The doctorate in Human Sciences, Heritage and Culture groups together every line of research relating to the humanities at the University of Girona.This means that it offers doctorate students an opportunity to work and train in a wide range of disciplines, in highly active research groups that take part in competitive research projects, mostly with support from a consolidated research group (SGR), and which enjoy an extensive network of international contacts.This doctorate (and its predecessors) have continuously received awards for quality and excellence since 2005.

It is therefore an interdepartmental and interdisciplinary doctorate that covers a very wide range of research subjects.They all share, however, a rigorous approach and up-to-date methodologies, applied to the soundest and most productive research trends in today’s humanities.

The intellectual curiosity, rigour, critical spirit and keenness to work that are expected of doctorate students on this programme will find a stimulating space, then, for developing in, active groups that will act as guides and references, a programme of research seminars and workshops that will broaden their horizons and a network of national and international contacts that will encourage their mobility and possibilities for scientific dialogue.

The main objective of the Doctoral Programme in Humanities, Heritage and Cultural Studies is to train high level researchers in this field of knowledge.The wide and diverse range of subjects and lines of research provides doctoral students with direct and privileged access to the most solid and fruitful trends in research in the fields of humanities and culture.The researchers on the programme have a broad network of contacts with national and international research groups, which broadens their theoretical and methodological perspectives, promotes mobility and provides a range of experts in all aspects relevant to their research.The trainee researchers on the programme have access to direct experience of the most current problems, methods and approaches to research through their incorporation in research groups, which assess and supervise their lines of work.

Programme with the mention of excellence.

1.Written and visual culture in the mediaeval period

Potential doctoral-thesis research directors: Dr Gerardo Boto Varela, Dr M. Elisa Varela Rodríguez, Dr Joan Molina Figueras

Tutors: Dr Gerardo Boto Varela, Dr M. Elisa Varela Rodríguez, Dr Sadurní Martí Castellà

Head researcher: Dr M. Elisa Varela Rodríguez

• Studies about women and written culture in the mediaeval period
• Visual culture in the medieval period

2.Linguistic description, language contact and type

Researchers who are potential doctoral thesis supervisors: Dr. Francesc Roca Urgell, Dr. Beatriz Blécua Falgueras, Dr. Isabel Pujol Payet

Tutors: Dr Francesc Roca Urgell, Dr Beatriz Blécua Falgueras, Dr Isabel Pujol Payet, Dr Narcís Iglesias Franch

Head researcher:  Dr Francesc Roca Urgell

• Linguistic description, language contact and type
• Linguistic history
• Compared grammar and linguistic variation
• Romance languages and linguistic diversity
• Linguistic theory
• Anthropological linguistics
• Communication and sociolinguistics
• Critical analysis of speech: journalistic language and political language

3.Theoretical and practical philosophy

Potential doctoral-thesis research directors: Dr Carla Carreras Planas, Dr Antoni Defez Martín, Dr Francisco Garcia Collado, Dr Josep Olesti Vila,  Dr David Pineda Oliva, D. Oriol Ponsatí Murlà, Dr Joan Vergés Gifra, Dr Jörg Rudolf Zimmer

Tutors: Dr Carla Carreras Planas, Dr Antoni Defez Martín, Dr Josep Olesti Vila, Dr David Pineda Oliva, Dr Oriol Ponsatí Murlà, Dr Joan Vergés Gifra, D. Jörg Rudolf Zimmer

Head researcher: Dr Jörg Rudolf Zimmer

• History of philosophy
• Contemporary political philosophy
• Contemporary thought
• The biopolitical background of bioethics
• Philosophy of cognitive sciences

4.Ancient history

Potential heads of doctoral thesis research: Dr Josep Burch Rius, Dr Antoni Ñaco del Hoyo, Dr David Vivó Codina

Tutors: Dr. Josep Burch Rius,  Dr. Antoni Ñaco del Hoyo, Dr. David Vivó Codina

Head researcher: Dr Antoni Ñaco del Hoyo

• The Roman Republic and the Principality of August: policy, economy, public finances, army, culture and ideology
• Conflict, hegemony and imperialism in the ancient and late-antique Mediterranean
• Rome and the connectivity of the northwestern Mediterranean

