Universidad Mayor has created the first PhD program in Public Policy in Chile, which is conjointly organized by the Centre for Economics and Social Policy (CEAS) and the Society and Health Research Center (CISS) of Universidad Mayor.

This program aims to train researchers with the capacity to create new knowledge and with implications, considering various public policy challenges as well as their different actors, institutions and objectives of social interest. The doctorate in public policies is the only one of its kind in Chile, which together with offering a solid theoretical and conceptual teaching, also forms in the development of methodological and attitudinal skills, all of which is carried out in a defined and specific subject, expressed in a doctoral thesis. For this, each student has the supervision of professors with defined lines of research fundamental to public policy in Chile and contemporary societies. In general, the program promotes the formation of advanced human capital that projects that new knowledge with implications in society, integrating into national or international networks and strengthening the debate on public policies inside or outside the academy.

General objective

The general objective of the program is to train researchers with the capacity to create new knowledge and with implications, considering various public policy challenges as well as their different actors, institutions and objectives of social interest. Together with a solid theoretical and conceptual teaching, the doctorate also forms in the development of methodological and attitudinal skills, all of which is carried out in a defined and specific subject, expressed in a doctoral thesis.

The specific objectives of the program are the following:

1. Mastering conceptually the fundamentals of public policies and the main debates that accompany its operation in its different stages.

2. Apply and distinguish the relevance of different methodologies for the empirical analysis of public policies.

3. Analyze the creation and implementation of public policies taking into account specific contexts and considering the political, social and strategic aspects that affect these processes.

4. Have autonomy to develop an own research agenda, aimed at studying a problem of social interest in Chile and / or in contemporary societies and contributing to the creation of knowledge inside or outside the academy.

To achieve the learning of these skills, each student has the supervision of teachers with active research lines and of great importance for public policy in Chile and contemporary societies. In general, the program promotes the formation of advanced human capital that projects that new knowledge and with implications in society, for its integration into national or international networks and strengthening the debate on public policies inside or outside the academy.

Target audiences

Academics, professionals with advanced experience or training in public policies, and researchers with areas of specialization in public policies.
The Doctorate program in Public Policies is organized on the basis of students with different basic disciplinary training but who share the purpose of training as advanced level researchers and the interest of contributing to the generation of new knowledge and with implications from within and without from the academy. This pursues the development of interdisciplinary and cooperative work, but also the promotion of an innovative debate on public policies, which integrates different perspectives and methodologies in their conception and implementation processes.

From these premises, the income profile considers four requirements, which together provide the conditions to be able to study the study program and train in the skills it provides:

1. Basic knowledge of research methodologies, whether undergraduate or postgraduate, that has provided the elementary notions to approximate the contents included in the lines of methodological courses of the study program.

2. Proficiency in the English language at least in terms of the ability to read and analyze scientific texts, to access the most recent content related to the academic debate on public policies.

3. The applicant must have a research project that specifies the purpose of contributing to scientific knowledge in a matter of relevance to public policies in Chile and contemporary societies.

4. The admission profile considers the manifestation of the commitment of exclusive dedication to the doctorate, a condition required to fully comply with the different components of the study program

Exit Profile

At the end of the doctoral program in public policies, it is expected to have trained researchers with knowledge of a wide variety of public policy problems and with advanced skills to rigorously study an area or topic that constitutes their research agenda. Such a researcher profile will have competencies to link scientific evidence with the concrete reality that affects the development of public policies in its multiple stages, considering the state and other relevant actors, with useful knowledge and sensitivity to apply it in positions inside and outside The academy.

In connection with the objectives of the program, it is specifically expected that researchers:

- Have a broad theoretical and conceptual knowledge about public policies, involving the role and concept of the state, the cycle that includes the development of a public policy, and the central debates in these matters in Chile and contemporary societies.

- Have skills to understand the contribution offered by different research methodologies and techniques to study public policies, with special focus on empirical analysis, empowering them to generate new reflections and evidence from different disciplines.

- Have skills to analyze public policy challenges considering factors of the society in which they study them, giving relevance to political, social and strategic aspects that can influence their development.

- Have autonomy to promote a precise and well-supported research agenda, which considers the latest scientific advances and the problems that affect current societies, enabling them to produce new and innovative knowledge with implications, and with the potential to follow an academic career or assume positions out of it.

What comparative advantages does this program offer?

1. It is the first and only doctoral program in public policies in Chile.

2. Students receive a solid methodological training that includes learning both quantitative and qualitative techniques, favoring the combination and integration of methodologies in the study and / or evaluation of public policies.

3. Students receive an updated and rigorous academic training but sensitive to the contexts in which the research is conducted and attentive to its implications in matters of public interest.

