Institutionalisation processes of communication research: the reconfiguration of PhD programmes in Communication studies in Spain

Legislation and funding public policies in education, science and technology are institutionalising studies, debates and social impact in the communication field. The results of this study illustrate the development of research in communication in Spain, since the normative RD 99/2011 was implemented in postgraduate studies. Our hypothesis states that this new legislation has caused substantial changes in PhD studies in Spain, which in 2012 was integrated by 57 official programmes (Castillo, Álvarez y Muñiz: 2012). We are going to analyse PhD programs included in RUCT and authorised by ANECA in the communication field, we will focus on the number of programmes and places offered in each programme, gender and category of academics, type of centre where they are implemented and research areas. After a preliminary analysis we observe how this new normative has reduced meaningfully the postgraduate offer. This new offer is structured following two models. One horizontal axis with the news interuniversity PhD programmes and the vertical axis, with the intrauniversity PhD programmes, normally called as Social Sciences programmes, with a range of research areas among which one or two are related with communication. Other results show how they tend to include different fields of knowledge in the same programmes, there is a great reduction of the places offered and also, a reduction in the number of academics as result they must fulfil the requirements established (six-year research periods, publications, research groups…). Keywords - Doctoral studies, communication, research, institutionalisation, Spain