Application

Admission: applicants are requested to hold a master degree in Engineering or any legal equivalent degree (national or international). A graduation (in Portuguese “Licenciatura”) in Engineering may be allowed as long as the applicant curriculum proves to have enough professional or scientific capacity to complete the doctoral program. A graduation in other scientific areas is also allowed, provided that the applicants’ curriculum shows enough and appropriate scientific background.

Places (minimum and maximum number): minimum of 5 and a maximum of 30

Application deadlines Edition 2024/2025, starting in the 1st semester
Phase 1: 11 to 22 April 2024
Phase 2: 3 to 15 July 2024
Phase 3: 3 to 6 September 2024


Application deadlines Edition 2023/2024, starting in the 2nd semester
Phase 1: ​3 to 6 September 2024
Phase 2: 2 to 5 December 2024

The candidate should attach, for analysis, the following documents in digital support:

    • Digital copy of citizen card or passport 
    • Degree Certificate(s) including the courses and final classification
    • Curriculum Vitae (CV)
    • English proficiency certificate (optional)
    • Motivation letter, where he/she expresses the reasons why he/she believes his/her admission to DPISE is important and deserves the consideration of the programme coordination.

The DPISE coordination can later ask for the candidate to send the reference of, at least, 2 persons that can write a recommendation letter. This reference should include the name, affiliation and email address of the 2 persons who will be asked to write a reference letter about the candidate. The email address will be used by the DPISE coordination to request the recommendation letters. This request will acknowledge the points that should be included in the letter, namely:
    - the context in which the author has met the candidate and for how long;
    - opinion about the candidate’s ability to work alone and in a team;
    - opinion about the general character of the candidate;
    - identification of the candidate’s main strengths and weaknesses;
    - a comparison of the performance of the candidate against fellow colleagues;
    - an indicative reference of the English language skills (in the cases where English is not the candidate’s native language)
Note: The information held on the recommendation letters will be treated with absolute confidentiality and the candidate will not be able to access it.

After this phase, the candidates who are in position to be eligible to DPISE can be called to an individual interview (in English) during the selection process. Interviews may be taken in person or via skype. Date and hour will be defined by the DPISE coordination. The candidates that were previously students/researchers at the department may be exempt from this interview.
Some points that can be addressed during the interview include the discussion about:
    - the motivation to develop a PhD in the field of Industrial Engineering;
    - the candidate’s future plans and goals;
    - opinion about his/her academic background suitability to DPISE;
    - English language skills;
    - the way candidates are thinking about financing the programme.