Applications
Applications 2026/2027
Notice
1st Call:
- Application submission: 9 February to 18 March 2026.
- Interviews: 23 to 27 March 2026.
- Publication of results: 2 April 2026.
- Preliminary hearing: up to 10 working days after publication.
- Registration period: 10 days after application approval.
2nd Call:
The 2nd call of applications will only take place when the number of vacancies is not completed by the enrolment of applicants admitted in the 1st call, and only for the vacancies that are have not yet been filled.
- Application submission: 19 March to 29 April 2026.
- Interviews: 4 to 8 May 2026.
- Publication of results: 13 May 2026.
- Preliminary hearing: up to 10 working days after publication.
- Registration period: 10 days after application approval.
3rd Call:
The 3rd call of applications will only take place when the number of vacancies is not completed by the enrolment of applicants admitted in the 2nd call, and only for the vacancies that are have not yet been filled.
- Application submission: 30 April to 17 June 2026.
- Interviews: 22 to 26 June 2026.
- Publication of results: 3 July 2026.
- Preliminary hearing: up to 10 working days after publication.
- Registration period: 10 days after application approval.
Once the application calls are completed, if there are places to be filled, a 4th application call will be opened, with applications being accepted from 3 August to 30 September 2026. Applications submitted in this call will be evaluated in order of receipt.
Applications through the ICS FenixEdu platform: https://fenix.ics.ulisboa.pt
To create a registration, please access https://fenix.ics.ulisboa.pt/accountCreation
In case you already have a registration, you can recover the access at https://fenix.ics.ulisboa.pt/passwordResetRequest
In case you already have a student number at ICS, you should use your Campus/Edu account credentials by selecting the “Login ULisboa” option at https://fenix.ics.ulisboa.pt
You may recover your access to Campus/Edu account at https://utilizador.ulisboa.pt
Requirements
The following are eligible to apply for this programme:
- Holders of a master’s degree or equivalent in the fields of History, Philosophy, Geography, European Studies, Law, Political Sciences, Public Administration, International Relations, Sociology, and Communication, with a minimum grade of 14/20;
- Holders of a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, with a particularly relevant academic or scientific curriculum in other scientific fields that is recognised by the Scientific Committee of the PhD as demonstrating the capacity to undertake this PhD programme, in the fields of History, Philosophy, Geography, European Studies, Law, Political Sciences, Public Administration, International Relations, Sociology, and Communication, with a minimum grade of 14/20;
- Holders of an academic, scientific or professional curriculum that is recognised by the Scientific Committee of the PhD as demonstrating the capacity to undertake this PhD programme, in the fields of History, Philosophy, Geography, European Studies, Law, Political Sciences, Public Administration, International Relations, Sociology, and Communication.
The application must include the following documents:
- Certificates of bachelor's, master's and other academic qualifications, including academic transcripts with the grades obtained and the grading scales used at the awarding institute;
- Copy of the master's dissertation (digital format) and, if applicable, copies of the bachelor's dissertation and relevant published works;
- An updated curriculum vitae, duly documenting the most relevant work performed or published;
- Research project, including:
- Title;
- Field of knowledge/expertise;
- Summary (150 words);
- State of the Art (500 words);
- Objectives (300 words);
- Analytical description (1,000 words);
- Bibliography (20 titles).
- Two letters of recommendation issued by national or foreign specialists signed and dated no later than 12 months;
- A personal statement, indicating the reasons for applying to the PhD programme in Comparative Politics at ICS-ULisboa.
Admission
Places: The number of available places for this PhD programme is 20.
Selection Criteria
Candidates will be ranked according to the final classifications assigned to the applications by the Selection Jury and expressed on a scale of 0 to 20 points, taking into account the following criteria:
- Candidates holding a master’s degree or equivalent in the fields of History, Philosophy, Geography, European Studies, Law, Political Sciences, Public Administration, International Relations, Sociology, and Communication, with a minimum grade of 14/20:
- Grade of the master’s degree (20%);
- Grade of the bachelor’s degree (30%);
- Other relevant curricular elements (10%);
- Research project (30%)
- Interview (10%).
- Candidates holding a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, with a particularly relevant academic or scientific curriculum in other scientific fields that is recognised by the Scientific Committee of the PhD as demonstrating the capacity to undertake this PhD programme, in the fields of History, Philosophy, Geography, European Studies, Law, Political Sciences, Public Administration, International Relations, Sociology, and Communication, with a minimum grade of 14/20:
- Grade of the bachelor’s degree (50%);
- Other relevant curricular elements (10%);
- Research project (30%);
- Interview (10%).
- Candidates holding an academic, scientific or professional curriculum that is recognised by the Scientific Committee of the PhD as demonstrating the capacity to undertake this PhD programme, in the fields of History, Philosophy, Geography, European Studies, Law, Political Sciences, Public Administration, International Relations, Sociology, and Communication.:
- Relevant curricular elements (45%);
- Research project (45%);
- Interview (10%).
In cases where candidates are unable to attend in person, interviews may be conducted via videoconference.
After evaluating the applications according to the criteria and weightings defined, the Selection Jury will proceed to rank the applications in descending order of their final classifications.
Applications with a final grade lower than 14 will be excluded from registration in the Doctoral Programme.
Candidates whose final application grade is equal to or higher than 14 and, cumulatively, whose order number in the final ranking is less than or equal to the number of places set in no. 1., in the first application call, or the remaining places from the previously completed calls, in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th application calls, will be admitted to registration in the Doctoral Programme.
Candidates whose final application grade is equal to or higher than 14 and, cumulatively, whose order number in the final ranking is higher than the number of places defined in no 1. will be placed on the reserve list.
Candidates placed on the reserve list will be admitted to the Doctoral Programme for any vacancies that may arise after the registration deadline, in ascending order of their ranking number in the final list.
