Read about the concept behind the Doctoral Programme in Cultural Heritage, as well as study information, courses, learning objectives and outcomes, requirements for awarding the Una-Her-Doc Certificate, language policy and duration of study.

Una-Her-Doc programme is a unique European doctoral programme in Cultural Heritage. It is offered by all eight Una Europa universities and open to Doctoral candidates who would simultaneously be enrolled in two Una Europa Universities, through bilateral agreements of co-supervision. Aside from a double or joint doctoral degree from these two universities, Una-Her-Doc awards a Certificate on Cultural Heritage co-signed by all the eight Una Europa universities to Doctoral Candidates who fulfilled programme’s requirements.

Una-Her-Doc programme aims at contributing to interdisciplinarity; internationalization of learning; international networking and co-creation of a transnational research ecosystem in Cultural Heritage.

It offers innovative educational formats, alternative forms of transnational mobilities – digital and virtual; multilingualism.

The programme ambitions to contribute to the education of experts in different fields of Cultural Heritage for jobs in academia, consultancy, NGOs, heritage and culture institutions, the private sector, European administration, etc. and to the creation of European profiles for young professionals who aspire to work in a European and international environment in relation to Cultural Heritage.

It aims at facilitating contacts and learning from European professionals from the Cultural Heritage sector. It offers high quality interdisciplinary educational materials co-produced by Una Europa universities.

The programme ambitions to create international cohorts of Doctoral candidates, regularly interacting with each other, in PhD workshops, transnational research teams or joint courses and seminars.

Una-Her-Doc programme offers flexible and adjustable contents, allowing the Doctoral candidates to build their own doctoral career in concert with their supervisors and co-supervisors.

The framework of the study programme contains:

• Co-supervision by two co-supervisors in two Una Europa universities.
• Annual presentation of the progress to the Cultural Heritage Expert Committee.
• 12-months (cumulative) mobility to the Host university.
• Possibility of additional mobility within the Consortium or outside, including internship.
• Possibility of teaching experience.
• Active participation in one of the Una Europa research teams.
• Mandatory & elective courses (see below).

During their studies, students should gain the defined number of ECTS, according to the bilateral co-supervision agreements (for the Universities offering ECTS), or produce the defined workload, according to the bilateral co-supervision agreements (for the Universities which do not offer ECTS), by following the mandatory courses below and by choosing from the elective ones.

Each PhD student’s programme is defined ad-hoc in collaboration with the co-supervisors. It is composed by mandatory contents (16 ECTS) and elective contents (14 ECTS). The elective contents may be selected among the list of elective courses below. However, in agreement with the co-supervisors, Doctoral candidates may obtain part of the 14 elective ECTS through courses selected among those of their national PhD programmes or other international PhD programmes.

Click here for the list of Mandatory contents

Click here for the List of Elective contents

Discover here the program of Founding theories and Methodology seminars for 2022-2023.

At the end of the Una-Her-Doc programme, the Doctoral Candidates will have acquired:

Academic learning outcomes

• Good understanding of the concept of Cultural Heritage (historical foundations and current challenges), in Europe and beyond
  
• Familiarisation with inter- and transdisciplinary approaches of Cultural Heritage
• Internationalisation of learning – understanding of the national contexts, stakes and challenges in 8 Una Europa countries in the field of Cultural Heritage
• Getting familiar with specialized terminology in other languages in the field of Cultural Heritage
• Understanding of the professional contexts in the field of Cultural Heritage in Una Europa countries
• Knowledge and understanding of different national and EU cultural and heritage policies
• Transdisciplinarity (capacity to collaborate with different disciplines and to go beyond the disciplinary approaches, methodologies and research data in relation to Cultural Heritage)
• Knowledge in academic writing
• Experimenting with innovative teaching methodologies
• Knowledge in research presentation, argumenting of the research choices and debating with other students and professors
• Knowledge on the basic legal and ethic framework for doing research
• Knowledge on undertaking independent research within a PhD – critical assessment of existing research and developing new thinking

Transversal skills

• International academic networking by the capacity of collaborating in the transnational research ecosystem in Cultural Heritage
• International transectoral networking with heritage professionals, who will be regularly invited as guests to different courses
• Intersectorality – knowledge of the European professional contexts in the field of Cultural Heritage and future carrier opportunities
• Digital knowledge – use of different tools for presenting research results and different collaboration platforms
• Multilingualism
• Team work and team management, through different assignments
• Organizational skills, through the organization of different academic events
• Public speaking
• Social engagement and knowledge of the major European societal challenges, as well as of the ways and means to tackle them through Cultural Heritage
• Mastering project management cycle, taking initiative and decision-making, negotiation and adaptation, problem-focused and results oriented logic – for the students involved in the projects developed by their supervisors or research team, or having followed elective courses based on the projects’ command by a certain institution
• Development of critical thinking

Upon successful defense of the PhD, the Doctoral candidate will receive a double degree or a joint degree by the Home and Host universities according to the rules and regulations specified in the bilateral co-supervision agreement. He/she can also receive a Diploma Supplement by the Home and/or by the Host university.

In addition to the double degree or the joint degree, the Una-Her-Doc Certificate signed by all eight Una Europa universities, is awarded to Doctoral candidates who have succeeded to the regulations of the Home and Host universities and have met the requirements in line with the regulations of the Una-Her-Doc programme:

• In the universities using European Credit Transfer System (ECTS), Una-Her-Doc Doctoral candidates must meet the local requirements of the Home and Host universities in terms of ECTS. The number of ECTS devoted to both the preparation and the defence of the PhD thesis, as well as to academic and transferable skills training improving the PhD student’s career prospects, are agreed upon in advance by the co-supervising universities in the bilateral co-supervision agreement. In order to receive the Una-Her-Doc Certificate, it is expected that at least 30 ECTS are dedicated to the Una-Her-Doc programme.
• For the universities not using ECTS, the Una-Her-Doc study programme is based on local requirements of the Home and Host universities. The workload devoted both to the research work for the preparation and the defence of the PhD thesis, as well as to academic and transferable skills training improving the PhD student’s career prospects, are agreed upon in advance by the Home and Host universities in the bilateral co-supervision agreement. In order to receive the Una-Her-Doc Doctoral Certificate, it is expected that part of the PhD student’s workload is dedicated to the Una-Her-Doc programme.
• The preparation of the PhD thesis will be carried out in periods of studies in the Home and Host universities (with a possible research or internship stay in a third university). The accumulated minimum period of studies in the Home University is 12 months. The accumulated minimum period of studies in the Host University is 12 months. Research stays at the third university, in or outside the Consortium, are encouraged.

All the PhD courses offered by the Una-Her-Doc study programme are taught in English. However, Doctoral candidates can follow courses offered in other languages at the universities in which they have registered. The PhD thesis can be written and defended, after explicit agreement between the relevant authorities of the two co-supervising universities and mentioned in the bilateral co-supervision agreement, in English or one of the languages of these universities. A 20-30 pages summary in English must be provided in this case.

The duration of the PhD studies will be defined in the bilateral co-supervision agreement.

The duration of PhD studies is normally three / four years, depending on the regulations in force in Home and Host University. This duration can be extended, according to the regulations in force in both countries, if fully recommended by the thesis directors.