Proyecto de Real Decreto por el que se regula la acreditacion a PPL por ANECA

Draft royal decree regulating aneca accreditation for ppl: benefits for university faculty

  • 04/05/2026

Regarding the Draft Royal Decree regulating the procedure for the accreditation of Permanent Faculty by the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA), which is currently in the public consultation phase, ANECA wishes to clarify the following for the reassurance of university faculty:

1. The purpose of the Draft Royal Decree is to regulate the procedure for the accreditation of Permanent Contract Faculty (PPL) by ANECA, in compliance with the provisions of Organic Law 2/2023, of March 22, on the University System (LOSU), which entered into force on April 12, 2023. Therefore:

  • It does not affect, in any way, university policies regarding the civil service or employment category that Spanish universities may choose to follow when granting tenure or promoting their faculty.
  • It does not affect, in any way, the validity of current accreditations for Contracted Faculty with a Doctorate, in accordance with the third transitional provision, section 2, of the LOSU: this accreditation will be valid for the PPL category referred to in Article 82 of the LOSU.
  • It complies with the provisions of the third transitional provision, paragraph 3, of the LOSU: the accreditation procedure for the position of Contracted Professor with a Doctorate (PCD), under the authority of the General Secretariat of Universities, will continue to apply until the accreditation procedure for PPLs regulated in this Draft Royal Decree enters into force.

2. Thanks to this draft Royal Decree, the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities, within the scope of its authority, facilitates the process of obtaining PPL accreditation—which is regulated by the LOSU—through a streamlined and simplified procedure: faculty members in the early stages of their academic careers will be able to obtain accreditation as Tenured University Faculty (PTU) and accreditation as Permanent Contract Faculty comparable to PTU (PPL) with a single application.

3. This is possible because, in accordance with the LOSU, these are “comparable” positions. Thus, the requirements will be those already established by ANECA in March 2024 to comply with Royal Decree 678/2023, which regulates state accreditation for access to university teaching positions, with criteria that have already been adapted to the duration of this initial stage, as required by the LOSU. It should be noted that the evaluation criteria were defined through a process of public participation and deliberation involving the entire university community and that their application in the ACADEMIA program (Tenured University Faculty and University Professors) has been very successful.

4. The proposed draft Royal Decree makes it possible to move beyond the transitional regime regulated by the LOSU regarding accreditation as a PCD, whose evaluation criteria are not adapted to the duration of the initial stage of an academic career (the PCD criteria are, therefore, more demanding than those for PPL).

5. The research and teaching merits required by ANECA for PTU accreditation—which will be the same as those for PPL accreditation comparable to PTU—are undoubtedly more attainable for faculty in training than those required to obtain the current PCD accreditation provided for by Royal Decree 1052/2002, of October 11, which regulates the procedure for obtaining ANECA’s evaluation and certification for the purposes of hiring university teaching and research staff (known as the PEP program, which falls under the General Secretariat of Universities).

6. ANECA’s accreditation criteria for the PTU require certain merits and competencies in research, knowledge transfer and exchange, as well as certain merits and competencies in teaching, which can be acquired during the first years of university faculty training, so that by the end of the term of the Assistant Professor contracts established by Article 78 of the LOSU, faculty members will have the necessary accreditation to compete for positions in the PTU academic faculty. Those same qualifications would be required of faculty members in the early stages of their academic careers for PPL accreditation—comparable to PTU—if this Draft Royal Decree is approved.

  • With regard to the research merits required for PTU accreditation, faculty members in the early stages of their academic careers must demonstrate to ANECA a minimum level of research activity—which is evaluated based on quality rather than quantity—as well as other merits that enable them to meet the requirements in the research category. The merits that each applicant can demonstrate are diverse (including, among others, participation in research and technology transfer projects and contracts; results and dissemination of research and technology transfer activities; scientific outreach; and stays at universities and research centers), with no mandatory minimum required for any of these other merits.
  • For example, the research proficiency required for PTU accreditation could be achieved through five high-quality contributions—in accordance with the evaluation criteria for six-year periods—plus participation, with documented results, in one or more research projects, and/or the completion of one or more research stays, with similarly verifiable results.
  • With regard to the teaching merits required for PTU accreditation, faculty members in the early stages of their academic careers must demonstrate to ANECA a minimum level of teaching commitment and a minimum standard of teaching quality, as well as other merits that enable them to meet the requirements in the teaching activity category. These other merits can vary widely, but no mandatory minimum is required for any of them: diversity, interdisciplinarity, and variety in teaching are valued, as are educational resources or training activities, teaching innovation projects, training received for professional development, or teaching mentorship (such as supervising a Bachelor’s thesis).
  • The minimum teaching commitment required to obtain PTU accreditation is 4 years of full-time service, or the equivalent in part-time service, whether pre-doctoral or post-doctoral, and a total number of ECTS credits/teaching hours that varies depending on the type of contract held: only 12 ECTS or 120 hours (in total, not annually) for pre-doctoral and post-doctoral contract holders, including the post-doctoral mentoring period, or 24 ECTS or 240 hours (in total, not annually) for all other faculty positions. Receiving a predoctoral fellowship, with supervised teaching duties, is considered part-time teaching, and a postdoctoral contract is considered full-time teaching.

7. In establishing these minimum teaching workload requirements, ANECA has taken into account the provisions set forth in Article 78 of the LOSU for Assistant Professors with a Ph.D., who are recognized as having a full-time workload for the 6-year duration of their contract, with a maximum of 180 teaching hours per academic year.

8. ANECA’s application of these new accreditation criteria to PTUs, effective April 1, 2024, has enabled more than 93% of applicants to obtain accreditation, with the time taken by the accreditation committees to reach a decision having gradually decreased to an average of the desired 6 months. ANECA will continue to take all necessary measures to ensure that faculty members in the early stages of their academic careers have their accreditation applications resolved in a timely manner, allowing them to establish themselves at universities, whether through an employment contract or by competing for a PTU position.

9. Finally, it should be noted that as long as the Resolution of February 18, 2005, issued by the General Directorate of Universities remains in effect, PTU accreditation may be considered to automatically qualify one for employment as a PCD (Annex IV of said Resolution). ANECA therefore recommends applying for PTU accreditation through ANECA—which is already aligned with the principles of the LOSU—rather than applying for PCD accreditation through the PEP program, which is administered by the General Secretariat of Universities, pending the approval of this Draft Royal Decree, which particularly benefits those in the early stages of their academic careers.