Objectives and competences

The content focuses on specific complex systems, but the methods used are normally common to other systems, so that graduates are able to address more general problems than those studied in their doctoral theses.

Within the academic community, complex systems are associated with areas such as statistical and nonlinear physics. The department involved in the program since its creation actively participates in a specialized group, made up of 65 researchers, within the Spanish Royal Society of Physics. Its first president, Dr. Carlos Pérez-García, was a full professor at the University of Navarra. At international level, there are also sections devoted to complex systems in the European Physical Society (EPS) and the American Physical Society (APS). The number of international groups whose research falls within the area of complex systems and are directly linked to physics is very high. Therefore, it is important that researchers become proficient in the development and use of (primarily experimental) tools within the area of ​​complex systems.

The skills acquired by graduates on this doctoral program address the need for professionals who are capable of scientifically analyzing complex data in multidisciplinary situations, and fulfill one of the University's strategic R&D&I objectives. The main focus of the program is complemented with other University of Navarra strategic areas being researched in the Department of Physics and Applied Mathematics. Therefore, the interest that some foreign and international organizations have in the field of complex systems justifies, in academic terms, the existence of such a program at the University of Navarra.

These qualifications prepare the graduates enrolled on the program to become involved in multidisciplinary research groups within the wide and expanding field of complex systems. It is also worth noting that, from a professional point of view, this doctoral program has a methodological appeal, since the skills acquired are transferable and usable in such contemporary fields as econophysics, ecolophysics, sociophysics communication networks (Internet, freight transport, etc.) and biochemical networks, as well as many other disciplines of widespread interest.

Skills
The provisions of Article 5 of RD 99/2011 pledge that doctoral students will acquire basic competences, abilities and/or personal skills, as well as specific competences associated with the program. List of competences (.pdf)

The Doctoral Degree in Complex Systems, in accordance with the provisions of Article 5 of RD 99/2011, guarantees that doctoral students will acquire basic competences, abilities and/or personal skills, as well as certain specific competences associated with the experimental work that forms part of their doctoral thesis project, depending on the line of research that frames it.