5.Comparative history: mediaeval, modern, contemporary periods

Potential doctoral-thesis research directors: Dr Rosa Congost Colomer, Dr Pere Ortí Gost,  Dr Giaime Pala, Dr Joaquim M. Puigvert Solà, Dr Enric Saguer Hom, Dr Núria Sala Vila, Dr Lluís Sales Favà, Dr Lluís To Figueras, Dr Xavier Torres Sans, Dr M. Elisa Varela Rodríguez

Tutors: Dr Rosa Congost Colomer, Dr Pere Ortí Gost, Dr Giaime Pala,  Dr Joaquim M. Puigvert Solà, Dr Enric Saguer Hom, Dr Núria Sala Vila, Dr Lluís To Figueras, Dr Xavier Torres Sans, Dr M. Elisa Varela Rodríguez

Head researcher: Dr Xavier Torres Sans

• Memory, speeches and historiography
• Mediterranean trade in mediaeval and modern periods
• Compared studies of processes of historical change in Mediterranean Europe
• Compared studies of processes of historical change in Hispanic American societies

6.History of Language

Potential doctoral-thesis research directors: Dr Francesc Feliu Torrent, Dr Joan Ferrer Costa, Dr Narcís Iglesias Franch

Tutors: Dr Francesc Feliu Torrent, Dr Joan Ferrer Costa, Dr Narcís Iglesias Franch, Dr Oriol Ponsatí Murlà

Head researcher:  Dr Francesc Feliu Torrent

• Study of Catalan linguistic models from their origins to the present
• Social history of the Catalan language
• Linguistic unity and diversity

7.History of modern art

Potential doctoral-thesis research directors: Dr Joan Bosch Ballbona, Dr Francesc Miralpeix Vilamala, Dr Xavier Torres San

Tutors: Dr Joan Bosch Ballbona, Dr Xavier Torres Sans

Head researcher: Dr Joan Bosch Ballbona

• Art in the modern period: destruction and safeguarding
• Art in the modern era in Catalonia and its relationship with the European context

8.History of Rural Societies

Potential doctoral-thesis research directors: Dr. Rosa Congost Colomer, Dr. Gabriel Jover Avellà, Dr. Pere Ortí Gost, Dr. Joaquim M. Puigvert Solà, Dr. Rosa Ros Massana, Dr. Enric Saguer Hom, Dr. Núria Sala Vila, Dr. Lluís To Figueras, Dr. Xavier Torres Sans

Tutors: Dr Rosa Congost Colomer, Dr Gabriel Jover Avellà, Dr Pere Ortí Gost, Dr Joaquim M. Puigvert Solà, Dr Rosa Ros Massana, Dr Enric Saguer Hom, Dr Núria Sala Vila, Dr Lluís To Figueras, Dr Xavier Torres Sans

Head researcher: Dr Rosa Congost Colomer

• Cultural heritage and historical change in the Catalan rural world
• Property rights and forms of exploitation of peasant labour (12th-21st centuries)
• Social dynamics and historical change in rural societies (12th-21st centuries)
• Country-city relations throughout history (12th-21st centuries)
• Environmental conditions and agricultural development (12th-21st centuries)
• Organisation of rural territory and spaces (12th-21st centuries)
• Industrialisation and the rural world.Uses of water in history

9.History, Memory, Identities

Potential doctoral-thesis research supervisors: Dr Maximiliano Fuentes Codera, Dr Giaime Pala, Dr Oriol Ponsatí Murlà, Dr Giorgia Priorelli, Dr Joaquim M. Puigvert Solà 

Tutors: Dr Maximiliano Fuentes Codera, Dr Giaime Pala, Dr Oriol Ponsatí Murlà, Dr Giorgia Priorelli, Dr Joaquim M. Puigvert Solà

