PhD in Human Nutrition and Related Diseases

Academic year 2024-25

Lines of research

The areas of research on this PhD programme are:

L1: Community Nutrition, Nutritional Intervention and Lifestyles

Food models and lifestyles are analysed in this area for each and every age group and condition of human populations, and the determining factors that make them more or less healthy, as well as their modification through targeted interventions with a final aim of improving nutritional and health status.

L2: Nutrition, Oxidative Stress and Cognition

This area of research determines the role of different molecules involved in nutritional processes and metabolism, with a main focus on the biomarkers of oxidation state and inflammation, aimed at maintaining and improving bodily systems, including cognitive mechanisms and functions.

L3: Nutrition-related Diseases: Cardiovascular Risk and Metabolic Disorders

The link between nutritional status and related pathological changes such as, mainly, cardiovascular diseases and metabolic disorders. Nutritional factors such as contributing factors in therapies for these high-prevalence diseases will be investigated.

General and specific competencies

Academic objectives: a PhD will be awarded for advanced research in human nutrition and related diseases.

Professional objectives: advanced research tools will be acquired in basic and clinical nutrition, such as advanced bibliographical research techniques, ethics and integrity in scientific research, writing scientific publications, and mobility and stays at renowned national and international research centres. The skills acquired will ensure compatibility between health care tasks and research activities, as well as make it possible for scientific information to reach clinical settings, and thus provide greater diagnosis and therapeutic ability for the most prevalent diseases cause by nutritional imbalances.

Core Skills

  • CB11 - Systematic comprehension of a field of study and mastery of research skills and methods related to this field
  • CB12 - The ability to devise, design or create, implement and adopt a substantial research or invention process
  • CB13 - The ability to contribute to widening the frontiers of knowledge through original research
  • CB14 - The ability to perform a critical analysis, assessment and synthesis of new and complex ideas
  • CB15 - The ability to communicate with the academic and scientific community, as well as with society as a whole, about their areas of knowledge in the methods and languages commonly used within the international scientific community
  • CB16 - The ability to promote scientific, technological, social, artistic or cultural advancement in academic and professional settings within the knowledge-based society.

Personal Skills and Abilities

  • CA01 - Work in contexts where there is little specific information
  • CA02 - Uncover key questions that need to be answered in order to resolve a complex problem
  • CA03 - Design, create, develop and undertake new and innovative projects in their area of knowledge
  • CA04 - Work in a team and independently in an international or multidisciplinary setting
  • CA05 - Incorporate knowledge, handle complexity and provide opinions with limited information
  • CA06 - Intellectual criticism and defence of solutions.

Acces and entry Requirements

This PhD programme is aimed at health or life sciences graduates who have taken official master’s degrees that include any nutritional topics on their programmes, such as those available at the UIB and other universities. It is also aimed at level-3 graduates in the Spanish Qualifications Framework for Higher Education (MECES) or those with previous specialised health training that included core nutritional subjects in its teaching and training programme, and who fulfil all the requirements set out in RD 99/2011 and RD 43/2015.

In this sense, and regardless of whether students have taken other equivalent programmes, the master’s programmes available at the UIB and linked to any research area on the current PhD programme are as follows:

  • Master’s in Food and Human Nutrition
  • Master’s in Nutrigenomics and Personalised Nutrition
  • Master’s in Health and Life Quality Research
  • Master’s in Biomedical Research
  • Master’s in General Health Psychology
  • Master’s in Neuroscience
  • Master’s in Health Research and Innovation.

Students may also come from master’s programmes at other Spanish or overseas universities, which shall be assessed individually.

Nevertheless, the PhD programme may admit students with different undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications to those listed, as long as their previous training is linked to the topic of this PhD programme, i.e. they include any nutritional subject on their programmes and the Academic Committee accepts them after consideration.

A minimum B2 level of English is recommended that enables students to read international publications, write articles for a global audience, and attend and participate in international conferences.

The final admission of PhD students will be carried out by the Academic Committee for the PhD programme. The admission criteria shall be determined by the established entry profiles. Moreover, this programme sets a specific requirement for students to have taken core food and human nutrition subjects on their undergraduate or master’s programmes, or equivalent. In the event that the number of pre-registrations exceeds the number of available places, the following weighting criteria shall be applied:

