Admission Requirements
Candidates for the PhD in Architecture must meet one of the following conditions:
a) Hold a Pre-Bologna degree or a master's degree awarded by a national institution or by a foreign institution and recognized by a national institution. b) Hold a master's degree or a legally equivalent qualification. c) Hold a Pre-Bologna degree or a master's degree awarded by a foreign institution and not recognized by a national institution. Admission in this case depends on the conversion of the final grade, carried out by the professors of the Course Committee who are part of the evaluation jury, based on an analysis of the candidate's certificate(s) of qualifications.
The conversion referred to in point (c) is for the sole purpose of admission to the doctoral study cycle and does not grant the holder recognition of a "undergraduate degree", a master's degree, or a Specialist title.
d) Individuals with an academic and scientific or professional curriculum recognized by the Scientific Council, after consulting the Steering Committee, as attesting to their capacity to pursue a doctorate.
Here's the information about the application process, translated into English:
Applications
Application Submission Periods
1st Phase (15 openings)
- Application Deadline: March 2 to June 31, 2026
- Results: September 1 to September 15, 2026
- Enrolment: September 23 to September 30, 2026
Any remaining openings from the 1st Phase will carry over to the 2nd Phase of applications.
2nd Phase
- Application Deadline: August 31 to December 27, 2026
- Results: December
2 to December 15, 2026
- Enrolment: December 21 to December 30, 2026
Submit your application through the Academic Portal at https://alunos.uminho.pt/EN/candidates/Pages/default.aspx
Mandatory Documents for Application Submission
a) Identification Document:
- Citizen Card (optional for Portuguese citizens);
- Passport (mandatory for candidates without Portuguese nationality);
b) Individual Health Record, proof of a valid tetanus vaccination (.pdf format)
c) Photograph (size 180x180 and .jpeg, .jpg, .gif, .bmp, or .png format)
d) For international students, a self-declaration of means of subsistence (download), duly completed and signed (.pdf format)
e) Updated Curriculum Vitae;
f) Supporting documents of the candidate's academic qualifications. In the case of foreign qualifications, these must be proven through a document authenticated by the official education services of the respective country and recognized by a Portuguese diplomatic or consular authority, via the Hague Convention Apostille, or through a declaration issued by the National Academic Recognition Information Centre (NARIC);
g) Motivation Letter;
h) Recommendation Letter(s);
i) Provisional work plan, including title/theme, EAAD specialty, abstract, state of the art, timeline, and indication of the proposed supervisor(s)* (
template).
*Important: The candidate must submit a supervision proposal, including the identification of the supervisor(s) and the respective term of acceptance; their suitability and availability will be subsequently assessed by the Course Committee. For that purpose, please check the teaching staff list
here.
j) Acceptance term from the proposed supervisor(s);
k) Other documents considered relevant by the candidate.
*Important:
Please contact the Secretariat (pda@eaad.uminho.pt) before submitting your application to the course if you do not have a Supervisor from the School of Architecture, Art and Design.
