Training complements (PhD in Political Sciences and Public Administration)

The Doctoral Committee, following a report from the doctoral students’ tutors, may decide which training complements or equivalence modules are suitable during the first year for students admitted onto the Doctoral programme who do not hold the Master's Degree in Government, Administration, and Public Policies at the University of Murcia. The training complements or equivalence courses will consist of compulsory or optional subjects from those offered in the said master’s degree.

These training complements are mandatory for those students who do not meet the recommended admission profiles. Therefore, training complements are not required for admission profiles 1 and 2, but are mandatory for profiles 3, 4, 5, and 6. In those cases, students must take between 6 and 18 credits depending on their profile and prior studies.

Admission profiles from 3 to 6 without skills in research techniques and advanced methodology in Political Science and Public Administration must take a specific course on "Research Methodology" of a total of 6 ECTS. This subject, by addressing the competences directly related to advanced research academic training, aims to fill the gaps of students with access profiles different from those recommended in the techniques and methods required for their training as researchers in any area of political and administrative analysis. It is, therefore, a subject taken prior to specialisation. The subject "Methodology of Research and Project Design" aims to provide students with the necessary and advanced mechanisms for quality research activity so that students can acquire skills in developing research paper in any area of Political Science and Administration Science to promote a society based on the values of freedom, justice, equality, and pluralism.

Students from profiles 3 to 6 who wish to follow the research line in Political Science must take the subject "Politics, Democracy and Governance" of a total of 12 ECTS, as levelling credits or training complements. This subject aims to analyse some of the most important discussions of modern and contemporary political theory, together with a discussion of the most recent developments in the analysis of contemporary political parties in order to understand their role in representative democracies and the problems they face (crisis of representation, organisation, and funding) and their future perspectives. It will also address the legal, sociological and political analyses and concepts necessary to understand electoral systems and electoral behaviour in our societies from an advanced perspective.

Students profiles 3 to 6 who wish to follow the research line in Public Administration must take the subject "Advanced Studies in Government and Senior Public Management" of a total of 12 ECTS, as levelling credits or academic complements. The aim of this subject is to train the student in advanced research in certain lines of analysis, considering their doctoral interest: Public Administration and Management Science, Analysis of Public Policies or Institutional Communication and Political Communication. The content focuses on specific training on the most problematic and precise aspects for a future researcher or expert in these areas and the academic training of the student in a critical spirit and the creation of solutions to emerging problems.

Likewise, doctoral students may take any of the optional subjects offered in the official Master’ Degree in Government, Administration, and Public Policies of the University of Murcia or their equivalents in other universities, if they have not already taken them. The aim of optional subjects is to further analyse students' knowledge in specific areas. These subjects must be agreed upon and authorised by the tutor and Doctoral Committee for the recognition of doctoral training activities in the programme.