PhD in Literary Theory and Comparative Literature

Why do this PhD?

This PhD course aims to facilitate and offer tutoring in research in different areas of literary theory (and practice) and the most recent methods of its application in comparative literature.

The teaching staff cover knowledge from the great Latin and Greek traditions and their renewal through the Renaissance and Baroque periods to contemporary fields such as gender studies, feminism and cultural studies and fantasy and science fiction.

The intrinsically interdepartmental nature of the PhD make is easy for doctoral students to meet the numerous members of staff from the areas of literature and French, Italian and English culture as well, of course, as Catalan, Spanish and South American culture. The programme even contemplates Oriental and Western studies and comparative art, music and film studies.

Professional opportunities

This PhD programme provides the following principal career options:

• Research and teaching in higher education of Literary Theory and Comparative Literature.
• Editing.
• Consultancy services in the area of literary theory and comparative literature.
• Teaching in public or private education centres (secondary schools and universities).
• Teaching in adult-education centres.
• Publishing (production, correction, translation, dictionary-writing).
• Literary theory and criticism.
• Literary promotion and advisory services for literary agencies.
• Research (universities, research institutes specialising in comparative literature, archives and libraries).
• Cultural management.
• The information society (writing and collaborating with the press, publishing of web content for companies, etc).
• Digital humanities and applications of new technologies.

Coordinator

Gonzalo Pontón Gijón

Administration

UISAD - Integrated Unit of Administrative Support - PHILOLOGIES
Building B
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona)
Tel. +34 93 581 4948
uisad.filologies.tercer.cicle@uab.cat
Contact: Melina Rodríguez Marín

Thesis supervisor/s and academic tutor/s

Thesis supervision and thesis tutoring

Admission application

Applicants must contact the Coordination BEFORE doing the online pre-registration.

This PhD programme has, for the 2025-2026 academic year, the following pre-registration periods:

• From June, 10th to July, 31st
  • RESOLUTION maximum by the School of Doctorate: October, 3rd
• From September, 1st to November, 28th
  • RESOLUTION maximum by the School of Doctorate: December, 19th

Documentation necessary for admission

In addition to the documentation that each programme indicates, two documents (Other documents1 and Other documents2) that serve as a wildcard are attached for each programme so that the interested person can attach other documents that he or she considers appropriate or that the PhD programme indicates.

Admissions before the established period and pre-admissions

The Doctoral School, following the indications of the coordination of the PhD programme, can issue before the start of the term of admission of an academic course, or before the end of the term of resolution, letters of admission so that you can request a scholarship or to do the visa procedures in your country. It is only necessary that you enter your application in the computer application and that you indicate it in the Observations field, where you must indicate that you need a letter of admission and the scholarship to which you are opting. If the computer application is closed, you can contact the coordination of the programme.

If you need a preadmission, the coordination of the programme can issue it if it considers it appropriate. You must contact the coordination of the programme to inform you of the procedure.

On the International Support Service website you can see more information about future foreign students related to residencies in Catalonia, legal procedures and the UAB campus.

Monitoring your application

You can monitor your application using the same page as you made it. Below are the explanations of the different stages:

• Application made by student: your pre-registration has been saved.
• Incomplete application: there are documents missing from the application.
• Validated by the administrative office: the application and attached documents have been checked.
• Admitted: the coordinator has considered the pre-registration and proposed an offer or admission.
• Offer of admission: the Doctoral School has considered the proposals for admission made by the coordinator and has made a definitive offer. The PhD student will also receive an e-mail informing them of this decision. The PhD student must wait to register.
• Waiting list: the coordinator has considered the pre-registration and has agreed on admission but there are no places on the PhD course.
• Application rejected: the coordinator or the Doctoral School have considered the application but do not agree to admission as not all the requirements have been fulfilled.

If you need it, here you will find a complementary information document on PhD studies.

Requirements and selection criteria

General access requirements

Selection criteria

The criteria used to assess applicants' merits in the selection process are as follows.

• Academic transcript and affinity of previous studies with the field of literary theory and cultural studies (50%).
• Research grants obtained (5%).
• Research experience (participation in conferences, publications, research projects) (15%).
• Research stays abroad (5%).
• Personal interview (25%).

After applying the above criteria, the programme's academic committee will notify applicants in writing of the decision on admission to the programme, and will inform them of any bridging courses that they will need to take during their first year on the programme, as detailed in the section "Bridging Courses".