Head researcher: Dr Joaquim M. Puigvert Solà

• Study of the interrelations between the formation of identities, traditions and political cultures in the Catalan and Spanish area
• Study of the forms of consensus and repression and their consequences on the population, especially in the cases of deportations and exiles, from a comparative European perspective
• Analysis of the relationship between contemporary European historiography, memory and the diffusion of the historical knowledge

10.Archaeological research

Potential doctoral-thesis research directors: Dr. Josep Burch Rius, Dr. Joaquim Fort Viader, Dr. Julià Maroto Genover, Dr. David Vivó Codina, Dr. Marc Bouzas Sabater

Tutors: Dr. Josep Burch Rius, Dr. Joaquim Fort Viader, Dr. Julià Maroto Genover, Dr. David Vivó Codina

Head researcher: Dr David Vivó Codina

• Archaeological methodology
• Archaeological disciplines
• Diachronic archaeology

11.Diachronic Linguistics and Comparative Grammar

Potential doctoral thesis directors: Dr Isabel Pujol Payet, Dr Beatriz Blecua Falgueras, Dr Avel·lina Suñer Gratacós

Tutors: Dr Isabel Pujol Payet, Dr Beatriz Blecua Falgueras, Dr Avel·lina Suñer Gratacós

Head researcher: Dr Avel·lina Suñer Gratacós

• Diachronic Linguistics and Comparative Grammar
• Historical grammar
• Interaction between linguistic change, variation and acquisition (phonetics, phonology, morphology and syntax)

12.Literature of the Modern and Contemporary Age

Potential doctoral-thesis research directors: Dr. Margarida Casacuberta Rocarols, Dr. Jorge Garcia López, Dr. Xavier Pla Barbero, Dr. Jordi Sala Lleal, Dr. Pep Valsalobre Palacios

Tutors: Dr Margarida Casacuberta Rocarols, Dr Jorge Garcia López, Dr Xavier Pla Barbero, Dr Jordi Sala Lleal, D. Pep Valsalobre Palacios

Head researcher: Dr Jorge Garcia López

• Theory of literature
• Contemporary Catalan literature
• Comparative literature and cultural studies
• Literature and journalism
• Theory of translation
• Diachronic and critical study of modern age literature
• Models of literary language
• History of language and culture
• Textual criticism
• Literary multilingualism.
• Bibliographical and codicological inventories

13.Medieval and Golden Age Literature

Potential doctoral thesis directors: Dr Miriam Cabré Ollé, Dr Eugènia Fosalba Vela, Dr Jorge García López, Dr Adalid Nievas Rojas, Dr Rafael Ramos Nogales, Dr Xavier Renedo Puig, Dr Jaume Torró Torrent, Dr Lara Vilà Tomàs

Tutors: Dr Miriam Cabré Ollé, Dr Eugènia Fosalba Vela, Dr Jorge García López, Dr Sadurní Martí Castellà, Dr Rafael Ramos Nogales, Dr Xavier Renedo Puig, Dr Jaume Torró Torrent, Dr Lara Vilà Tomàs

Head researcher: Dr Miriam Cabré Ollé

• Medieval and Golden Age Literature
• History of mediaeval literature
• The literature of the troubadours
• Medieval Romanesque narrative in verse
• Medieval Catalan and Spanish lyric poetry and its manuscript transmission
• The life and work of Francesc Eiximenis
• Study of prose in Spanish fiction (13th-16th centuries)
• Political history
• Politic and literature
• History of literary styles
• History of science
• Text editing and textual criticism
• Codicology and textual bibliography

14.Cultural heritage.

