Students enrolled on PhD studies. By sex and universities

University education

Education that seeks to prepare and specialise professionals, foster cultural progress and develop research. Access to university requires candidates to pass PAAU (university entrance aptitude tests). In the case of university colleges there is a set of reserved places for students proceeding from CFGS or FP2. University can also be accessed by people aged over twenty-five years that pass regulatory university entrance exams as proposed by universities, even though they do not possess the batxiller certificate. University education taken in higher technical colleges and faculties involves three cycles: first cycle studies, first and second cycle studies, second cycle studies and third cycle studies. Since the Bologna Plan came into force, university certificates are structured into three cycles: bachelor's degree, masters and doctorate. Bachelor's degrees replace diplomas and licentiates. Masters courses are for acquiring specialised training focused on research and the professional world. The aim of doctorate courses is to offer students advanced training in research techniques.

We have used the information provided by the Generalitat de Catalunya's Ministry of Business and Knowledge, obtained from the statistics services of Catalan universities. Data is offered on the number of teachers, and students enrolled at and qualified by the private and public universities that make up the Catalan university system. Data is also included in relation to the number of students taking third cycle (PhD and continuing education) courses. Since the Bologna Plan came into force (2010), information has been included on students enrolled for official degrees and masters. At the moment there are two coexisting systems until the expiry of the old plan. Data is also provided on PhD theses, and on students on the different student mobility programmes.

The structure of university degree courses

Within the framework of the European Higher Education Area, university education is currently based on a three-cycle degree structure leading to students obtaining the corresponding official bachelor's and university master's degrees and doctorates.

Bachelor's degrees

These are the first degree courses studied when students are admitted to universities. The aim of these courses of study is to provide students with a general knowledge of their chosen field, to prepare them for their future professional careers. The syllabi correspond to 240 credits and consist of theoretical and practical training distributed as follows: basic degree knowledge, compulsory subjects, optional subjects, practical training in companies and a bachelor's degree final project. University bachelor's degrees fall under one of the following branches of knowledge: Arts & Humanities, Science, Health Sciences, Social and Legal Sciences, and Architecture and Engineering.

University master's degrees

These begin following completion of a bachelor's degree. Master's degrees are intended to provide the student with advanced specialist or multidisciplinary training aimed at academic or professional specialisation, or to enable the student to embark on research projects. The syllabus corresponds to 60 or 120 credits and contains all the theory and practice the student must acquire, distributed as follows: compulsory subjects, optional subjects, seminars, practical training in companies, supervised assignments and a university master's degree final project. University master's degrees fall under one of the following branches of knowledge: Arts & Humanities, Science, Health Sciences, Social and Legal Sciences, and Architecture and Engineering.

Doctorates

Official university doctorates enable the student to gain the skills and abilities required for quality scientific research. The aim of doctoral programmes is to develop the different aspects of the PhD candidate's training and to establish the procedures and the line of research to enable them to produce a doctoral thesis. Doctoral programmes last for a maximum of three years, full time, from the admission of the PhD candidate to the programme to presentation of the thesis, or five years if the doctorate is studied on a part-time basis. To gain admission to an official doctoral programme, students must have an official bachelor's degree from a Spanish university, or equivalent degree, and a university master's degree, although individual universities may apply additional entry criteria requiring specific training.

Provisional data

Catalan universities are:

Name	Year established
University of Barcelona (UB)	1837
Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB)	1968
Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC)	1971
Pompeu Fabra University (UPF)	1990
University of Lleida (UdL)	1991
University of Girona (UdG)	1991
Rovira i Virgili University (URV)	1991
Open University of Catalonia (UOC)	1995
Ramon Llull University (URL)	1991
University of Vic (UVic) the 2014 renamed University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC)	1997
Internacional University of Catalonia (UIC)	1997
Abat Oliba CEU University (UAO)	2003