The process of selection of new students for the Doctoral Program in Philosophy of Science will be supervised by the Academic Committee, either directly or through the Admissions Committee, or a subcommittee of the latter.
The call for applications for the master’s program may be issued with a call for applications for the doctoral program. The admission of to the doctoral program could be issued at the start of each semester if the Academic Committee decides so.
The requirements for admission to the doctoral program are:
1. Obtention of a bachelor’s degree in a discipline in the humanities, science, or engineering; and a master’s degree in philosophy of science or in an akin discipline, or equivalent credentials according to the Academic Committee.
2. Additionally, prospective students who have not attained a master’s degree in philosophy of science or in an akin discipline, must pass a general exam on philosophy of science and comply with the requirements established by the Academic Committee.
3. A GPA of at least 8.5/10, or equivalent, in the master’s and bachelor’s degree.
4.A commitment to enroll as a full-time student. The condition of being a half-time student will only be presented for students who work in areas related to the sphere of philosophy of science y who present an accepted justification to the Academic Committee.
5. A research project for a doctoral thesis approved by a tutor ascribed to the Graduate Program or a renowned researcher, or a researcher complying with all the requirements to be a tutor at the Graduate Program and who commits to supervising the dissertation of the prospective students. The research project must contain:
a) a title and the field of knowledge in which it is inscribed;
b) a statement of a well-delimited problem and a justification of the importance of undertaking this problem;
c) a theoretical framework presenting a broad and critical revision of the state of the art of the discussion in which the prospective student demonstrates enough domain of the topic and the relevant bibliography;
d)the objectives and, in its case, the hypothesis of the research, with a detailed description and justification of the original contribution expected to be made.e) basic bibliography;
f)a detailed timetable which shows how the project will be concluded by the student during eight semesters.
6. Two recommendations letters, at least one of which must by a tutor ascribed to the Graduate Program (or renowned researchers in the area)
· Attend, if required, an interview with the Admissions Committee of the Academic Committee.
· Take and pass with a minimal grade of 8/10 the pre-degree modules set by the Academic Committee. The Academic Committee could exempt either one or all of those modules for prospective students who satisfactorily demonstrate knowledge of its contents.
The student may be exemted of one or all pre-gree modules if deemed to have sufficient knowledge of the subjects accordins tho the Academic Committee.
7. The Academic Committee could require, if deemed necessary, additional documents such as prior thesis or other written works in order to determine if the candidate has the adequate abilities for the undertaking of the dissertation. In the same manner, the Academic Committee could ask for internal and external reviews of the research projects in order to inform their decision
· Comply with the rest of the selection procedures established by the Operating Regulations and the call for papers for admission to the doctoral program.
If the prospective student has study certificates or degrees issued by other national or foreign universities, they will have to be revalidated by UNAM’s General Direction of Incorporation and Revalidation of Studies. In the case of foreign certificates, it will be necessary to legalize degree and academic certificates.
In case the mother tongue of the prospective student is not Spanish (according to their nationality), they will have to demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the language by having a certificate issued by UNAM’s Foreign Students Learning Center.
Extracurricular and pre-degree requirements
Reading comprehension in foreign languages
Prospective students must demonstrate proficiency in reading comprehension of English and of a second foreign language relevant for the field of knowledge in which they are applying. This can be done by presenting either 1) a certificate issued by UNAM’s Foreign Students Learning Center or any other of language center of UNAM or any other national higher education institution, or also 2) any other certification deem satisfactory proof of proficiency in reading comprehension according to the Academic Committee, for instance, international standardized tests such as TOEFL, Cambridge’s FCE (English), DELF or DALF (French), CELI (Italian), or Zertifikat Deutsch als Fremdsprache (German).
In case that the scores are not any longer valid, it must not have more than four years of antiquity. The proficiency in comprehension of a second language may be proved during the first year of study.
Complementary activities
Every semester, the Academic Committee will design a program of extracurricular and complementary activities, such as seminars and conferences, as well as the Annual Doctoral Students Conference, which will be obligatory for all students.
The Academic Committee will determine which of those activities will be obligatory for all students and which for those from certain fields, since they are designed to complement and broaden their academic training.
In case the prospective student does not have a master’s degree in philosophy of science or does not possess the knowledge and preparations equivalent according to the Academic Committee, but is nevertheless a prospective student with sufficient capacity and merits to enter the doctoral program, the Academic Committee will establish extracurricular requirements and complimentary activities that the prospective student must comply with once admitted.
These complimentary activities will be determined during the first semester by considering the main tutor and the tutorial committee’s opinion.
Pre-degree
All prospective students who do not have a master’s degree in philosophy of science must take and pass each of the pre-degree modules set by the Academic Committee with a minimal grade of 8/10. Nonetheless, the Academic Committee could exempt from one or all students who demonstrate, according to the Academic Committee, to have sufficient knowledge of the contents.
(See the section on Operating Regulations, ‘Rules on selection and admission’.)
