Doctoral Thesis Defence

 1. Documents validly signed in the proceedings before the EID:

The Act 39/2015, of 1 October, on the  Common Administrative Procedure for the Public Authorities, sets out in its art. 10.1 that: 
"The interested parties may sign by any means that allows them to prove the authenticity of the expression of their will and consent, as well as the integrity and inalterability of the document." In application of this article, the following shall be admitted for the purposes of the procedures to be carried out at this School:

1. Valid electronic signature, in accordance with article 10.2 of the Act 39/2015 "recognized or qualified and advanced, based on recognized or qualified electronic certificates of electronic signature issued by providers included in the "List of Trusted Certification Service Providers."For these purposes, the above-mentioned recognized or qualified electronic certificates are understood to include those of legal persons and of entities without legal personality."
2. Original handwritten signature.
3. Exceptionally, when circumstances make it difficult to send the document by the above means, the original handwritten signature, scanned in its entirety after signature and sent from the signatory's institutional email address, will be accepted.

In the latter case, the original document will remain in the possession of the issuer in case it is required by the processing body at any time during the procedure.

The insertion of images of signatures shall not be considered a valid form of signature since it does not allow compliance with the requirements of art. 10 of Act 39/2015, as it does not guarantee the authenticity of the expression of the signatory's will and consent.

2. Remote assistance in thesis defences: 

Steps for the reading and defence of the doctoral thesis

1. Most recent oversight in RAPI:

• The procedures for the defence of the doctoral thesis begin with the most recent evaluation in the doctoral candidate's file in RAPI. For this, just as the doctoral candidate has been doing each year, he/she will connect to the tool, perform his or her tasks (generation and updating of the research plan, which is mandatory, and registration of the complementary training activities that may correspond) and ensure that they are accepted by his or her supervisor, who should issue a favourable report, as should his or her tutor and, finally, it is graded by the academic committee of the doctoral programme.
• NOTE: this step can take place simultaneously with the preliminary evaluation of the doctoral thesis.

Once the thesis has been completed and before its admission and deposit, the quality of the thesis must be evaluated by two doctors (holders of doctorates) who are experts in the subject matter of the thesis.

APPLICATION FOR PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION

The doctoral candidate, with the authorization of his/her supervisor, will request the coordinator of the doctoral programme to appoint two doctors with accredited research experience to carry out this task.
The two preliminary examiners of the thesis will be proposed, and their research experience accredited, by completion of the form for the accreditation of research experience, which the doctoral candidate will submit together with the application for preliminary evaluation.

APPOINTMENT OF EXAMINERS AND SENDING OF DOCUMENTATION

The coordinator, in view of the research experience accredited in their forms (1), will decide on the suitability of the proposed experts. The doctoral candidate will then be informed, by the means the coordinator considers most appropriate, of the appointment of preliminary examiners, using the notification form for the appointment of preliminary examiners.

Once the appointment is known, the thesis supervisor (as agreed by the EID-UCLM Management Committee on 05/07/2018) will be responsible for sending each of them a copy of the thesis by email in PDF format, together with the form for that report and the request that, within 20 working days of receipt, they should issue a report on the quality of the thesis.

ISSUING OF REPORTS

FORMS

• Request for preliminary examination of the thesis
• Form for the accreditation of research experience [English]
• Notice of appointment of preliminary examiners by the academic committee [English]
• Form for the issuance of the preliminary examination report [English] 
•  

(1) A preliminary examiner for the thesis is required to be able to accredit at least six years of experience in CNEAI research, or its equivalent in scientific production, if the examiner is not legally eligible for this recognition.

3. Admission of the thesis for defence:

APPLICATION TO THE ACADEMIC COMMITTEE FOR ADMISSION TO THE THESIS DEFENCE PROCESS:

• Favourable preliminary examination reports, in case they are not in the possession of the coordinator.
• The PDF obtained in TESEO with the information entered about the thesis as detailed in point 6.
• Proof of payment of the doctoral thesis examination fees. The payment letter is available at the Campus Student Affairs Units.
• The open publication rights assignment licence, according to this form.
• One printed copy of the thesis and a PDF copy in digital support (on a CD, DVD or pendrive). In addition, the doctoral candidate must submit to the academic committee the copies of the thesis (on paper and/or digital format) it may request for consultation in the departments or centres where studies related to the subject of the thesis are being carried out.
• Any additional documentation that may be required in the case of a thesis for a compendium of publications or to opt for the mentions of international doctorate, industrial doctorate or thesis cosupervised with a foreign university.

