PhD in Methodology of Biomedical Research and Public Health

Why do this PhD?

The Department of Paediatrics, Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona has for many years offered a large range of undergraduate and graduate courses.

With the introduction of new legal provisions and the aim of gaining coherence and competitivity in 2015 is has been agreed to split what was previously a single programme into two: Biomedical Research Methodology and Public Health, and Paediatrics, Obstetric & Gynaecology.

The new PhD programme in Biomedical Research Methodology and Public Health aims to promote the more methodological side of doctoral studies, based on the disciplines of biostatistics and epidemiology, their application the health of the population (public health, community health, international health, etc.) and the population experiencing health problems (clinical epidemiology, health systems research, evaluation of healthcare quality, etc.).

The programme is therefore aimed at graduates in one of the health science disciplines who want to gain more profound knowledge in some particular area of interest or specialisation from a point of maximum methodological solvency: etiology, diagnoses, prognostics, therapy, management, preventative medicine and public health among others.

Professional opportunities

PhD graduates from this programme will find most work opportunities in the various services of hospitals, primary healthcare centres, and social and health centres; applied research institutes; healthcare planning and evaluation bodies; public healthcare agencies; private healthcare companies; international organisations.

Coordinator

Dr. Xavier Bonfill Cosp

Composition of the academic tribunal for the PhD programme

• Dr. Xavier Bonfill [coordinator of PhD programme] (UD Sant Pau)
• Dr. Xavier Castells (UD Mar)
• Dr. Maria Esteve (UD Can Ruti)
• Dr. Albert Navarro (UD Bellaterra)

Administration

Cecília Jiménez Jiménez
Secretary of the Department of Paediatrics, Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Preventive Medicine and Public Health
M Building - Faculty of Medicine
UAB Campus
08193-Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès)
Tel. 93 5811903
Mail: d.pediatria@uab.es

Thesis supervisor/s and academic tutor/s

Thesis supervision and thesis tutoring

Admission application

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

• From April, 7 to May, 30
  • RESOLUTION maximum by the School of Doctorate: June, 30
• From June, 9 to July, 25
  • RESOLUTION maximum by the School of Doctorate: October, 2
• From September, 1 to October, 17
  • RESOLUTION maximum by the School of Doctorate: November, 3
• From October, 20 to November, 14
  • RESOLUTION maximum by the School of Doctorate: December, 15

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

Specific access requirements

Interest and/or experience in biomedical research or public health.

Selection criteria

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

• Doctoral thesis pre-project: summary of the research project, which must be linked to one of the lines of research of the PhD programme (60%).
• Affinity of previous studies with the different lines of research of this PhD programme (20%).
• Personal interview (20%).

Within a maximum of 30 days, 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.

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 conferences offered by experts in the field of knowledge.
  PhD students attend seminars and conferences at which they can meet the speakers, professors and other delegates, offering a great opportunity to get first hand practical expiries or find out about other research being carried out in the field and discuss it.

• Production of a research article sent to a high impact scientific journal.
  Production of at least one article published in an indexed Epidemiology, Public Health or other journal related to the subject of the doctoral thesis. PhD students should previously have participated at second authors in the production of a different article. This will be stimulated by English language learning.

• Giving a seminar on the research project.
  Present the general lines of the project. This should be done at an early stage when the objectives and methods have been defined, at an intermediate stage at the mid-point of the project and when the project is on the final strait.

• Participation in internal research/departmental seminars.
  PhD student take part in seminars or workshops carried out by their research groups to discuss common aspects of the different projects, formulate new hypotheses, report on competitions that have been announced, etc.

• Participation in the production of a research project.
  PhD students take part in the design and setting up of at least one research project with colleagues and other researchers. This means the systematic review of the bibliography, development of rigorous methodology that is adequate for the objectives, logistical preparation and budgets, etc.

• Participation in workshops or courses for methodological or technical specialisation.
  PhD students attend workshops for methodological or technical specialisation that is either required or complementary. These activities enable PhD students to manage some of the techniques and instruments that are essential for carrying out the research for their doctoral thesis.

• Presentation of a paper or poster at a national or international conference.
  Production and presentation of at least one scientific paper or poster at a national or international meeting or conference to acquire the necessary skills for generating precise and convincing language as well as familiarisation with having to respond to questions, comments and possible criticisms.

• Collaboration in teaching tasks (grant holders and clinical associates)
  Participation in undergraduate or postgraduate seminars or workshops to teach concepts or practical skills in health, clinical or molecular epidemiology; design and exploration of statistical data bases; research and critical reading of studies supervised by a lecturer. Preparation of exercises or practicals and the correction of the corresponding tests.

Optional:

• Attendance at doctoral working groups.
  Participation in working or discussion groups made up of other PhD students or researchers. The activity of these groups provides a good opportunity to find out more details about areas that are common to the different theses, carry out critical reading of the bibliography that could be of common interest, learn certain specific statistical techniques, etc.

• Research periods in public or private national or foreign research centres.
  PhD students can carry out research periods of several weeks or months in national or international research centres to gain a deeper understanding of some aspect of their work. The contacts are made by the supervisor of the thesis so that they match the interests of the students and so that the host institution can design the work in detail and individual tutoring.

• Participation in summer schools.
  PhD students may participate in a summer school on public health or epidemiology that covers their particular interests in terms of the thesis. This gives an ideal opportunity for making contact with colleagues and researcher from other centre for future research possibilities.

• Participation in journal clubs.
  Participation in discussion groups on articles published in the scientific literature made up of other PhD students and researchers. During these sessions PhD students apply the rules of critical reading in relation to the design of the study in question, based on the recommendation set6 out in the EQUATOR initiative.

• Participation in collaboration meetings among different research groups.
  Participation in groups to discuss research projects in to public health or epidemiology involving researchers from different teams. These meetings provide a great opportunity for learning as they include the methodological and logistical details of the different projects as well as the perspectives and visions of the different team members.

• Courses for improving languages or teaching in English.
  PhD students must be able to accredit a good level of reading, speaking and writing in English. During their research they have the opportunity to take part in bibliographic sessions in English and in conferences and workshops with presentations by foreign speakers.

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) 10 dies 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 21 September 2023.

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

All PhD students

• 01 - Examining board proposal (the signature is not necessary)
• 21 - Examining board: curriculum vitae of members who are not university professors (single file)

International Doctoral Research Component: Mandatory documentation if requested

• 09 - International Doctoral Research Component: 1 report of the external member
• 10 - International Doctoral Research Component: 2 report of the external member

Compendium of publications: Mandatory documentation if requested

• 08 - Compendium: Resolution of acceptance by the CAPD

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

• 11 - Resolution if the thesis is written in other language than Catalan, Spanish or English

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

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
• 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.