PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology

Why do this PhD?

The PhD programme in Social and Cultural Anthropology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) is a high-level academic research program that offers students the opportunity to deepen their understanding of culture and society in the face of the multiple challenges of the contemporary world.

This PhD programme is designed to train specialized researchers, whether they want to pursue an academic career or dedicate themselves to the professional world with top-quality training with the tools provided by social and cultural anthropology, multiplying opportunities for labor insertion.

Students will have the opportunity to work closely with academics of the highest level and international prestige, developing research skills, from anthropological theory and methodology and from a critical and plural perspective.

Furthermore, the UAB offers a highly stimulating academic and scientific environment, with a solid tradition in the study of social and cultural anthropology. People enrolled in the programme have access to a wide range of resources and services, including specialized libraries, research laboratories, and exchange programs with universities around the world. Among others, we put at your service research infrastructures of social and cultural anthropology such as the bibliographic collections of the Human Relations Area Files (https://www.uab.cat/ca/antropologia/sedit) for documentation and cross-cultural research.

In summary, the PhD program in Social and Cultural Anthropology at the UAB offers students a unique and challenging academic experience that will prepare them for a successful career in research, teaching and professional practice in the field of social and cultural anthropology.

Professional opportunities

Career options

• Technical advisor, design, evaluation, implementation and intervention in social and cultural policies for public administration in such areas as migration, social inequalities, urban space, education, gender, environment or health, among others.
• Local and community development: consultancies, public administration, cooperation agencies and NGOs, international organisations, etc.
• Teaching and research in universities, scientific institutions and research centres.
• Consultancy services for entities, companies and public administration institutions in all areas of public policy.

Testimonials

The close and human treatment, and the continuous support from all the parts that make up the department and the program, makes a generally solitary process a beautiful experience.

Teresa Habimana Jordana

In the program I found not only quality teachers and infrastructure, but also students from all over the world from whom I learned a lot.

Inti Fernando Fuica Rebolledo

I appreciated the international outlook, the enriching and interdisciplinary research environment, and the open atmosphere and mindset at the department.

Johan Fredborn Larsson

Coordinator

Jorge Grau Rebollo

Composition of the academic tribunal for the PhD programme

Dan Rodríguez 
Jose Luís Molina
Montserrat Ventura
Diana Marre
Jordi Grau
Miranda Lubbers

Administration

Department secretary
Phone:(+34) 93 581 12 39
E-mail: d.antropologia@uab.cat
Programme manager
Jordi Grau
Phone: (+34) 93 581 34 85
E-mail: Jordi.Grau@uab.cat

Thesis supervisor/s and academic tutor/s

Thesis supervision and thesis tutoring

Projects of research groups that accept doctoral thesis proposals

More information about research group projects that accept PhD thesis proposals on the department's website

Admission application

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

Period 1: from 10/02/2025  to  21/03/2025

               Doctoral School resolution: 30/04/2025

Period 2: from 04/04/2025  to  30/05/2025

               Doctoral School Resolution: 27/06/2025

Period 3: from 01/09/2025  to  15/10/2025

               Doctoral School Resolution: 05/11/2025

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

This PhD programme has the following selection criteria:

• Previous training in social and cultural anthropology or other related disciplines providing a sufficient grounding in anthropology (30%).
• Assessment of the adequacy of the candidate's profile to the lines of research, based on the motivation letter and the curriculum vitae, and that the candidate has the explicit support of a professor associated with the PhD programme after having contacted through the channels provided by the program coordination (45%).
• Sufficient reading ability in academic languages (English, French, etc.) (25%).

Training supplements

When the academic committee of the PhD programme in Social and Cultural Anthropology, in common agreement with the thesis supervisor, considers that there is a specific deficiency in the previous training, either in the methodological or theoretical field, they can recommend that it be take additional training courses among those offered in the university master's degree in Anthropology: Advanced Research and Social Intervention, in a maximum number of 30, as well as the Specialization Course in Anthropology.

Registration and fees

Calendar and Registration documents

After the registration

Training activities

Transversal training activities

Mandatory and optional specific activities

For this PhD programme the following training activities are scheduled.

Mandatory activities:

• Oral presentations or posters at national or international conferences
  With the guidance of their thesis supervisor, PhD students prepare a paper on a particular aspect of their research to be presented before an expert audience at a national or international conference.
• Presentation of a paper at a departmental or reseach group symposium
  The Department and/or its research groups periodically organize scientific conferences open to the contribution of PhD students where they can present advances in some aspect of their research.
• Participation in internal seminars of the research group / department
  The PhD student must justify attending a minimum of 5 seminars or conferences during the entire doctorate.

Optional activities:

• Symposiums for young researchers
  A meeting point for young researchers, whose objective is to provide practice in presenting research and critically analysing it with their peers.
• Training activities to improve comprehension of the field of study
  These activities can be organised by the PhD programme itself, by the university or by other national or international bodies, and must be agreed on each year by students and the programme heads.
• Research paper sent to a indexed scientific journal
  Closely monitored by the thesis supervisor, students must write a research paper presenting initial findings from their research and submit this for publication in a indexed scientific journal.
• Participation in workshops or methodological specialization courses
  For example, training sessions in transversal skills in different programs that should be used in the preparation of the thesis (Scopus / WoK, Mendeley, resources and knowledge of ethics / copyright, atlas .ti, ORCID and others), organized by the Doctoral School and by the programme.
• Research stay in national or foreign research centers, public or private
  It will be valued that the doctoral student makes a research stay in a research center of recognized prestige or interest for his thesis during the preparation of the PhD thesis. The PhD student must justify a minimum of 15 days in the same center to be accredited to have done this activity.
• Linguistic competence course for scientific communication
  The PhD student must justify this activity with a certificate of attendance in order to be recognized by the PhD programme.
• Language course or improvement of teaching in English
  The PhD student must justify this activity with a certificate of attendance in order to be recognized by the PhD programme.
• Collaboration in teaching tasks (scholarship holders)
  Support for teaching in undergraduate and master classes. The trainees have to do a minimum of 60 hours so that the activity can be counted in their academic record.

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) 15 days before the maximum thesis completion date that appears in your file.

Attention! If you wish to submit before the end of this academic year without paying the taxes of the next year you need to confirm your application of submission before Monday 30th june 2025.

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

All doctoral students

• External Expert 1: Suitability Document (thesis data deposit tab)
• External Expert 2: Suitability Document (Thesis Data Deposit tab)
• Proposal of the Examining Board (no need to sign) (tab deposit attached documents)
• Turnitin Report (Attachments Deposit tab)
• Sworn statement of the Turnitin report (deposit tab attached documents)

Optional:

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 (attached documents deposit tab)

Exemption from the previous two months of deposit before the deadline for completion of the thesis

Authorisation from the Doctoral School regarding the exemption of the two months before the maximum date of completion of the thesis.

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
• 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.

The following prizes and honours have been awarded in relation to this PhD programme.

• The PhD programme held the Pathway to Excellence Award up to 2014.
• Some of its PhD graduates have obtained national and international grants at the universities of Barcelona, Lleida, Pompeu Fabra, University of Kent, University of California, UAM in Mexico and several universities in Ecuador, among others, or have been employed by universities, research centres and public administration bodies in their countries of origin.