 IMPORTANT: Both the doctoral candidate and the thesis supervisor must ensure that they hold the necessary permissions to include in the thesis any content that may be protected by intellectual property rights.    

 FORMS

• Application for admission to thesis defence process
• Open publication rights assignment licence

AUTHORISATION FROM THE ACADEMIC COMMITTEE FOR ADMISSION TO THE THESIS DEFENCE PROCESS

Upon receipt of the documentation, having conducted the appropriate verification and as soon as possible, the programme coordinator will authorize, at his/her discretion, the submission of the thesis by signing the corresponding section on the application form, which will then be returned to the receiving department/centre which, in turn, will dispatch the relevant documentation to each destination ⁽¹⁾:

To the International Doctorate School (EID):

• The authorized application
• The two favourable preliminary reports and the appointment of the experts referred to in section 2.
• The PDF obtained from TESEO showing that the required data have been filled in.
• Proof of having paid the doctoral thesis examination fees (these fees are paid at the Campus Registry).
• A copy of the Open Publication Rights Assignment Licence (the original will be sent to the General Secretary’s Office, as detailed below).
• A PDF copy of the thesis for public exhibition at the EID (this file can be sent directly by the doctoral candidate to the EID in any way he/she deems appropriate: attached to an email to doctorado@uclm.es, shared from the cloud, on a CD/DVD, on a pendrive, ...).
• Any additional documentation that may be required in the case of a thesis for a compendium of publications or for opting for the mentions provided for in the regulations.
• The proposal for the jury that is to judge the thesis and the reports on the research experience of the six experts proposed for it, as described below.

Simultaneously, it is necessary to send the following to the General Secretary’s Office of the University:

• A paper copy of the thesis
• A PDF copy recorded on a CD, DVD or pendrive.
• The original open publication rights assignment licence.

(1) Alternatively, this submission to each destination may be made by the doctoral candidate or his or her supervisor if so indicated by his or her coordinator.

JURY PROPOSAL:

As mentioned in the previous point, together with the defence admission documentation, the coordinator will send a proposal for the jury that will judge the doctoral thesis according to the form linked below.

The proposed jury will be made up of six experts (three ordinary members and three alternates) with the required research experience, and will be accompanied by the forms for the accreditation of the research experience of each of the six.

In the case of applying for the International Doctorate Mention, the requirements set out in that section of this very page on the composition of the proposed jury will be followed.

FORMS

• Jury proposal

• Form for the accreditation of research experience [English]

POINTS TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT WHEN COMPILING THE PROPOSAL:

In accordance with the Regulations of Doctoral Studies of the UCLM regarding the composition of the jury and research experience:

• The jury that judges the thesis may only have, at most, one member from the UCLM. Thus, for the proposed substitutions to be possible, if a member of the UCLM is an ordinary member of the jury, another doctor from the UCLM may only be included to cater for the possible absence of that ordinary member.
• All members of the jury will have accredited research activity and possess at least one CNEAI six-year period of research experience, or equivalent research activity, as the case may be. The Chairman and his/her alternate must each have at least two six-year terms of service or equivalent. Any doctor who is legally eligible to apply for six-year period accreditation will not be permitted to accredit them with equivalent merits instead.
• The supervisors and the tutor of the doctoral candidate cannot be members of the jury.
• However, preliminary examiners may form part of the jury.
• The person in charge of the stay for the international doctorate mention may not be a member of the jury.

GENDER PARITY ON DOCTORAL THESIS JURIES:

Articles 25 and 26 of the Act 3/2007, of 22 March, for the Effective Equality of Women and Men require, in the field of higher education, the adoption of measures to guarantee balanced representation in advisory, scientific and decision-making bodies in the artistic, cultural and scientific organization chart.

