Transversal Activities
PhD programmes include both transversal and specific activities in the area of each programme.
Transversal activities are useful for people who are doing their doctorate outside their area of knowledge, since they offer the opportunity to acquire transversal competences during the training period of the PhD programme. They are elective activities. You can find the transversal activities organised by the UAB and presented by the School for Doctoral Studies in all together in this section for quick and easy access to the information.
For the specific activities, you can find the information in individual folders for each of the PhD programmes.
Within the transversal activities, the Language Service of the UAB offers language courses specifically addressed at PhD students: the course Support for writing a doctoral thesis in Catalan and the course Thesis writing in English.
The School for Doctoral Studies also offers some seminars related to the competences of Industrial Doctoral Research such as How to validate your research, Technology-based intellectual property, Leadership techniques, Home office or How to expand your network of contacts to get a job, among others. The activities offered may change each academic year depending on the trainers' availability. In the description of each activity the course language is also detailed.For further information on how to get the attendance certificates for transversal activities, please contact Gestió ed.transversals@uab.cat.To include these activities in your academic record, please check this video (click on the subtitle icon at the bottom right corner). Select the type of activity 65 (Transversal Activity) and write the name of the activity in the field “Description”. It is highly recommended to fill this field in the three available languages (Catalan, Spanish and English).
Below you can find the available courses. These activities are exclusively addressed to first stage researchers enrolled at UAB School for Doctoral Studies as students of a doctoral programme offered by the UAB. Please bear in mind that the scheduled activities may be subject to some changes.
Writing a Thesis in English
Law, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities
Date: 2/07/2025 to 15/07/2025, Mondays to Fridays from 9.30 to 11.30 am
Sciences, Health Sciences and Engineering
Date: 2/07/2025 to 15/07/2025, Mondays to Fridays from 2 to 4 pm
Mode: virtual
Language: English
Trainer: Servei de Llengües
Addressed to: first stage researchers with an accredited B2.2 English level and who do not have English as a native or native-like language
Issues related to academic-scientific writing, specialized languages and the conventions of formal university texts are addressed. The course is thought as a support in the writing process of the thesis. Participants can share small fragments of their text, so specific doubts can be solved. The classes for this course will be online via videoconference.
From Science to the Marketplace
Date: September-December 2025, schedule to be confirmed
Mode: on-site (Startup UB lab)
Language: Catalan and Spanish
Addressed to: master's degree and PhD students
The University of Barcelona, the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and the Pompeu Fabra University have launched the seventh edition of 'From science to the marketplace', a 100% subsidised training course to foster scientific entrepreneurship. The programme consists of 100 hours of training on knowledge transfer and business creation. In addition, each project will have between 2 and 10 hours of individualized tutoring with professionals from the sector.
More information and registrations here.
Writing a Thesis in English
Sciences, Health Sciences and Engineering
Date: 20/10/2025 to 19/11/2025, Mondays and Wednesdays from 5 to 7 pm
Law, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities
Date: 21/10/2025 to 20/11/2025, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5 to 7 pm
Mode: on-site
Language: English
Trainer: Servei de Llengües
Addressed to: first stage researchers with an accredited B2.2 English level and who do not have English as a native or native-like language
Issues related to academic-scientific writing, specialized languages and the conventions of formal university texts are addressed. The course is thought as a support in the writing process of the thesis. Participants can share small fragments of their text, so specific doubts can be solved.
For more information visit the Servei de Llengües website.
Presenting Research
Date: 21/10/2025 to 20/11/2025, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 am to 12 pm
Mode: virtual
Language: English
Trainer: Servei de Llengües
Addressed to: first stage researchers with an accredited B2.2 English level and who do not have English as a native or native-like language
The School for Doctoral Studies organises, together with the Languages Service, this course aimed at strengthening researchers’ skills for presentations in English in working sessions, workshops, seminars and conferences. Participants will learn to control anxiety and nerves before a presentation, to choose and organize contents to make an interesting and persuasive oral presentation and to adapt their discourse to the public. They will also learn to develop and use a script and other support systems for the transmission of content (PowerPoint or Prezi), to express themselves naturally and to manage the questions of the audience. The course also focuses on aspects such as register and linguistic correctness.
More information and registrations via Aula Moodle (not available yet).
Chemical Risks in the Laboratory
Virtual self-learning course available all the academic year-round.
Mode: virtual
Language: Catalan, Spanish and English
Trainer: UAB Risk Prevention Service
Addressed to: course specially recommended to first stage researchers working in a lab. This activity is equivalent to the one with the same name offered by the Unitat de Formació.
The School for Doctoral Studies organises, together with the Risk Prevention Service, this course that aims at informing and rising awareness about the most common risk factors for human health and safety in the laboratories by training in risk detection and protection systems.
Aims
- To identify the most common risks in a laboratory.
- To know the most common entry channels of chemical contaminants and biological agents.
- To know the most common protection systems in the laboratory. Fume hoods, biological safety booths, individual protection equipment.
- To learn tools for a qualitative risk assessment.
- To raise awareness about preventive culture.
More information via Aula Moodle (not available yet).
Open Access Publishing of Research Data
Date: several sessions
Mode: virtual
Language: Catalan, Spanish and English
Trainer: Servei de Biblioteques
Addressed to: first starge researchers
The School for Doctoral Studies organises, together with the Libraries Service, this course that aims to offer a general overview on the publication of open access research data. Firstly, attendees will be given an explanation about research data, the benefits of publishing them open access and the regulations ruling it. The repositories to publish those data will also be explained, such as the institutional repository for research data at UAB, CORA RDR.
