We define training activities as tasks that are assessed by the Doctoral Academic Committee and that students must especially carry out during their first academic year of the Program. These are not directly connected to the process of elaboration of the doctoral thesis. They aim to improve doctoral students' historical research abilities. Training activities include participating in congresses, seminars, conferences, research workshops, archaeology fieldwork, or assisting to refinement courses and Master's Degree subjects that help improve the training of the doctoral student. The Jaume Vicens i Vives University Institute of History Specific Research Centre and the Research Groups connected to the Doctoral Program annually organise scientific and teaching activities that offer a wide range of possibilities for doctoral students to choose from. Furthermore, activities carried out in other Catalan, Spanish or foreign University centers are also recognised. However, in order to be considered training activities, they must be accepted by the thesis supervisor and correctly accredited.

The role of these training activities is of a significant importance during the first year of the PhD, since the doctoral student will have to take at least five of them, wich along with the Research Plan will constitute the two elements that will act as a base for the assessment of the Doctoral Academic Committee.

From the second year on, the doctoral students will preferably devote themselves to developing their research project under the supervision of their thesis supervisor. The advances and incidents of the research and the complementary training activities will be recorded in an annual progress report that will also be addessed b the Doctoral Academic Committee.