On this point, the UCLM Equality Programme 2020-2024 and, in particular, its strand 4, measure 53, proposes among the actions in the field of research "To foster the presence of women in research bodies and committees, promoting the introduction of the gender perspective in all scientific branches".

In view of the above, parity must be respected for the juries that are to judge doctoral theses, with the presence of at least one member of each gender on the jury to be constituted. In the event that any proposed jury does not comply with this, a supporting report must be submitted explaining the reasons for this.

INTERNATIONAL DOCTORATE MENTION:

Students who wish to obtain the International Doctorate Mention in their doctoral degree must attach the following, in addition to the above documents:

• Application for certification of the International Doctorate Mention according to the form linked below, which will specify the language chosen for the defence of the thesis, as well as the rest of the requirements.
• Certificate issued by the foreign centre where the stay took place, indicating the start and end dates of the stay, endorsed by the thesis supervisor and authorized by the corresponding academic committee. At least 3 months of stay abroad in one or more periods of at least one month's duration shall be accredited. The person in charge of the stay in the foreign centre may not be a member of the jury, but he/she may be a preliminary examiner of the thesis.
  IMPORTANT: in the event that the period of stay corresponds exactly to the legally established minimums (three months for a single stay or one month for several stays), these must appear on the certificate and the exact period must be indicated (for example: from 15 March to 15 June, from 1 July to 1 October).
• The authorization from the academic committee for the stay, if it was not sent to the EID in advance of the stay (recommended), using the form available within the procedure.

In theses that apply for this mention, the preliminary examination of doctoral thesis report referred to in section 2 must be issued by a doctor attached to a foreign higher education institution or a research institute.

At least one doctor belonging to a non-Spanish university or research centre, and who is not the person superintending the stay outside Spain, must be a member of the doctoral thesis assessment jury. Provision should be made for this person to be replaced by a second one who satisfies the same criterion. 

 FORMS:

• Application for International Doctorate Accreditation

INDUSTRIAL DOCTORATE MENTION:

Doctoral candidates who opt for the Industrial Doctorate Mention in their doctoral degree must also provide the following documentation together with the application for admission to the defence process:

• Application for accreditation of the Industrial Doctorate Mention on the official form (copy available below).
• Copy of the employment or commercial contract maintained with the contracting company or with a public authority, or the candidate's employment record, showing his/her relationship with the company for a minimum period of six months, which must be included in the period of time between the candidate's first enrolment and the admission of the doctoral thesis for processing.
• Report describing the activities carried out in the research or experimental development project in which the doctoral candidate has participated and which accredits the direct relation with the thesis produced. This document must be signed by the doctoral candidate, the superintendent appointed by the company (or public authority), the thesis tutor, the thesis supervisor/cosupervisor(s, and the coordinator of the academic committee of the doctoral programme. 

FORMS:

• Application for Industrial Doctorate Accreditation

 THESIS COSUPERVISED WITH A FOREIGN UNIVERSITY:

In the case of doctoral theses pursued under cosupervision arrangements with foreign universities, the provisions regarding the defence of the thesis in the corresponding agreement originally signed will be applicable.

For theses defended at the UCLM, the present procedure will apply in its entirety.

For theses that, according to the aforementioned agreement, are to be defended at the foreign university, all the steps indicated in this procedure for the deposit of the thesis will be carried out at the UCLM, except for the points referring to the jury proposal.

In any case, the following additional documentation must be provided:

• the certificate(s) signed by their thesis supervisor(s) (at the UCLM and at the foreign university) detailing the periods of stay at each institution, to accredit compliance with the requirement of a minimum stay of six months at each institution since the first enrolment in the doctoral programme at the UCLM.

Regarding proof of payment of the examination fees, the procedure  to obtain this must be performed at the Campus Academic Administration Unit (UGAC), who should be advised of the cosupervision arrangements for exemption from payment of the corresponding fees.