Registration and fees

Calendar and Registration documents

After the registration

Training activities

Transversal training activities

Mandatory and optional specific activities

The programmed activities for this PhD are as follows:

Obligatory:

• Attendance at seminars or talks given by experts in the field of knowledge
  The thesis supervisor will guide the PhD student on the seminars or talks that fall within the line of research being worked on for the theses. This activity may be organised by the Department of Spanish Philology at the UAB or may be an externally organised event related to their area of research.

• Attendance at doctoral working groups
  All PhD students must accredit having taken part in at least one session of a doctoral working group, departmental seminar or research group seminar, national or international conference. The interest of these events for training purposes, when they are organised externally, will be decided by the thesis supervisor and communicated to the coordinator of the programme. The hours will be calculated in terms of preparation time and the writing of the paper or presentation time. The work will be tutored by the thesis supervisor.

• Give a seminar on the research project
  Give a talk or seminar presentation (during the second or third year) or publish on the web with the aim of disseminating information with content relevant to the research project.
• The PhD student may accredit this as a training activity through collaboration in the scientific or general dissemination process

Optional:

• Produce a research article sent to a high impact scientific journal. This activity is optional and should be agreed between the thesis supervisor and the PhD student. It should be carried out preferable in the second or third year of the programme.

• Research periods in national or international, public or private centres. The coordinator and supervisor of the thesis encourage research periods at other universities or research centres at home or abroad.

• The thesis supervisor will guide the PhD student as to the most appropriate centre. During these periods the researcher may carry out other activities such as give seminars or classes related to their project or the project of the research team of the group they belong to.

Typologies and Research Ethics

Internationalization

Foreign residencies

PhD thesis under joint international supervision

International Doctoral Research Component

Evaluation and annual review

Thesis deposit

If you want to deposit the doctoral thesis in this PhD programme, remember that you must confirm the complete application (status DI) at least 2 months before the maximum thesis completion date that appears in your file.

Look out! If you want to deposit before the end of this academic year and thus not have to pay the fees for the next course, you must confirm your deposit request before july, 18th, 2025.

At the time of making your online deposit, you must attach these documents to your application, in the section "Attach documentation":
 

All PhD students

• External expert 1: Eligibility Document (thesis data deposit tab)
• External expert 2: suitability document (thesis data deposit tab)
• Court proposal (no need to sign) (deposit attached documents tab)
• Turnitin report (deposit tab attached documents)
• Sworn declaration of the Turnitin report (deposit tab attached documents)

Compendium of publications: Mandatory documentation if requested

• Compendium: Resolution of acceptance by the CAPD (thesis data deposit tab)

Writing a thesis in a language other than Catalan, Spanish and English: Mandatory documentation if requested

• Resolution if the thesis is written in a language other than Catalan, Spanish or English (attachment documents deposit tab)

Exemption from the two months prior to the thesis completion date:

• Authorization from the Doctoral School regarding the exemption from the two months prior to the thesis completion date.

Information related to the thesis

Internal Quality Assurance System of the centers

Verification

Evaluation process previous to the implementation of the degree: presentation of a proposal for a new PhD programme for AQU-Catalunya (Agency for the Quality of the University System of Catalonia) to issue the binding evaluation for the Council of Universities (Ministry of Universities), which is the responsible agent for verification.

• Report on the PhD programme
• Resolution on verification by the Spanish Universities Council
• Registry of Universities, Centres and Degrees (RUCT)

Monitoring

Periodic monitoring process of the development and results of the PhD programme: self-evaluation carried out, every 3 years, by themselves.

• Monitoring report on the programme
• Register of Universities, Centers and Degrees (RUCT)

Accreditation

Degree implementation renewal process: presentation, every 6 years from the implementation of the programme, of a self-report so that AQU-Catalunya issues the binding evaluation for the Council of Universities, which is the body responsible for accreditation.

• Accreditation self-report
• Accreditation report
• Resolution of accreditation of the Council of Universities
• Register of Universities, centers and degrees (RUCT)

AQU VSMA Framework

Internal Quality Assurance System of the faculty

Set of processes to manage and monitor the different aspects of degrees, with the strategic objective of ensuring continuous improvement

• Internal Quality Assurance System
• Tutoring Action Plan (PAT)
• Standing Committee

Opina UAB

A channel for suggestions, complaints and praise regarding the functioning of the UAB

PhD data

• Satisfaction surveys of Doctors
• Satisfaction surveys of thesis supervisors
• Check here the results of the doctor's job placement survey
• The PhD figures

Recognition and awards

In this link you will find the doctors who have obtained the Special Prize Award in this PhD programme.