Potential doctoral thesis directors: Dr Joan Bosch Ballbona, Dr Josep Burch Rius, Dr Eliseu Carbonell Camós, Dr Gemma Domènech Casadevall, Dr Saida Palou Rubio, Dr Carles Serra Salame, Dr Joaquim Soler Subils, Dr David Vivó Codina

Tutors: Dr Joan Bosch Ballbona, Dr Josep Burch Rius, Dr Eliseu Carbonell Camós, Dr Carles Serra Salame, Dr David Vivó Codina, Dr Gemma Domènech Casadevall

Head researcher: Dr Gemma Domènech Casadevall

• Heritage processes
• Uses of cultural heritage
• Safeguarding and destruction of cultural heritage
• Cultural heritage audiences in Catalonia
• Fishing maritime heritage

15.Theories of Contemporary Art

Researchers who are potential doctoral thesis supervisors: Dr Xavier Antich Valero, Dr M. Josep Balsach Peig, Dr M. Lluïsa Faxedas Brujats, Dr Ramon Girona Duran, Dr Carme Pardo Salgado, Dr Àngel Quintana Morraja

Tutors: Dr Xavier Antich Valero, Dr M. Josep Balsach Peig, Dr M. Lluïsa Faxedas Brujats, Dr Ramon Girona Duran, Dr Carme Pardo Salgado, Dr Àngel Quintana Morraja

Head researchers: Dr Carme Pardo Salgado, Dr Àngel Quintana Morraja

• Theory of contemporary art
• History of contemporary art
• History of contemporary art in Catalonia
• History and theory of film
• Criticism and aesthetics of contemporary art
• History and aesthetics of music

16.Cultural Communication

Potential doctoral thesis directors: Dr Margarida Casacuberta Rocarols, Dr Lluís Costa Fernández, Dr Ramon Girona Duran, Dr Àngel Quintana Morraja, Sebastià Ruiz Cabrera

Tutors: Dr. Margarida Casacuberta Rocarols, Dr. Lluís Costa Fernández, Dr. Ramon Girona Duran, Dr. Àngel Quintana Morraja

Head researcher: Dr Margarida Casacuberta Rocarols

• Social and Institutional Communication
• Management and cultural policies
• Critical discourse analysis
• Language and communication
• Journalistic language and y political language
• Audiovisual communication
• Film and propaganda
• Cultural studies

Additional requirements

The regulations governing the teaching programmes of doctoral degrees at the University of Girona establish that the Academic Committees of each doctoral programme may establish requirements additional to those set out by the School of Doctoral Studies in the following cases:

1. The Academic Committees will be able to establish requirements and criteria in addition to those provided for in article 3 for the selection and admission of students to the corresponding doctoral programme.
2. The Academic Committee of the doctoral programme may establish additional requirements for becoming a thesis tutor.
3. The Academic Committee of the doctoral programme may establish additional requirements for becoming a thesis director.
4. The Academic Committee of the doctoral programme will be able to establish additional requirements for the authorisation to present a thesis in the form of compendium of publications.
5. The Academic Committee of the doctoral programme may establish additional requirements for becoming a member of the thesis tribunal.
6. The Academic Committee of the doctoral programme may establish additional requirements to award the mention "cum laude".

The Doctoral Programme in Humanities, Heritage and Cultural Studies is governed by Royal Decree 99/2011, of 28 January, which establishes the organisation of official doctoral studies programmes.The access requirements are those set out in this Royal Decree and which can be consulted at the following web address www.udg.edu/doctorat/acces.

Specific admission criteria for the Doctoral Programme in Humanities, Heritage and Cultural Studies

The Academic Committee will appraise the admission of applicants according to the following criteria: academic record (40%), letter of motivation (40%), previous collaboration with research groups (10%), and other aspects of the curriculum, especially publications and participation in congresses (10%).These criteria are implicitly subordinate to the thesis of the doctoral student being aligned to one of the lines of research of the programme.

The optimum admission profile corresponds to students who have accumulated 60 postgraduate credits in degrees within the fields of social sciences and humanities, specifically in studies of philology (language, literature, linguistics), philosophy, history and history of the art, and that include specific preparation for undertaking research in these fields.

In cases where students do not have the qualifications considered optimum according to the criteria, the Academic Committee will consider whether the doctoral student should be required to study additional courses.

