requirement shall be treated as having passed their first degree and/or their postgraduate course, which is equivalent to 10 points on the Portuguese scale. 

Registration here