PhD by Thesis

The PhD is a research doctorate, requiring course-work beyond the Master´s level plus research and dissertation contributing to theory or practice in relation to the discipline as well as to development of professional practice by contributing to field-specific knowledge and hence impact practice beyond research.

UCN Universidad Central de Nicaragua 

List of programmes in this category of research thesis doctorates

• Administración y Gerencia de Empresas, Finanzas, Business Administration and Management, Finance
• Economía, Economics, Political Economics
• Derecho Internacional, International Law
• Psicología, Psychology 
• Gestión Ambiental, Environmental Management 
• Ciencias de la Salud, Health Sciences 
  
• Educación, Education 

Notice: not all of these programmes are available through the Deanship of European Programmes but through other faculties of UCN. 

Research Project

Dissertation with UCN for the Doctor degree.

Doctor by Research Mandatory Units

● Submission of Research Proposal and Dissertation title
● Approval of Research Proposal by UCN
● Submission of Dissertation to UCN
● Submission of Powerpoint presentation of the Dissertation
● Final online defensio and examination

Research skills and research proposal 

To embark on this stage of the Doctorate, the candidate will be required to complete the thesis proposal. The research proposal must be submitted to the Doctoral Research Committee for approval. If the research proposal is not acceptable, it is returned with suitable explanations and the candidate will continue to develop the research proposal until a standard acceptable to the Research Committee is achieved.

CNEA Form 5.1.1., 5.1.2 or 5.1.3.

Once the research proposal is accepted, the candidate will be allocated a supervisor whose expertise lies within the proposed area of research. The supervisor will be a senior academic with specific knowledge of the chosen area of research. He or she may or may not be a member of the university faculty, and will allocate to the candidate approximately 3 hours of contact time per month. Students can propose the nomination of a supervisor requiring the approval of the Research Committee. Communication with the supervisor will be primarily via email. During this stage of the DBA programme, candidates work independently under the direction of the allocated supervisor to conduct a literature review to support the research and underpinning methodology, carry out the research and write the thesis. As with the research proposal, each stage of the research must be developed to a level acceptable to the DBA Research Committee.

After acceptance of the literature review and synthesis, the candidate will work on the thesis (approximate length 40,000 - 60,000 words) under the direction of the supervisor; the thesis is then submitted formally to the university and assessment takes the form of a review followed by a viva voce 'defence' of the thesis. The examination will be conducted in person or by live video link at the university's discretion.

CNEA Form 5.1.5., 5.1.6, 5.1.7.  or 5.1.9.

The thesis project is normally of 1-2 years' duration, but this may vary by individual student.

Examination

Assessment is by formal live voice (a formal face-to face oral defence) examination comprising the student, an internal examiner, an external examiner and the supervisor.



Dissertation Thesis

1) The range of themes for theses, their extent and particulars, as well as the requirements for theses are announced by the University based on the proposals examining committee for the thesis examination.

2) A doctoral thesis is a monothematic work which brings about new findings, it is not a compilation of literature, as a rule it presents personal original research pursued by the Applicant.

3) In general, the thesis is written in Spanish language. An Applicant of different nationality or a foreign Applicant shall ask the admission commission for a possibility to write the thesis in a foreign language. In case of available language capacity the admission commission shall approve the request. A thesis written in a language other than Spanish or English shall include a summary written in Spanish or English language in extent of up to 10 pages.

According to available enrolments and tutoring capacities particularly the following study languages are approved: Spanish, English, German.

4) The use of Master-theses or doctoral theses having already been used for the award of an academic degree is not allowed. The Applicant cannot submit as a rigorous thesis his/her diploma thesis or any other qualification thesis, neither the work of a compilation character. The University can accept a prior dissertation and doctorate only for the purpose of revalidation of the degree in order to award the equivalent degree.

5) The Applicant submits to the examining committee the thesis. The thesis has to be written in text editor, printed and bound in hard cover. Upon request of the Applicant or order recommendation of the examination committee the submission of an electronic version is permitted. Two hardcopy editions of the thesis must be sent to the University.

6) To evaluate a thesis the examining committee nominates at least one staff member possessing the “assistant professor” or “professor” title or the academic title PhD, Dr. or an equivalent degree at doctoral level. The evaluator/s are appointed by the examining committee.

7) The evaluator first evaluates the methodological aspect of the thesis. In the event of the positive evaluation, the thesis shall be evaluated from a specialized, subject-specific perspective. Positive evaluations of the thesis are necessary preconditions for the invitation of the Applicant to the thesis defence and examination.

