The Doctoral Program in Advanced Computing Technologies (DTIA) at the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) provides advanced and rigorous research training, which is adapted to the needs of society, in various fields of Information and Communication Technologies after undergraduate and master's degree studies.
The Doctoral Program in Advanced Computing Technologies at the University of Castilla-La Mancha aims to be a benchmark in the training of highly qualified researchers.
The main axis of the program is a quality multidisciplinary training supported by the research groups of the Department of Computer Systems (School of Computer Engineering of Albacete) and the Department of Information Technologies and Systems (School of Computer Science of Ciudad Real) of the University of Castilla-La Mancha, reinforced by two research institutes on each campus (Institute of Computer Science Research of Albacete and Institute of Information Technologies and Systems of Ciudad Real), which allow projecting research and innovation to the social and industrial development of the region.
The Doctoral Program in Advanced Computing Technologies at the University of Castilla-La Mancha offers a stimulating environment, with adequate means, which enables the acquisition of specialized knowledge, its discussion in international forums and the progressive maturity of the doctoral student as a researcher or as a specialized and innovative professional. The objective is to maintain an updated, specialized proposal, with a great follow-up and attractive to students interested in advanced and rigorous research training in the area of advanced information technologies. The program is based on the research quality and technology transfer capacity of the faculty involved. On this basis, the objective of the program is to consolidate itself as a doctoral program of national and international reference in the areas considered.
The Doctoral Program in Advanced Computing Technologies is a fundamental part of the I+D+I strategy of the University of Castilla-La Mancha, being part of the program of the International Doctoral School of the University of Castilla-La Mancha (EID-UCLM). It was attached to the EID-UCLM since its creation as one of the UCLM's own programs that received the Mention towards Excellence according to Resolution of October 6, 2011, of the General Secretariat of Universities of the Ministry of Education.
Background
The Doctoral Program in Advanced Computing Technologies at the University of Castilla-La Mancha has its origin in a doctoral program taught for the first time during the 1995/96 academic year and common to the current Department of Computer Systems and the Department of Information Technologies and Systems of the University of Castilla-La Mancha. This doctoral program was born on the basis of an agreement signed with the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV, by its Spanish acronym) for the teaching of a doctoral program of the UPV in Castilla-La Mancha, with PhD professors from the University of Castilla-La Mancha.
This agreement was in force until the 1998/99 academic year, when the then Department of Computer Science of the University of Castilla-La Mancha already had a sufficient number of PhDs to successfully implement its own program. Nevertheless, it continued to count on prestigious visiting professors, such as Enrique Castillo, María Felisa Verdejo, Juan Antonio de la Puente, Isidro Ramos and José Duato, all of them University Full Professors of notable prestige in the field of Computer Science. Although the program arose from the urgent need to train PhDs in Computer Science at the University of Castilla-La Mancha, and therefore in its origins it had a generalist character, in the proposal for the 2003/2005 biennium a more thoughtful program was proposed. The program was called "Architecture and Management of Information and Knowledge in Networked Systems" and, since its inception in the academic year 2003/2004, it has been awarded the Mention of Quality by the Ministry of Education (ref. MCD2003-00768).
Since the 2006-2007 academic year (Royal Decree RD56/2005), the doctoral program has been renamed as the Doctoral Program in “Advanced Computing Technologies”, again obtaining the Ministerial Mention of Quality (ref. MCD2006-00423). The training period of this doctoral program is structured around the Master's degree in Advanced Computing Technologies (ref. MO2006-00197), regulated by Royal Decree 1393/2007 and positively verified through the abbreviated procedure (resolution 29/06/2009). The current Doctoral Program in “Advanced Computing Technologies” received in October 2011 the Mention of Excellence by the Ministry of Education (ref. MEE2011-0177). This program was extinguished on February, 2016.
From the academic year 2014-1015 (Royal Decree 99/2011) a new doctoral programme adapted to the EHEA was implemented, taking into account the State, Autonomous Community and UCLM regulations (https://www.uclm.es/Misiones/LaUCLM/ConsejoDeDireccion/VIPC/Normativa). This programme maintains the same name as the previous one, i.e., "Doctoral Programme in Advanced Computing Technologies".
Justification of the need for the program.
In the last years, certain knowledge areas such as Computer Science have achieved a huge development in our country. Different research groups have been developed, achieving excellent competitive position in the international arena. In addition, the object of research in these disciplines has naturally converged towards what is known as Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). ICTs are currently one of the fundamental pillars for scientific and technological development. Our society faces the challenge of responding to the growing demand for highly qualified researchers and innovative professionals in the fields of computer science, electronics and telecommunications. This difficulty is compounded by the rapid evolution of the knowledge and skills required in this field.
The PhD Program in Advanced Computing Technologies of the University of Castilla-La Mancha responds to these challenges with the articulation of a quality program that covers a broad spectrum within the areas of knowledge that make up the scientific and technological field of computer science. The wide specialization offer provided by the represented research groups facilitates the student the design of an enriching curriculum with the goal of training researchers with a solid education but also with a dynamic and open profile, ultimately able to respond to the changing needs of a technologically advanced society. The DTIA PhD program benefits from the means and infrastructures provided by the International Campus of Excellence CYTEMA (Scientific and Technological Campus of Energy and Environment: https://www.uclm.es/noticias/2017/enero/albacete/elcytemaobtienelacalifica_13587
The research activity of the field in Computer Science is growing at national and international level, this is perfectly accredited if we consider the priority lines of I+D+i at European, national and regional level. Within the program ‘2020 Horizon’, ICT plays a crucial role in fostering innovation, creativity and competitiveness in industry and all service sectors. This is projected both in the National I+D+i Plan and in the Regional Plan of Castilla-La Mancha. This scientific interest in ICTs shown by the various administrations is reflected in the activity of research groups, with those related to Computer Science being among the most active at the University of Castilla-La Mancha. This is supported, among others, by the number of research projects in Computer Science funded in competitive public calls, and by the agreements and contracts signed with companies in recent years.
In relation to the outlets for students who obtain this doctoral degree, we must point out that our experience is that a significant part of them have consolidated as researchers in Universities and other public research institutions (both Spanish and foreign). Currently the panorama is changing and more and more students of this PhD program are finding a job in private companies and technology centers. More generally, we note that, according to the "Study on the situation of ICT in companies in Castilla-La Mancha 2008", conducted by the Directorate General for the Information Society of the Ministry of Industry and Information Society of the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (JCCM), more than 45% of companies with more than 50 employees and more than 30% in companies with between 10 and 49 employees consider the recruitment of qualified technical personnel in Computer Science as a medium or high priority.
This Doctorate in Advanced Computing Technologies involves groups of recognized prestige from the Department of Computer Systems and the Department of Information Technologies and Systems of the University of Castilla-La Mancha, which gives it the critical size it needs to become a national reference in this strategic area. These groups are integrated in university research institutes and structures.
The proposed program is aimed at training research personnel in the framework of new computer technologies, thus covering the main aspects related to the design, configuration, operation and implementation of this type of systems. The program trains specialists in the most interesting fields of computer science. In the list of subjects and lines of research that make up the program, the most important aspects of advanced computer systems are addressed, both in relation to aspects oriented to the management of information and knowledge as well as those more directly related to the architecture or configuration of computer systems.
Links of interests about the Ph.D. Program.