Contents
- Research data
- Requirements
- FAIR principles
- CORA RDR
- Other research data repositories
- Good practices
Registrations and timetables via Aula Moodle (not available yet).
Data Management Plan for PhD Students
Date: several sessions
Mode: virtual
Language: Catalan, Spanish and English
Trainer: Servei de Biblioteques
Addressed to: first stage researchers.
The School for Doctoral Studies organises, together with the Libraries Service, this course where all aspects related to the creation of a Data Management Plan (DMP) will be discussed, showing the specific template for doctoral students of the CORA.eiNa DMP application, as well as the elements that must be included in the DMP to ensure that the data generated will be FAIR.
Contents
- Data Management Plan
- FAIR contents in a DMP
- CORA.eiNA DMP
Registrations and timetables via Aula Moodle (not available yet).
Good Research Practices and Research Integrity at the UAB
Virtual self-learning course available all the academic year-round.
Mode: virtual
Trainer: Ethics Committee on Animal and Human Experimentation
Language: English
Addressed to: first stage researchers
The School for Doctoral Studies organises this online seminar to transmit to early career researchers their responsibilities as future scientists, including awareness of and ability to deal with issues concerning research integrity and research ethics in a wider sense while promoting responsible conduct of research. Early career researchers will have the opportunity to learn ethical principles and apply them to problems they will encounter during their professional activities as researchers.
More information via Aula Moodle (not available yet).
Welcome Session. Technical and Administrative Aspects of Doctoral Studies. Academic year 2025-2025
Date: 26/11/2025, from 11 to 12.30 h.
Mode: hybrid (virtual and on-site)
Language: Spanish
Addressed to: first stage researchers
The Welcome Session of the UAB School for Doctoral Studies l is specially addressed to first year PhD candidates but it is also open to other early stage researchers that may be interested in attending. This session will include a welcome by the director of the School and will aim to address the most relevant aspects related to the regulations and procedures of doctoral studies
More information and registrations via Aula Moodle (not available yet).
Elevator Pitch
Date: 1,3, 10, 15 & 17/12/2025, 10 am to 12 pm
Mode: on-site
Venue: to be confirmed
Language: English
Trainer: Servei de Llengües
Addressed to: first stage researchers with an accredited B2.2 English level and who do not have English as a native or native-like language
Aim: to prepare attendees to explain their projects in English and in a limited time.
The School for Doctoral Studies organises, together with the Language Service, this course to create an interesting, entertaining, persuasive and attractive speech from the point of view of substance and form. The course will address aspects such as the analysis of the expectations of the interlocutor or the audience, the ability to synthesize and the communication of complex content in a simple and informative language. All attendees will produce a short speech to be presented in front of their colleagues. Feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the intervention will be given.
Registrations via Aula Moodle (not available yet).
Scientific Illustration
Date: 2 & 4/12/2025, 10 am to 2 pm
Mode: on-site
Venue: to be confirmed
Language: Spanish
Trainer: Mikel Graphic Science
Addressed to: first stage researchers
The School for Doctoral Studies and the Scientific Dissemination Unit of the UAB organize this course aimed at promoting the dissemination of science using graphic resources.
Contents
- Design applied to the creation of scientific posters: typography, color, layout, accessibility, user experience improvement
- Visualization of data: applied design or data viz, types of graphics, creation of impactful graphics in RawGraph, editing of graphics in Inkscape
- Creating illustrations, maps and icons for scientific figures in Inkscape
- Free websites and resources
Registrations via Aula Moodle (not available yet).
Research Design with the Idea Puzzle® Software
Date: 9/12/2025, 10 to 11.30 am
Mode: virtual
Language: English
Trainer: Ricardo Morais (Idea Puzzle)
Addressed to: first stage researchers
The School for Doctoral Studies organises this seminar where the use and possibilities of the Idea Puzzle® software will be explained. This software is thought to design, diagnose and defend research projects. It constitutes an investment in life-long research skills.
Contents:
- Research as a system of 21 decisions
- Theoretical decisions of your research
- Methodological decisions of your research
- Empirical decisions of your research
- Rhetoric decisions of your research
- Authorial decisions of your research
- Application to participants' research with the Idea Puzzle® software
More information via Aula Moodle (not available yet).
Research Papers
Social Sciences and Humanities.
Date: 11/12/2025 to 29/01/2026, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2 to 4 pm
Mode: virtual
Language: English
Trainer: Servei de Llengües
Addressed to: first stage researchers with an accredited B2.2 English level and who do not have English as a native or native-like language
Aim: To improve the writing of scientific papers in English
The School for Doctoral Studies organises, together with the Languages Service, this course on one of the most common sorts of discourse in scientific communication, the scientific paper. The participants develop and consolidate the necessary skills to write scientific papers in English. The course addresses aspects related to the standardized structure of papers (introduction, methodology, results, discussion, conclusions) and the formal and discursive characteristics that these parts must have. Questions related to English vocabulary and correct grammar and syntactic structures when writing papers are also addressed.
Registrations via Aula Moodle (not available yet).
Gender Perspective in Research
Date: 16 & 18/12/2025, 10 am to 1 pm
Mode: on-site
Venue: to be confirmed
Language: Catalan (slides in Spanish)
Trainer: Enrico Mora, Department of Sociology
Addressed to: first stage researchers
The School for Doctoral Studies organises the course "Gender Perspective in Research". The course will enable researchers to embed gender equality in their own research proposals, as well as training their ability to review research proposals from a sex-gender perspective.
For more information and registrations visit the Aula Moodle (not available yet).