Application
APPLICATIONS OPEN
1st call: 9th December 2025 to 30th January 2026 (7 places)
2nd call: 2nd to 31st March 2026 (7 + remaining places)
3rd call: 4th May to 30th June 2026 (1 + remaining places)
Supplemental application call: 1st to 11th September 2026 (remaining places)
This PhD programme is biennial.
Who can apply | Required documentation Evaluation Criteria | Annual Fee
Applicants for admission to the Doctoral Programme in Governance, Knowledge and Innovation must be:
a) Holders of a master's degree or legal equivalent;
b) Holders of a bachelor's degree, holders of a particularly relevant academic or scientific curriculum that is recognized as attesting capacity to carry out this cycle of studies by the Academic Board of the Faculty of Economics;
c) Holders of a scholarly, scientific or professional curriculum that is recognized as attesting to the capacity to carry out this cycle of studies by the Academic Board of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra.
The recognition referred to in subparagraphs b) and c) of paragraph 1 only allows access to the cycle of studies leading to a PhD Degree and does not grant its holder the recognition or equivalence to a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree.
Available places: 15
Submission of applications
Applications are exclusively submitted online via the InforEstudante Platform.
Instructions are available here.
- Motivation Letter; [MANDATORY];
- Two Letters of Recommendation; [MANDATORY];
- Certificate of Bachelor's degree with final course classification (diploma). A certificate proving approval in the curricular units carried out must be included, with respective classifications (school transcript); [MANDATORY, except if the primary course is a course taught at the University of Coimbra];
- Certificate from Master's degree with final course classification (Master degree diploma). A certificate proving approval in the curricular units carried out must be included, with respective classifications (school transcript); [MANDATORY, except if the origin course is a course taught at the University of Coimbra];
- Official declaration of course outlines and hourly course loads with classification of each course unit of courses previously taken (transcript), in case of equivalence credits request; [MANDATORY, except in degrees awarded by the University of Coimbra under the Bologna Process – after 2007/2008];
- Diploma(s) proving command of foreign languages (if any);
- Curriculum vitae; [MANDATORY];
- Identity Document; [MANDATORY only for foreign applicants];
- Statement of Interest on PhD program / Proposal for thesis theme (1000 words max.); [MANDATORY];
- Official document certifying qualifications, issued by the institution awarding the highest degree, indicating the weighted average and the grading scale; [MANDATORY only for holders of a degree obtained abroad that does not contain the average].
Note: If the documents mentioned above are written in a foreign language other than Spanish, French, and English, it is mandatory to present a translation to Portuguese undertaken by a translator recognised by the Portuguese diplomatic representation.
The submission of the authenticated original documents is mandatory to the applicants admitted who enrol and register and must be done as soon as possible in order to complete their personal file. Further information
- Academic curriculum: Undergraduate degree and other academic training; [5/20 Weighting];
- Academic curriculum: Research and Publications Experience; [5/20 Weighting];
- Academic Curriculum: Knowledge of foreign language foreign (English or other); [2/20 Weighting];
- Professional curriculum: Professional Merit assessment; [3/20 Weighting];
- Motivation (including, if necessary, an interview): Candidate Profile and Research Theme Proposal; [5/20 Weighting].
Jury: António Manuel Simões Lopes Paiva de Carvalho (Presidente do Júri), Tiago Tavares Santos Pereira e Ana Raquel Borges Barros de Matos.
Note: Assessed applications that have a grade lower than 9.5 in one of the evaluation criteria will automatically become non-approved.
Part-time registration: Admits (only for Doctoral thesis)
Other information
- Application is subject to the payment of a 50.00 euros fee, which is non-refundable, even in case of invalidation of application and of non-placement.
- Applications are submitted online.
- Applicants who do not have the documents attesting the required qualifications or other documents until the end of the deadline for applications may apply conditionally. If they do not submit the required documents until the new deadline provided, their application will become "Not Admitted". Then, they can move their application onto the following call for applications without any additional charges.
- In applications definitively considered valid, and after the evaluation period has started, it is not possible to add or replace the documents presented. To add new documentation, a new application must be submitted in the next phase, if any.
- After the last phase of applications, and if there are still places available, applicants may submit their application by means of a request, beyond the deadline, which will be duly appraised by the coordination of the Course /Organisational Unit.
- Further information about academic issues, including the academic calendar.
- Contacts of the Academic Management Services: E-mail; telephone (00351) 239 247 195; in person assistance at the Student Hub.