FAQ: How the COVID-19 crisis affects PhD studies

Updated information regarding doctoral issues as student

Academic Aspects

The 3rd additional provision of the RD 463/2020, of March 14, suspends the termination of administrative procedures. This regulation will enter into force at the same time of its publication in the BOE, which will be on March 14. Article 9 of RD 537/2020, dated May 22, established the suspension of the deadlines with effect from June 1 and for the deadlines suspended by RD463/2020 to be reinstated as from June 1. In accordance with these provisions, the deadline for submitting the doctoral thesis was extended by 79 days (between March 14 and May 31) for all students who were enrolled in a UPF doctoral program in that period. 
 
The new state of alarm decreed last 25th of October (Royal Decree 926/2020) does not establish the suspension of deadlines; therefore, at the moment the University cannot modify the dates for depositing the doctoral thesis.

Yes. An online procedure has been set up. If you wish to deposit your thesis, contact your doctoral programme’s office to find out how to proceed.

These procedures will be valid during all 2020-2021 school year.

Yes. Contact your PhD programme’s office to find out what to do to defend by video conference or to organise a new date.

These procedures will be valid during all 2020-2021 school year.

Aspects related with contracts and pre-doctoral grants

You will find the information regarding these and other grands on the website of the Research Service

On the basis of the provisions of Royal Decree-Law 11/2020, of 31 March, it is possible to extend fixed-term employment contracts financed by public calls for human resources in the field of research that end between 2 April 2020 and 1 April 2021. The PDI Service will contact each of the people affected approximately one month before the end of their contract.

New: Resolutions have been posted on the Spanish Ministry’s website with lists of FPIs (2015-2016 and 2017) that have the possibility of extending the grant; the University is preparing the addenda of those affected to extend the corresponding grants.

In accordance with Royal Decree-Law 11/2020, of 31 March, fixed-duration contracts financed through public human-resources-for-research competitive calls which expire between 2 April 2020 and 1 April 2021 can be extended. The PDI Service will contact those affected approximately one month approximately one month before the end of their contract.

In accordance with Royal Decree-Law 11/2020, of 31 March, fixed-duration contracts financed through public human-resources-for-research competitive calls which expire between 2 April 2020 and 1 April 2021 can be extended. The PDI Service will contact those affected approximately one month before the end of their contract.

Next Monday, 1 June 2020, the suspension of the administrative deadlines established following the declaration of the state of alarm will be repealed, and this entails the resumption of the calculation of all deadlines associated with the calls managed by the AGAUR.

In relation to the aid programme for the recruitment of novice research staff (FI), however, we anticipate that over the next few days the following extensions and modifications of the current calls will take effect:

· The deadline for accepting grants for new concessions in the FI 2020 call will be extended until 15 June 2020.

· The deadline for the incorporation of all beneficiaries of the grants of the FI 2020 call will be extended until 1 November 2020. This extension will affect all beneficiaries, both EU and non-EU.

· With regard to these new incorporations, it will also be possible to submit enrollment in a doctoral programme for the 2020-2021 academic year, without the need to previously formalize enrollment in the 2019-2020 academic year initially planned in the call. This enrollment for the 2020-21 academic year may be submitted when the respective universities can formalize it.
 

 

We recommend you to check the FAQs section on industrial doctorate programmes projects published by the Generalitat of Catalonia.

The deadline for the first partial resolution (first fortnight of June) has been cancelled, and applications submitted in the first period (until 14th of April) will be resolved within the deadline set for the second partial resolution.

These are the deadlines foreseen for the publication of the resolutions:

First partial resolution (first fortnight of June): cancelled.

Second partial resolution: second fortnight of July 2020 (for applications submitted from 26th of February to 9th of June 2020 at 2:00 pm): change due to the state of alarm.

Third partial resolution: first fortnight of December 2020 (for applications submitted from 10th of June to 6th of October 2020 at 2:00 pm).

Fourth partial resolution: first fortnight of February 2021 (for applications submitted from 7th of October 7 to 15th of December 2020 at 2:00 pm).

 

Extraordinary measures adopted by the Catalan Government as a result of the covid-19 pandemic
 

  • Doctoral students may spend up to one annual amount of their mobility grant (€2,200) on other expenses related to the performance of their thesis. 

  • Costs arising from fees paid for cancelled congresses and registration fees for virtual conferences are accepted. 

  • If the amount of the industrial doctorate grant corresponding to the research group is not fully spent, the doctoral student may be covered, once the contract with the company has terminated, either by means of a scholarship, a collaboration agreement or the legal instrument deemed appropriate (this allows covering cases of dismissal or closure of companies). 

  • Regarding the terms and effects of the suspension (14 March - 1 June):  

To calculate the terms, it can be construed that, due to the declaration of a state of emergency, the terms were suspended from 14 March until 1 June (79 days to add to the terms). Benefiting from the 79-day extension is optional. 

