The Doctoral School is an agency for the coordination and organization of the doctoral studies of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and creates a common reference framework for the different doctoral programmes on offer so that they can carry out their activities following shared quality standards. The Doctoral School works closely with the University's two research centres, the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3) and the eLearn Center (eLC), and with the courses of all disciplines.
The functions of the doctoral schools are set out in Royal Decree 99/2011, of 28 January 2011, regulating doctoral studies in the Spanish state. The doctoral schools have a dual aim: to create a structure that provides a service to the university's doctoral programmes and to design and develop a research strategy linked to the university's strategy with the aim of promoting the suitable environment for conducting innovative and quality research.
The Doctoral School of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya offers three online doctoral programmes: Information and Knowledge Society, Education and ITC (e-learning) and Information and Network Technologies.