8) The nominated evaluator shall submit to the examining committee within 60 days from the delivery of the thesis to the evaluator the evaluation of the thesis in which s/he shall state if the thesis does or does not meet the requirements determined by the examining committee and this given study plan. In the evaluation the evaluator shall also present comments on the content of the thesis and, in conclusion of the evaluation, state if s/he does or does not recommend the thesis for the oral defence, or if s/he recommends to rewrite the thesis.

9) In the event that the evaluator does not recommend the thesis for the defence, the Applicant can rewrite the thesis and resubmit it for evaluation on the next deadline for theses submission as determined by the examining committee. If s/he fails to submit the thesis on the given deadline s/he shall be excluded from the registration of Applicants for examinations and thesis defences. The Applicant can ask the examining committee in writing for the extension of the thesis submission deadline not more than twice.

10) Within the six months from the thesis submission before the thesis examination the examining committee shall notify the Applicant in writing of the place, date and time of the online-examination and at the same time notify him/her the result of the evaluation of the thesis.

11) Precondition of the invitation to the thesis defence and examination is the positive evaluator evaluation.

Entry Requirements:

Graduate degree plus MBA, MA, MSc, MPhil or equivalent Master or Postgraduate Degree qualification or first cycle degree entitling the holder in the the country of award to enroll directly in doctoral research programmes at the MPhil level.

Individual requirements: 

Individual admission evaluation and eligibility assessment is required.

After completion of coursework, examinations and written research the thesis (dissertation or comprehensive project report) is defended by the candidate before the panel of examiners. 

The total workload of the PhD in corresponds with equivalence of three years of study or 180 ECTS credits. 

Students must focus on a specialisation or interdisciplinary research. The study area must be offered by UCN as doctoral programme. 

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General Information on PhD Programmes

General Regulations for Postgraduate and Research

Allgemeine Richtlinien und Anforderungen an Forschung 

THESIS: Two hardcopies of a thesis must be shipped to the following mailing address:

Universidad Central de Nicaragua UCN

Semaforos del Zumen 3 C. abajo (oeste), 1 C. al lago (norte)

+ 505 2279-1160 + 505 2269-3103

Lic. Danilo Avendaño Martínez
Dirección de Relaciones Públicas e Internacionales
Coordinador de Programas Internacionales
Universidad Central de Nicaragua UCN

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PhD by Prior Output

Doctorate by Publication

A doctorate for scientific publications is possible in compliance with the exclusion clause of doctorate by thesis, as far as this procedure is provided in the particular plans and programmes of study and the conditions thereof are regulated by these plans and programmes.

This is not a short cut to a PhD, however offered to recognised busy researchers and full time professionals who have been publishing academic work or the equivalent. The PhD by Publication, Prior Output or Achievement is quite common among British Universities, having introduced this doctorate to academia. 

The PhD by Prior Output aims to demonstrate that the work submitted is of high distinction, does constitute an original and significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge or to the application of knowledge or to both, and does establish that the applicant is a leading authority in the field or fields of study concerned, and that the work put forward is already ‘published’.   

The objective is not to review all of an applicant’s published output, but a selection that presents a substantial coherence and linked original contribution. The PhD by Prior Output should be as original and coherent as a conventional PhD degree. The work presented should be already ‘published’ work, open to critical academic peer scrutiny, including written publications in peer reviewed refereed journals and/or published under an academic or University Press, academic publisher, monographs from an academic press, official reports for organisations, portfolios of creative works, or alike. The submitted work presents an original contribution to knowledge and will include work that has been published recently. The submission should be conceived of as adding to a current debate. The publications should emphasise a common academic research area, with a reasonable core argument, and must be original, research-based, of doctoral thesis quality and embedded in an academic discourse.

Applicants can submit published work for examination only after a minimum period of six months from enrolment.

The doctoral degree of PhD by Prior Output is awarded by UCN after the successful presentation of prior output and a covering document of 10,000 to 15,000 words, and an examination.  The covering document should contextualise the prior output, demonstrate that it constitutes a coherent entity, and underline the independent and original contribution to knowledge achieved.

Independent PhD

Workload and Structure of the Independent PhD by Thesis Programme

1) The volume of the study programme is determined by the workload, given in SUCA creditos (in brackets: ECTS points).

