Bioinformatics - Admission and enrolment

• Access requirements and general admission criteria

Here you can see the access requirements and general admission criteria to pre-register to the doctoral programme.

In addition to this, check the specific admission criteria of this programme, which you will find below on this website.

• Documentation required for pre-registration

Here you will find the academic calendar, the link to pre-register and which documentation you should present in PDF for pre-registration.

Specific admission criteria of the doctoral programme

• Specific requirements:

  • The specific requirements of the program have been set to ensure a student profile that maximizes the probability of their completing a doctoral thesis with the quality and before the deadlines envisaged by the Programme. The student must have sufficient knowledge of the basic concepts and tools for carrying out competitive research in the field of bioinformatics. Therefore, the main and priority route for being admitted on the Programme is to have completed a research-oriented master's degree in one of the disciplines of the interdisciplinary field of bioinformatics. This field is particularly broad and includes degrees from the following major areas: Biology, Medicine, Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Engineering.

    As the only alternative, students who i) have not completed a bachelor's or master's degree in a discipline from one of the major areas mentioned or ii) have not completed a master's degree but have completed a degree of at least 300 ECTS credits that does not include research credits in a discipline from one of the major areas mentioned, may access the Programme if during the first year they pass 18 complementary ECTS credits of a master's degree in Bioinformatics taught by one of the universities that are members of the Programme.

  • English is the language of instruction of the programme, so another access requirement will be to demonstrate a level of English equivalent to B2. If no proof of English level is available, this will be assessed by the local coordinator (of the university where the student is enrolled) during an interview.

• Admissions body

  • The admissions body is the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme (CAPD), made up of the coordinators of each university and a representative of the BIB. When the Programme receives an application for admission from one of the member universities, the documentation related to the application is shared with the other members of the CAPD, who must evaluate it and give their opinion. If all members agree that the application meets the admission requirements, it is given a score based on the selection criteria listed below. The CAPD conducts this procedure by e-mail. The coordinator of each university prioritizes the applications received by his/her university based on this score.

  • The specific admission procedures are carried out by each coordinator at his/her university. To summarize, every year, once all the admission deadlines are over, the CAPD issues a single report with all those admitted to the Program during the corresponding academic year.

• Merits and assessment criteria
  
  In addition to the general entrance requirements for doctoral studies, admission will be subject to the following specific assessment criteria.

  In the event that the demand exceeds the number of places on offer, candidates will be selected on the basis of the score resulting from the evaluation of the aspects below, which all candidates must supply. The weight of each aspect is indicated in brackets:

  • Appropriateness of the bachelor's and master's degree (20%). Students who have completed a bachelor's or master's degree in bioinformatics will receive the highest score in this section. Other degrees in the areas of Biology, Medicine, Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Engineering will be given a score of 15%. Other scientific degrees will be given 5%.

  • Academic bachelor's and master's degree record (50%). The evaluation of this point will be equal to the weighted average of the final grades of the bachelor's and master's degree. If the candidates access the Programme directly from a degree of 300 ECTS credits or more, the corresponding final grade will be used.

  • Motivation letter (in English), maximum two pages (20%). In addition to the reasons why the candidates want to pursue the doctorate, this letter must specify all previous study and in which line of research they are applying for admission. If the candidates wish to propose a thesis supervisor, they should do so in this letter, giving details of the funded research project of which they will be a part if admitted and if the supervisor is subsequently assigned. They must also specify if they have applied for or have been awarded a grant or if they have the chance of being employed to work on a doctorate.

  • Other academic activities (10%): published research papers and papers at congresses.

  Whenever the coordinator of the university receiving the application considers it appropriate, he/she can conduct a brief interview with the candidate to clarify any outstanding issues (for example, if the documentation received does not accredit the level of English language).

• Enrolment (online enrolment)

See how to enrol here.