Regarding educational activities, the School of Doctoral Studies organises courses, seminars and other cross-disciplinary educational activities (soft skills) directed at research training and assisting with the writing and presentation of the doctoral thesis.We ask that the courses be given in English as our language of choice, although Catalan is the language most frequently used.They are generally 10-hour courses or seminars.There are a series of activities that are transferable and are of interest to all doctoral programmes, and others that are specific to a particular doctoral programme 

Educational course catalogue

Doctoral theses read in the programme

Doctoral theses read in the area

Doctoral student guide

Doctoral Programme in Humanities, Heritage and Cultural Studies
Rating criteria for the special doctoral degree awards

The criteria for the doctoral degree special award for our programme have now been established.The scoring proposal is as follows:

1. Publications deriving from theses and quality indexes (up to 2 points)
2. National and/or international research stays (up to 1 point)
3. Knowledge-transfer activities (up to 1 point)
4. Participation in congresses, seminars and talks (up to 1 point)
5. Reviewers’ and reports from board of examiners (up to 2 points)
6. Prizes or distinctions (up to 1 point)
7. International mention (1 point)
8. Having a contract or post-doctoral grant (1 point)

Mandatory training for students of the doctoral programme in Humanities, Heritage and Cultural Studies

Mandatory education: 20 hours of cross-disciplinary education to be chosen from among the courses offered by the School of Doctoral Studies.

Doctoral programme’s training offers.

• Training courses
• Other courses and training

Criteria for recognition of activities carried out outside the course programme of the School of Doctoral Studies (approved by the Academic Committee of the doctoral programme in Humanities, Heritage and Cultural Studies on 18 December 2017 and amended on 8 November 2021)

Given that, from the academic year 2017-2018, by agreement of the Board of Directors, all new doctoral students will have to carry out a minimum of 20 hours on courses offered by the School of Doctoral Studies, and given the difficulties some doctoral students who live outside of Girona or outside the Spanish state may have in meeting this requirement, the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme in Humanities, Heritage and Cultural Studies has agreed that some of the training activities undertaken by doctoral students outside the programme offered by the School of Doctoral Studies at the UdG may be accepted for academic recognition.

These activities will have to fulfil the following characteristics:

• They must be of a basically methodological nature or they must in some way complement the doctoral student's training.
• They will have to be organised or endorsed by university-level academic institutions or by institutions and scientific associations of a comparable level.
• They will have to be carried out during the period in which the doctoral degree is carried out.
• Modern language courses and learning activities will be excluded.
• Attendance at congresses, symposiums or similar academic meetings will be excluded.

As an exception, the Academic Committee may approve activities organised by non-academic or non-scientific entities, provided they are officially recognised by a public body and entail learning of a cross-disciplinary character, are a useful supplement to the researcher’s training and prove to be of use in developing the doctoral thesis of the applicant.

In order to proceed to the recognition of these activities, it will be necessary to present the Academic Committee with a certificate of attendance, or equivalent, which clearly states the academic institutions that organised the activity and the duration in hours of said activity.

In order to ensure the Committee does not reject activities when the doctoral student is about to present their thesis, it is recommended that the student checks the suitability of the activities for which they wish to request recognition beforehand and not wait until the final stage of the doctoral degree before formalising this recognition.

Instructions for presenting doctoral theses as a compendium of publications

(approved by the Academic Committee of the doctoral programme in Humanities, Heritage and Cultural Studies on 12th February 2018)

General rules

The doctoral thesis can be a monograph or a compendium of accepted or published publications, the result of the research carried out by the doctoral student and of which he or she is the main author.(Regulation 2017, art 8.2.2)

All the publications that form part of the thesis must have been accepted or published after the student's initial enrolment on the doctoral programme and must belong to the same line of research.(Regulation 2017, art 8.2.2)

In the case of works accepted for publication, the DOI must be provided, if the article has already been assigned one, or, otherwise, the acceptance letter.(Format criteria regulations, 2017)

In the case of compendia of publications, the doctoral thesis has to include the objectives or the hypothesis of the work, an introductory chapter, a general discussion and some final conclusions.(Regulation 2017, art 8.2.2)

The compiled articles must have thematic unity and correspond to a single line of research.(Format criteria regulations, 2017)

The co-authors of the works shall state in writing their agreement to the work being used as part of the doctoral thesis and recognition of the student as a main author of the works published or accepted for publication.(Format criteria regulations, 2017)

In the event that the language is not Catalan, Spanish or English, the doctoral student will have to make this known to the Academic Committee of the doctoral programme.(Regulation 2017, art 8.2.3)

Specific rules for the doctoral programme in Humanities, Heritage and Cultural Studies

1.About the number and place of publication

Articles published in scientific and academic journals, as well as chapters of books  that meet similar quality standards will be accepted.

