PhD in Biotechnology

Course Plan and Operation

The Doctoral Programme in Biotechnology (240 ECTS) is structured in three semesters and comprises a PhD degree (60 ECTS) and a PhD thesis (180 ECTS).

Course:

• The mandatory course “Thesis Project” (30 ECTS) has a key role in helping the student to choose a topic of the thesis and, even when the student already has a theme in mind, to establish a study plan that fits the previous training and the theme to be developed, and may include the frequency of seminars or courses. At the end of this unit, the work program, monitored and validated by a prospective advisor, is delivered to the Scientific Committee of the Program. Depending on the concerned subject , the Scientific Committee appoints a Steering Committee before which the student will present / defense / discuss the thesis project. If the project is approved, the student is definitely admitted to the Doctoral Program, and the Scientific Committee formally appoints the Student Advisor and any Co-advisors, based on a proposal of the prospective Advisor.

• All students must conclude a mandatory course of “Entrepreneurship” (3 ECTS) that is directed to their creativity stimulation and to provide them with practical skills that motivate innovative activities.

• Optional curricular units (27 ECTS) can be of two types. The student can get up to 18 ECTS through equivalent processes that recognize prior relevant training. At least 9 ECTS of the total of 27 optional ECTS, will be obtained by courses completion recommended by the prospective advisor. These units will complement the student’s training concerning the subject he wants to pursue in his thesis, and should allow the deepening of specific topics and the exploitation of related fields in an interdisciplinary perspective. The list of available optional courses, regularly updated by the Scientific Committee of the Programme, should reflect the existing offer and their considered relevance for the students training. It may include courses offered in other institutions.

• By completing the course the student has the right to the award of an Advanced Studies Diploma in Biotechnology by NOVA FCT.

Thesis:

• The thesis should contribute to the advance of the state of the art in the field in which it is held. The work should be publishable in international journals with prior review. It is increasingly expected, to reconcile the concern to carry out high-quality scientific work with the impact creation on society. The mechanisms and reporting times of achieved the scientific results under the thesis should have enough flexibility to accommodate the creation of industrial property and confidentiality agreements with companies that may be associated with the thesis work.