Lines of investigation

1. Research methods and evaluation of public policies
The study and evaluation of public policies in their multiple dimensions requires the use of different research methods and techniques for collecting empirical material. This program contributes to this purpose by developing research on topics and stages of public policy with different designs and methodological strategies for its evaluation, but also generating new production of knowledge around the design, validity, use and specific analysis of methodologies and techniques. This approach has four focuses: (i) quantitative methods, (ii) qualitative methods (iii) comparative methods and institutional analysis, and (iv) impact assessment.

2. Fiscal, regulatory and political institutions
The national contexts in which public policies are created and implemented have an enormous relevance in their effectiveness, determining their scope, acceptance, adaptation to reality and impact, among others. Institutions and regulations shape the functioning of each national context, defining the role of the state and its relationship with the private sector, civil society and citizens in general. In this program, this line of research considers three focuses: (i) legislative and political institutions analysis, (ii) redistributive capacity of the state and (iii) aspects of political economy.

3. Epidemiology, public health and life course
In a time of profound demographic, epidemiological, technological and environmental change, public health and welfare policies face complex challenges that require innovative responses at the individual and social levels. This line of research studies these transformations from a multidisciplinary approach and from three specific focuses: (i) social epidemiology, (ii) aging and social determinants and the life course in health, and (iii) public health.

4. Economics of public policies
This line of research addresses fundamental elements of microeconomic analysis and the functioning of markets, including the definition of the economic problem, effects of changes in public policy and relationship with society, as basic instruments for the construction of public policies. From an expanded economic perspective, it considers key economic actors, such as firms, consumers, workers, businessmen, governments, policy makers, stakeholders, voters, and their interactions, and develops analytical and quantitative tools for the analysis and resolution of public policy dilemmas. This perspective is applied in advanced topics of economic development of national and international relevance, studying topics such as poverty, inequality, education, health, work, territory and human behavior, among others.

5. Social and environmental conflicts
In a scenario of growing social and environmental conflict, research aimed at understanding the origin of these phenomena, their impact in the field of public policies and the different ways of dealing with them implies significant challenges. The program approaches the controversies and conflicts that involve various actors at local, national and global levels, in areas that today concentrate high levels of conflict: A) climate change and pollution, B) access, control and regulation of natural resources and public assets, C) Interculturality, migration and indigenous peoples, and D) Inequalities and social rights.

Our goal

The goal of our PhD program is to generate new and innovative knowledge in regards to formal and informal expressions of public policy, encompassing their design, planning, assessment and consequences, as a way to understand current and future problems in our society.

Course Structure

Program Faculty

Dra. Mayarí Castillo - Program Director
Ph.D in Sociology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.
Research Interests: Stratification, inequality and poverty, qualitative methodologies and socio-environmental conflicts.

Dra. Claudia Sanhueza - Director, Centre for Economics and Social Policy
Ph.D in Economics, Cambridge University, UK.
Research Interests: Applied development microeconomics, labor and welfare economics, gender and family economics, economics of education, urban economics.

Dr. Esteban Calvo - Director, Society and Health Research Center
Ph.D in Sociology, Boston College, US.
Líneas de investigación: Life course sociology, social epidemiology, research on old age population, comparative public policy.

Dr. José Miguel Cabezas
Ph.D in Government and Politics, University of Maryland, US.
Research Interests: Comparative Politics, Institutional Analysis, Public Opinion.

Dr. Alvaro Castillo-Carniglia
Ph.D en Public Health, University of Chile.
Research Interests: Social epidemiology, Alcohol and Drug use, Violence, Quantitative Methods.

Dra. Antonia Díaz de Valdés
Ph.D in Social Work, Boston College, US.
Research Interests: Elder Population, Well-being, Life Course.

Dra. Teresita Rocha Jiménez
Ph.D in Public Health, University of California, United States
Research Interests: Public Health, Global Health, International Migration, AIDS / Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Dr. Aldo Madariaga
Ph.D in Economical and Social Sciences, Universität zu Köln, Germany.
Research Interests: Political economy, industrial policy and development, energy and environment, vocational education and training.

Dr. Nicolás Montalva
Ph.D in Genetic Anthropology, University College London, UK.
Research Interests: Grazing communities and their genetics.

Dr. Rodrigo Pérez-Silva
Ph.D in Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, Ohio State University, US.
Research Interests: Labor economics, urban economics and regional economics.

Dr. Sergio Peña Neira
Ph.D in Law, Andalucía International University, Spain.
Research Interests: Regulation, International Law, Biodiversity.

Dr. Jorge Rosales
Ph.D in Engineering Systems, University of Chile.
Research Interests: Time economics, use and value of time, pluralist economics.

Dra. Alejandra Vásquez
Ph.D in Economics, Universitá degli studi di Cagliari, Italy.
Research Interests: Experimental and behavioral economics, game theory.

PhD program regulations

This document details the regulations and conditions for all the PhD programs in Universidad Mayor.