Doctoral program in Materials Science and Engineering

Materials science and engineering is an interdisciplinary field of knowledge that encompasses study of the structure, properties, processing and applications of all types of materials: metallic, ceramic, polymeric, composite and biological. As well as traditional structural materials, it also embraces functional materials, nanomaterials and biomaterials. The discipline has a critical role to play in boosting industrial capacity and technological innovation and improving quality of life.Doctoral studies in Materials Science and Engineering are also aligned with the strategic research areas of the European Commission, the Government of Spain and the Government of Catalonia. At the EU level, these research areas fall within the framework of various programmes focusing on Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and New Production Technologies (NMP); at the level of Spain as a whole, they form part of the National Plan for Scientific Research, Development and Technological Innovation (strategic action focusing on nanoscience and nanotechnology, new materials and new industrial processes); and in Catalonia, they are specified in the government’s 2010-2013 Research and Innovation Plan (development of materials, production systems and eco-products with innovative designs). The research activities carried out in the UPC’s Department of Materials Science fit into these research programmes and plans. When the UPC Doctoral School was established, the programme was included in the industrial engineering area. Within the framework of its priority research areas, the UPC identified nine cross-disciplinary technological fields, one of which was materials technology.The UPC’s Department of Materials Science, the unit responsible for organising and promoting doctoral studies in Materials Science and Engineering, was created by bringing together the Chairs in Metallurgy and Iron and Steel Technology of the Barcelona School of Industrial Engineering (ETSEIB) and professors from the materials science and metallurgical engineering knowledge area of the Terrassa School of Industrial Engineering and the technical schools of Vilanova, Manresa and Terrassa.Before the enactment of the University Reform Law (which led to the formation of the Department), the ETSEIB Chairs in Metallurgy and Iron and Steel Technology were already teaching doctoral courses, and several doctoral theses were supervised and defended in this context. At that time, this kind of activity was relatively uncommon in higher technical schools.The formation of the Department and the recruitment of new professors, who brought extensive experience in other areas of materials science (polymers, ceramics and composites), paved the way for the creation and consolidation of a doctoral programme that has now been running for 30 years. Over this time, the programme has gradually evolved. Its structure and content have been adapted based on the experience gained and lessons learned through programme delivery, the research areas that have taken shape and become firmly established in the Department, and successive changes in the regulatory framework. The programme offered fifteen doctoral courses within the framework of Royal Decree 778/1998. To adapt to Royal Decree 56/2005, almost all of these courses were included in the master's programme in Materials Science and Engineering. The master’s programme currently includes 22 courses (two years of study), and students who complete the degree are eligible for direct admission to the doctoral programme.The doctoral programme was recognised with a quality award given by the Spanish Ministry of Education in 2003 (the year the programme was launched) (MCD2003-00150), and the award was renewed in the following years (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009). The programme was later granted a Pathway to Excellence award (MEE2011-0471), which remained in effect until 2013. The Pathway to Excellence programme ended in 2013, and a new system for assessing the quality of doctoral programmes has not yet been introduced. In Catalonia, to the best of our knowledge, this doctoral programme is the only one focusing on structural materials that has been granted a Pathway to Excellence award. (The only other programme to receive this recognition focuses on functional materials).It is also a source of pride for us that our doctoral programme was selected to participate in the Erasmus Mundus Joint European Doctoral Programme in Materials Science and Engineering. This programme, which was validated almost as a matter of course, was derived directly from the UPC’s doctoral programme in Materials Science and Engineering, with the exception of the requirement to take a number of bridging course credits (up to 30) and complete a period of study at one of the other participating universities: Luleå University of Technology (Sweden), Linköping University (Sweden), the University of Lorraine (France) and Saarland University (Saarbrücken, Germany). The Erasmus Mundus Doctoral Programme was a continuation of the Erasmus Mundus master's degree in Advanced Materials Science and Engineering (AMASE), which is delivered by the same universities and has been renewed twice by the European Commission.