The UPF PhD program on ICT at DTIC-UPF offers advanced training in a broad range of topics in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). This is an innovative program, unique in Catalonia and Spain in terms of its content, which aims to provide a bridge between various disciplines in this field, like computational biology and biomedical systems, multimedia technologies, networks and communications, computation and intelligent systems, and brain and cognition. The training during the program combines actions that build on the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary research in ICTs, which advanced training in domain specific aspects. DTIC was the first university department in ICT recognized with the María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence distinction (2016 - 2020), recognizing learning international centres in research and advanced training, and the first one in getting the distinction revalidated (ongoing, for the period 2023-26).

Structured training activities:

The environment has a structured program for training activities along the duration of the PhD, that complements the research of each individual student.

Year 1 - Compulsory PhD seminars: Regular series of seminars, taking place both onsite and asynchronously, to accommodate for the different realities of the DTIC-UPF community of early-stage researchers. The seminars are composed by seminars organized by DTIC-UPF, courses promoted by the UPF Doctorate School, and external providers. They transcend the methods of each area to provide an interdisciplinary perspective. A main focus is on non-technical skills required to conduct research projects and work in international teams, as a critical dimension of becoming an independent researcher. As a final outcome, students develop a career development plan during their studies, which is assessed together with their research proposal at the end of the first year. Topics covered in these seminars include:

• the capability to present objectives and results to specialized and layman audiences,
• the ethical implications of own research (responsibility of researchers, impact of research in society, research with human subjects, gender in research, etc.),
• basic project and self-management skills, especially those linked to networking, team working and collaboration,
• methodological basis of statistics, design of experiments or software development, specially oriented to candidates coming from other disciplines, as well on general research practices such as state-of-the-art reviews, research reproducibility, strategies for literature review or writing skills,
• the understanding of the critical aspects linked to Intellectual Property Rights and related legal aspects, and its exploitation (entrepreneurship, Open Science, etc.),
• the optimal use of all tools available at UPF and the PhD program to conduct the PhD project (library, computation, ethical committee, research services, etc.).

Year 2 - DTIC PhD Workshop: Annual PhD Workshop, where DTIC’s PhD students share their research with internal and external attendees, including invited outer institutions. The formats across the different editions have been poster sessions and video presentations in 3-minute pitches (new format promoted by the limitations established by the pandemics). The objective of the workshop is to let students practise and improve the presentation of their initial results and plan, as well as to interact with other scientists in their discussion. Their participation is complemented with additional training, and the support to participate in external contests, such as “Research in 4 minutes”. PhD students can also participate in its organizing committee, as well as in the committees for the different awards offered (over the years, they have included best presentation, best open science principles, best technology transfer potential, or best interdisciplinary work)..

Year 3 - Unlocking the value of your research: basics of open science, tech transfer, and entrepreneurship. During the 3rd year, PhD students participate in this new training, focused on a review of basic concepts of legal protection, licensing, exploitation and reuse for R&D results (Open Science, Industrial Licenses, Entrepreneurship), and then apply this framework to their own research results, exploring and distinguishing the options for their own interests.

Complementary training actions:

• PhD students are incentivized and supported by the PhD program to create internal working groups on topics of transversal interest. Previous examples include gender and science (2016-2018),  deep learning (2015) or FATE (fairness, accountability, transparency and ethics) issues in engineering (2019-2022). Currently this initiative has led since 2024 to the “PHDticTalks+”, with a focus on dealing with aspects related to a quality mental health during PhD studies and community building among students.
• DTIC regularly organizes different winter and summer schools, where PhD students can not only participate but contribute to organizing, as an opportunity to get involved in the organization of scientific events. Recent examples include the Reinforcement Learning Summer School 2023, and the 7th Edition of the Barcelona Virtual Physiological Human Summer school.
• Options to establish visits to other research labs are continuously offered, both in the context of the individual research groups, or as part of DTIC-wide schemes.
• Finally, multiple actions at the level of specific research groups (such as regular seminar series or journal clubs) take place, as well as the opportunity to take part in courses in postgraduates programs from DTIC-UPF.