Iscte's PhD program in Anthropology is currently accepting enrollments. Iscte is a pioneering institution in Portugal with respect to the creation of doctoral degrees in Anthropology: in 1991 it inaugurated the Doctoral Program in Social Anthropology (PDAS), and in 2003 the International Doctoral Program in Urban Anthropology (PRODAU).
Currently, the doctoral program in Anthropology (Bologna model) provides the basis for research directed towards the elaboration of an original dissertation, considered as a contribution to the advancement of knowledge. The duration of the degree program is 3 years, and is comprised of 180 credits (European Credit Transfer System – ECTS). 

During the first year (60 credits), doctoral candidates widen their general training and prepare a research project, which is submitted for approval by two specialists in the Department. This step is a prerequisite for acceptance in the program’s 2nd and 3rd years (120 credits), which are dedicated to fieldwork, library and archive research, analysis of results, and the elaboration of a thesis. 

The doctoral degree (Ph.D.) confirms a high level of competence. Some major fields of professional activity which have already been developed include the following: cultural policies, tangible and intangible heritage and the field of museum studies; human rights and humanitarian policies; development and international cooperation within the context of globalization; migrations and diasporas; the effects of culture on the environment.
 
«"Anthropology is the most humanistic of the sciences and the most scientific of the humanities", said Alfred Kroeber. Learning Anthropology means making the strange familiar and the familiar strange. Doctoral training at Iscte aims at preparing scientists who are capable of understanding, of interpreting, and of explaining to the wider society how human diversity is articulated in the contemporary world.»