3) The professional doctorate requires as thesis doctorate a workload of 64 SUCA creditos (120 ECTS points), to be achieved in the event of Applicants with 160 SUCA  creditos (300 ECTS) on admission by thesis only; in the event of Applicants with 128 SUCA creditos (240 ECTS) on admission to be achieved by thesis of 32 SUCA creditos (60 ECTS points) and by transfer of credits from positively completed postgraduate courses in the extent of 32 SUCA creditos (60 ECTS points). This corresponds with a duration of 4 semesters. The accumulated minimum requirement for the professional doctorate is 192 SUCA creditos (360 ECTS points).

Examples for the professional doctorate degree are DBA Doctor of Business Administration, Dr.Ed. Doctor of Education.

4) The research doctorate PhD requires a workload of 96 SUCA creditos (180 ECTS points), to be achieved by thesis of 64 SUCA creditos (120 ECTS points) and by transfer of credits from positively completed postgraduate courses in the extent of 32 SUCA creditos (60 ECTS points). This corresponds with a duration of 6 semesters.  (Old PhD curriculum)

The new format for the research doctorate PhD by thesis requires a workload of 96 SUCA creditos (180 ECTS points), to be achieved by thesis research project. This corresponds with a duration of 6 semesters. (New PhD curriculum) 

Examples for the research doctorate degree are PhD Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration, PhD in Education. 

Admission

1) Applicants can be admitted to the asynchronic distance education programme throughout the year.

2) Admission Requirements:

Persons meeting the following requirements can be admitted to the Doctorate: Completed university or college study programme of from a diploma programme with a recognised university or college at Master level entitling for admission to doctoral programmes in the country of origin of the awarding institution.

3) The admission-commission of the university rules on the grounds of the formal requirements and the application per single case and upon request of the Applicant according to available enrolments and tutoring capacities, as well as of the submitted research proposal for the thesis. The admission-commission can require an admission-test.

4) Application procedure and admission: Applications for admission to the respective doctoral programme must be submitted with the required documents (application form, curriculum vitae, proof of degrees earned and professional experiences gained, passport copy, passport photo). The admission-commission may require the submission of “original transcripts” directly from the awarding tertiary education institutions.

5) Persons who have been admitted to the programme and who have paid the programme tuitions and fees, will be admitted by the study department of the university as international students.

6) Applicants must meet the requirements of the CNU National Council of Universities requirements regarding the presentation of application and enrolment documents and their data processing within the national Registry of Official Academic Degrees and Titles acc. to the Law 1088.

Transfer Credits

1) The evaluation of degrees and transfer-credits is subject to the provisions of UCN. In the international evaluation of credits UCN applies the full study year transfer-factors on the credits.

2) Total autonomous UCN Universidad Central de Nicaragua offers the doctoral programme according to Nicaraguan study law. In evaluating degrees and transfer-credits UCN applies the standards in compliance with Article 9 Paragraph 2 of the Law no. 89 on the Autonomy of the Institutions of Higher Education.

3) 32 SUCA creditos (60 ECTS points) earned in postgraduate specialisations or Master programmes can be transferred by Applicants on admission into the curriculum of the Professional Doctorate, as far as they match the research topic of the chosen specialisation.

4) 32 SUCA creditos (60 ECTS points) earned in postgraduate specialisations or Master programmes must be transferred into the curriculum of the Research Doctorate, as far as they match the research topic of the chosen specialisation. (Old PhD curriculum)

5) Credits can be accepted from coursework taken with recognised institutions of higher education, recognised degree programmes, or programmes validated by the University, or from course-work taken with the University at the postgraduate level, according to a study plan matching the chosen specialisation.

Duration of Programme

1) The thesis examination programme starts with the confirmed acceptance of the application form by the admission-commission of the University and is becoming effective upon the payment of the non-refundable study-tuitions by the Applicant with the receipt of the payment by the University.

2) The thesis examination programme ends:

a) by the act of granting and awarding the academic title by the university,

b) by the decision of the examining committee that the Applicant did not meet the requirements including the retake options,

c) by delivering the written request to the examining committee to terminate the thesis examination,

d) by failing to complete thesis examination programme within the allowed retake options in compliance with the Letter b.

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Journal Publications:

UCN will see to publish articles and dissertations online with the consent of the author. 

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English programmes in Psychology:

Master programme in Psychology

of Addiction Counseling

Study Plan (online version)

PhD programme in Psychology

Study Plan (online version)

 

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