  • If the project was in progress when the state of emergency was declared, the 79 days will be added to the period from the project completion date (therefore, any type of expense during the extension period may be offset). 
  • If the project was enjoying an extension period when the state of emergency was declared, the 79 days will be added to the extension period (therefore, only expenses related to the thesis defence and the doctoral student).

According to the provision of the Spanish Ministry of Health published in the BOE (Spanish official gazette) on 20 May 2020:
 

  • Temporary authorizations which have expired will be automatically extended, without the need to issue an individual resolution for each of them by the Immigration Office (Oficina de Extranjería).
  • This automatic extension will start the day after the authorization expires and will last until six months have elapsed since the end of the state of alarm.
  • The validity of the foreigner's identity card having expired during the state of alarm or in the ninety calendar days prior to the date on which such state was decreed, will be automatically extended for the same period as the authorizations (six months from the end of the state of alarm).
  • Those who are abroad will be able to enter Spain with the presentation of their valid and in force travel document and the expired foreigner's identity card. Despite this, and taking into account the indications given by the police, as this recognition is in Spain, in order for those who are abroad to be able to return they should confirm it with the airline (for the control of documentation they do) and, if they are outside the Schengen area and must go through a customs control, with the border authorities of the country from which they travel.
  • The period of the state of alarm does not count for the purposes of the maximum six months of stay abroad to be able to renew the temporary residence permit.

Please contact [email protected] for any information or clarification you may need on these issues.

UPF services

Doctoral students are considered research teaching staff (PDI) for the purposes of campus access.
In this link, you will find all the updated information about access to the university campuses

The electronic resources of the UPF’s Digital Library remain accessible during the closure of the campuses and the conditions remain the same for the whole of the university community. Remember that all the contents of UPF’s Digital Library are accessible 24/7 from outside of UPF for all members of the university community. This webpage explains which resources are available: Bibliographic resources that are available to you during the closure of the Library/CRAI facilities. As you can see, users are informed that during lockdown the interlibrary loan service remains in operation. You can make your requests (only for e-documents: journal articles, conference proceedings, etc.) through the usual channels: Interlibrary loan. Please note: during lockdown, no fees will be applied and the interlibrary loan service is free of charge.

 

If you are interested in on-line training on how to access the e-resources from home, how to use the interlibrary loan service, or on any other relevant area, we can organise personalised sessions by video conference. 

Please check the information available in this link 

Yes, If you have any queries regarding the production of your doctoral thesis (editing criteria, format, etc.) or publishing in TDX, go to this webpage: Thesis. Remember that we can help you at La Factoria to set the format and prepare the cover. Please contact us with any questions you may have on this topic! 
As always, you can write to us or call regarding any queries or requests you may have, through the CAU or by telephone, from 08.00 to 21.00, at the Ciutadella Library/CRAI: 93 542 17 09; Poblenou Library/CRAI: 93 542 23 52; or Mar Library: 93 316 35 35
Our communication channels remain open. You can open a request in the CAU or call us on the user support numbers of each Campus’ IT Units. Click here for more information.
VPN connections enable access to IT resources that are only available on the UPF network from outside of the University. You can consult our guide to set up a VPN connection to the University.
With Office 365 you can install this version of the Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote...) on up to 5 personal devices. Our Office 365 guide contains all the information you might need. In addition, we have subscriptions that allow students to access certain applications like Matlab or Autodesk 3D Studio. More information is available on the webpage Software for private use.
UPF uses Google’s Gmail as a tool for managing email. Google Drive with unlimited storage space is available. You can look through our Google Apps page to find out what other tools you can use.

A number of different tools are available for video conferencing, from Google Meet, designed specifically for meetings, to Collaborate, which is integrated into Aula Global and which enhances lectures and seminars with a series of advanced features (user roles, virtual blackboard…). Consult the guides for both services on the Video conferences page.

See our Slack UPF Barcelona guide to find out how to join the community.

With Slack you can:

  • Exchange messages (like Whatsapp) with your friends and colleagues
  • Share documents, images, video... and link these with external applications like Google Drive
  • Receive alerts for urgent notifications sent to the Campus Global
  • And much more

And if you install the application on your mobile, you’ll have all the important notifications in the palm of your hand. 

During the lockdown the SAP will continue to offer its services by video conference. The therapist will contact those interested in the service before the appointment to confirm the communication channel or application to be used. This format for support will be available for as long as the current remote teaching measures are enforced at UPF. https://www.upf.edu/web/upfinclusio/sap_estudiants

Yes. During the lockdown, in case of need, you can contact the Equality Unit by email: [email protected]. 

 

If you have any other related to your personal circumstances, please contact the secretary of your PhD program.

For more general information you can chech the tracking website la COVID-19 a la UPF.