All texts have to be original works of research.Reviews, the status of the research and texts of an informative nature will be specifically excluded.

If the thesis is presented for the option of international mention, one of the articles or chapters will have to be published in foreign journals or publications of international prestige.

The minimum quantity of text will depend on the place of publication

• A minimum of three articles in scientific magazines that meet one or more of the following conditions: (a) with stamp of the FECYT; (b) included in the Journal of Citation Reports, the Art & Humanities Citation Index or the Social Sciences Citation Index by Thompson Reuters; (c) qualified as INT in the European Reference Index for Humanities (ERIH); (d) classified as A by CARHUS+; or (e) in the first or second quartile of SJR (SCImago Journal & Country Rank)
• A minimum of four articles published in journals included in the aforementioned rankings or in the bases SCOPUS, IN-RECS, LATINDEX or in any others that the academic committee may take into consideration at the time.
• A minimum of four texts, in cases where some are chapters in a book, with a maximum of two publications in this format.The doctoral student will have to provide evidence of the quality of the book and/or publication in which it has been published.

At the time the thesis is submitted for review, the doctoral student will have to submit a written document that states the quality indices of the journals or books where each of the texts have been published or accepted for publication.For the journals, the student will have to indicate the ranking according to the different indicators (Journal of Citation Reports, SJR (SCImago), ERIH+, CARHUS+, ICDS of MIAR...)

They should specify if they have the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) stamp and they also need to state the bibliographical databases where it appears and the number of Latindex criteria it fulfils.To obtain information on these parameters it is recommended to use, as a starting point, the website of the Information Matrix for the Analysis of Journals (MIAR).For chapters, the student should list any reviews the book has had and they should specify what the prior assessment process was and provide evidence of the quality of the publication and, where applicable, the collection.The should indicate the position or ranking of the publishing house according to the Scholarly Publishers Indicators (SPI), Publishers Scholar Metrics, Bipublishers and Book Publishers Library Metrics, and if it has the Academic Publishing Quality Stamp of the FECYT.

Doctoral students are reminded that the publication or acceptance for publication of works in journals or books is a prerequisite for presenting a thesis in the form of a compendium of publications, but this has no bearing on the appraisal that external reviewers and members of the tribunal may give of the value and quality of each of the articles or chapters, or on the coherence of the group of works as a whole.

2.About the thesis presentation format

An adaptation will be accepted, in keeping with the humanistic tradition, of the generic Regulations on format referring to theses in the form of a compendium of publications.In this regard, the thesis will have to have, as a minimum, an introductory chapter that sets out the objectives, the hypothesis and the methodology used, and that highlights the subject area that links and gives coherence to the publications that make up the thesis.

It is recommended that this introductory chapter also outlines the state of the question with regard to the subject matter addressed.

The central core of the thesis will comprise a (good quality) copy of the articles, indicating the complete reference of where they have been published or accepted.

The thesis will have to close with a chapter that sums up and discusses the main conclusions and results.

Additionally, the thesis may include any annexes considered appropriate.

3.About authorship

The director, where applicable, may appear as the co-author, provided the doctoral student appears as the first author of the work.None of the members of the tribunal can be a co-author of an article or chapter included in the doctoral thesis.

The articles that comprise the thesis may not be included as part of another thesis.Any co-authors of works included in a thesis who do not have a doctoral degree shall waive the right to submit them as part of their own thesis.

4.About the language

The articles or chapters should be presented in the same language in which they were published or accepted for publication.

Additional provision.

The specific rules for the doctoral programme in Humanities, Heritage and Cultural Studies shall be applied to all theses presented in this format from the academic year 2019-2020.