The Doctoral Programme (PD) in PLANNING PROJECTS FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT is an official UPM programme aligned with the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and officially recognised throughout the European Union.
This PD has an international focus and is open to graduates from any country with university degrees of three years or more; to train researchers in the field of development and its sustainable management. The PhD is a strategic instrument for the development and sustainability of rural areas, especially in developing countries.
This programme has been approved as an Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate within the AgTrain programme, which brings together 6 prestigious European universities.
The programme has a first training period in various subjects, integrated with the official Master of the same name. You can find more details about the subjects and their organisation here.
Once this training period is over, the research period proper begins, for the completion of the doctoral thesis.

The general objective of this doctoral programme is to train researchers in planning, evaluation, management of rural and local development projects and human development, as well as in the sustainable management of the territory and its biodiversity. The same programme combines training in planning, evaluation and management of development projects in their more social and economic aspects; and training associated with the environmental aspects of development, technologies and methods for the sustainable management of the territory and its biodiversity.
The general objective of the programme is specified in the following specific objectives to be achieved by students participating in the PhD:

The teaching should cover the following generic competences:

• knowledge and understanding
• application of knowledge and understanding
• making judgements
• communication
• learning skills

For this programme, a series of general competences have been defined, initially in the formative phase and subsequently in the research period, which are strengthened with different levels of expression, and transversal and specific competences for each specific subject of the PhD. 

General Competences
CG 1: Written and oral communication skills: Conclude written contributions, developing the capacity for synthesis and presentation of one's own ideas in a working group and in public presentation.
CG 2: Integrate previous knowledge (from the first and second cycles) in a critical and related way so that it can be applied to the study of real situations and the proposal of research and action alternatives that generate new knowledge within their own field of study.
CG 3: Strengthening oral and written knowledge of the English language and communication skills in international environments.
CG 4: Critical capacity for analysis, synthesis and learning through the exchange of opinions, presenting solid and structured arguments.
CG 5: Bibliographic search and analysis of documentation.
CG 6: Ability to manage information from different sources and to analyse and synthesise it, applying it to the resolution of complex problems.
CG 7: Ability to work in a team and use ICT applied to team research and social communication processes.
CG 8: Ability to observe, generate hypotheses and pose experimental problems aimed at generating knowledge and innovative technologies applicable in a development context.
CG 9: Positive human values for research: Respect for fundamental human rights; the principles of equal opportunities, universal accessibility and non-discrimination; and the values of a culture of peace and democratic values. Commitment to these rights, principles and values, motivation, positive and enthusiastic attitude; research ethics, integrity and honesty.

Specific Competences according to Training Complements
Specific competences in planning and management, evaluation and management of rural development:
CE 1.1: Understand and know the relationship between the different models of development planning and specific rural development policies and programmes at European and international level, in order to promote participatory planning processes for the sustainable management of rural spaces with a vocation of service in the public sphere aimed at promoting the common good.
CE 1.2: Knowledge of participatory methodologies in the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of a development programme or project and its multidimensionality (human, territorial, environmental).
CE 1.3: Knowledge, analysis and application of participatory evaluation methodologies aimed at the internal learning of organisations that can be applied to development programmes and projects.

Specific competences analytical techniques for sustainable development:
CE 2.1: Knowing the most current methods, techniques and tools for the generation of cartographic information and the representation quantification and analysis of variables of the territory.
CE 2.2: Ability to acquire skills in procedures and techniques for the integration of information for the evaluation and diagnosis of the territory for planning.
CE 2.3: Knowing and applying the methods and algorithms of decision-making, opinion and preference gathering and decision support (SAD), in order to identify and propose the most appropriate decision-making methods for a problem of management and/or sustainable rural and environmental development.

Specific competences in land and biodiversity management
CE 3.1: Knowing the most current methods and trends in the experimental study of soil biochemistry and soil-plant interactions, as well as the tools for tillage and agroforestry management and the methods for the optimisation of sustainable soil exploitation. sustainable soil exploitation.
CE 3.2: Apply the most up-to-date techniques for water analysis in the hydrological network and in the soil. Know low-cost treatment methods and methods for the protection and control of water quality.
CE 3.3: Identifying, valuing and integrating the components of an ecosystem or landscape in models for the integrated management of natural resources, especially at the scale of the individual, and identifying the critical elements for the conservation and improvement of biodiversity in agroforestry systems.
CE 3.4: Knowing the methods of socio-economic valuation and of capturing opinions and preferences that allow their integration in decision-making processes, identifying the most appropriate valuation methods in the face of a problem of sustainable rural and environmental management and/or development.


Transversal Competences
CT 1: Use of the English language.
CT 2: Team leadership.
CT 3: Creativity.
CT 4: Organisation and Planning.
CT 5: Information Management.
CT 6: Economic and Administrative Management.
CT 7: Working in international contexts.

The PhD in Rural Development Project Planning and Sustainable Management is an official programme of the UNIVERSIDAD POLITÉCNICA DE MADRID, attached to the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica, Alimentaria y de Biosistemas (ETSIAAB) and specifically to the Department of Agroforestry Engineering in the Doctoral Area of AGROFORESTAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES. The PhD is fully integrated within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), so it offers a degree of international validity valid in all signatory states of the Bologna Declaration.
The PhD complements the experience of the GESPLAN and SILVANET research groups with the participation of professors from other universities such as Stanford and Berkeley (USA), Monpellier (France), Potsdam (Germany), Colegio de Postgraduados (Mexico), Piura (Peru) and researchers from research institutes such as the Consejo Superior de investigaciones Científicas CSIC (Spain) or the USDA Forest Service (USA).
For more details on the participating institutions click here.
TEACHING STAFF
The PhD programme is taught by distinguished professors from different fields of project planning and sustainable development. For more details on the Master's and PhD professors, click here.

The Academic and Quality Committee is the internal coordination and decision-making body of the programme and is responsible, among other functions, for assessing the admission of candidates. For more details click here.
The PhD programme shares the Technical Secretariat with the Master of the same name. Its task is to attend and inform prospective and current students, including the reception and processing of complaints and claims, as well as to ensure the proper functioning of the facilities and equipment of this programme. For more details click here.

The current public prices* for official doctoral studies are established by decree in the Official Bulletin of the Community of Madrid (BOCM).