  • The academic record for the previous undergraduate and postgraduate degrees (40%). The mark for each subject shall be weighted based on the number of credits for each subject, regardless of whether they are undergraduate or postgraduate subjects. A scoring scale of subjects from 0 to 10 will be used, since it is a scoring system used in most countries and easily scalable to other systems. Students with overseas qualifications that use a different marking system will be asked to provide the equivalent average mark from the Average Mark Equivalence Service at the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (http://www.educacionyfp.gob.es/eu/servicios-al-ciudadano/catalogo/gestion-titulos/estudios-universitarios/titulos-extranjeros/equivalencia-notas-medias.html)
  • Programmes for previous undergraduate and postgraduate degrees that include core nutrition subjects shall be given preference (20%)
  • Assessment of a personal statement comprising the student’s reasons for enrolling on the PhD programme (15%). Level of motivation and clarity of the statement, as well as the link to the areas of research that make up the programme, will all be considered in this section.
  • Personal interview with students (15%). The statement of objectives set by applicants and its suitability with the training topics and targets on the PhD programme shall be considered, as well as the likely viability and success in producing and defending the future PhD thesis
  • Knowledge of English (5%). This shall be accredited by submitting a document issued by an organisation akin to an official languages school that certifies said skills and level
  • Other merits (5%) Academic and scientific merits beyond the scope of the academic record/transcript shall be considered, such as specialised courses, a background in collaborating with research groups, publications, conference attendance and professional experience. Preference will be given to those directly linked to the area of the PhD programme.

Support and guidance information

Before finishing their first year, doctorands must produce a research plan (https://edoctorat.uib.cat/Gestio_Doctorands/Tramits/pla_de_recerca/) which at least includes the methodology they will use and the objectives to attain, as well as the methods and schedule to do so (https://edoctorat.uib.cat/Gestio_Doctorands/Tramits/pla_de_recerca/).

The plan may be improved and expanded throughout the programme, and must be endorsed by tutors and supervisors.

The research plan must be submitted to the academic commission for the PhD programme for relevant approval.

The academic commission shall assess the research plan and activities documents on a yearly basis, alongside the reports written by tutors and supervisors for this purpose. A positive assessment is essential to be able to continue on the programme. Where a negative assessment is received (which must be duly reasoned), doctorands must produce a new research plan and be re-assessed within six months. Where they receive a second negative assessment, doctorands must definitively withdraw from the programme. Despite this, doctorands shall be able to apply for admission to a different PhD programme.

Further information about these processes is available in the general information sections for the first annual assessment and subsequent annual assessments.

Both the research plan (first year) and the subsequent annual assessments (second year onwards) must be produced by using the templates approved by the CAD and include the calendar (attached in the same .pdf) and the signatures of the doctorand, supervisor(s) and tutor. They shall not be approved if the template is not used and do not include the signatures. The activities record is filled in over the GREC system.

The Academic Commission (CAD) receives all documentation in order to assess PhD students at https://postgrau.uib.es/, and meets once a month, a week before the EDUIB Executive Committee. The responsibilities of the CAD include:

  • Approving research plans and annual assessments
  • Approving extensions, changes to part-time status and additional years
  • Approving changes to thesis supervisors
  • Authorising submission of PhD theses.

Students are contacted at the e-mail address they provide for this purpose for administrative procedures or to provide additional requested documentation. Students must ensure they are up-to-date with any communication/notification. Failure to reply to a notification regarding annual assessment reviews or any other administrative procedure within the set deadline may lead to students losing their place.

The Academic Commission for the PhD Programme in Human Nutrition and Related Diseases uses the following procedure to assign tutors and thesis supervisors:

  1. Every academic year, the commission will designate a thesis tutor for each research area from the lecturers linked to the PhD programme and who have supervised a thesis in the last five years
  2. Once the doctorand has been admitted to the programme, the commission will assign a tutor based on the research area selected on the admission form
  3. The tutor shall be responsible for proposing a thesis supervisor to the commission, selected from all the lecturers on the PhD programme, taking into account the research topic and the part- or full-time status of the student
  4. The commission shall formally assign the supervisor to the doctorand within six months at most, starting from the student’s enrolment date in the programme.

Changes related to thesis tutors and supervisors during the PhD programme shall be resolved by the Academic Commission.

Supervision and monitoring of doctorands' training activities and their PhD thesis shall be in line with the UIB procedures for PhD students (RD 99/2011), the UIB regulations establishing the organisation of university PhD studies (https://seu.uib.cat/fou/acord/13084/) and the approved report on the programme, which may be viewed on this website. The administrative and academic procedures that students must undertake during the PhD may be viewed on the UIB Doctoral School website, in the Procedures section:

The rights and obligations of the supervisor, tutor and doctorand are those in place at the University of the Balearic Islands to establish a best practice guide to supervise and monitor doctorand training activities and theses. The regulations implementing Royal Decree 99/2011, the UIB Regulations Establishing the Organisation of PhD Studies, further specify the guidelines for supervising PhD theses in articles 9 to 13. https://seu.uib.cat/fou/acord/102/10208.html