When the defence act is held at the foreign university, the requirements of that institution shall be observed, and the following documents will be sent to the EID-UCLM:

• a copy of the original proceedings from the foreign university
• a certificate of the act of reading, using the form linked below, which must be completed and signed by the jury that signs the original proceedings, indicating the equivalent grade in the system provided for in Spanish legislation.
• additionally, in the case of applying for the Cum Laude Mention, the International Doctorate Mention, the Industrial Doctorate Mention or, in due course, the Extraordinary Doctorate Award, the relevant indications given in point 5 of this procedure must be followed.

 FORMS:

• Certificate from the jury at the foreign university

THESIS BY COMPENDIUM OF PUBLICATIONS:

Those who choose to submit their doctoral thesis in the form of a compendium of publications must attach the annex requesting authorization to do so in this form to their application for admission to the defence process, together with the relevant declarations by the other authors of each publication that they waive the right to use the work in question towards the award of a doctorate.

The general rules for this form of submission, approved by the Board of Management of this School at its meeting of 7 June 2016 (available in the common procedures section of this website), and the particular requirements of each Doctoral Programme that are published in the "Programme-specific procedures" section of their specific webpages, must be observed. The page for each Programme is accessible from the "Programme Offerings" section of this website.

FORMS

• Authorization for thesis in compendium of publications format

4. Public exhibition of the doctoral thesis (deposit): 

BEGINNING OF THE PERIOD OF PUBLIC EXHIBITION OF THE THESIS:

Once the documentation has been received at the EID, the appropriate checks will be made on the documentation received and the doctoral candidate's file and, once any deficiencies detected have been corrected, thepublic exhibition period(known asthesis deposit) will begin, which will be announced on the EID website (Thesis in process) and will be communicated by UCLMInforma to all the departments or bodies responsible for doctoral programmes and teaching centres, with the aim of publicizing it among UCLM doctors.

The thesis will be exhibited publicly for a period of ten working days so that it can be examined by any doctor who can, if he/she so sees fit, send the observations that he/she deems appropriate to formulate to the EID. To this end, the thesis will be exhibited at the General Secretary’s Office and at the department, centre or centres that are directly related to the studies that are the object of the thesis.

AUTHORISATION FOR THE DEFENCE AND APPOINTMENT OF THE JURY:

At the end of the deposit period for the doctoral thesis, in view of the observations made and, after consulting, where appropriate, the department and the specialists deemed appropriate, the EID will decide whether to authorize the defence and will communicate this decision to the coordinator of the doctoral programme, the doctoral candidate and the thesis supervisor(s). Any unfavourable decision must be duly justified, and will be accompanied by the instructions and the deadline for the modification of the thesis, it being mandatory for the doctoral candidate to comply with these instructions.

The EID, in the event that the defence of the thesis is authorized, will appoint the members of the jury that is to judge the thesis. The EID will notify the final composition of the jury by email to the coordinator of the doctoral programme, to the doctoral candidate, and to the chairman of the jury. Likewise, the EID shall communicate (by email) their appointment to each of the designated ordinary members and alternates.

A minimum of 10 working days must elapse between the appointment of the jury and the defence of the thesis.

5. Reading and defence of the doctoral thesis:

ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE DEFENCE ACT:

Once the composition of the jury has been communicated, its regular members will agree on the date, place and time for the public defence of the doctoral thesis.

It is the responsibility of the secretary of the jury to communicate this to the EID (email: doctorado@uclm.es), to the rest of the members of the jury and to the doctoral candidate himself/herself. A minimum of ten working days must elapse between the approval of the jury by the EID and the date of the thesis defence.

A minimum of 10 working days must elapse between the appointment of the jury and the date of the thesis defence.

FORMS:

• Notification of doctoral thesis defence appointment[English]

FUNDING APPLICATION:

In accordance with the Resolution of January 25, 2010 by the Vice-Rectorate for Doctoral Studies and UCLM Qualifications, on the procedure for the authorization of doctoral thesis funds, the administrative services of the department/centre will communicate the data requested by means of an annex in the aforementioned resolution to the administrator of the centre where the public defence of the doctoral thesis is to take place, so that the application for funds can be initiated.

FORMS:

• Application form for Centres and Departments to request funding for the doctoral thesis jury

ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT TO THESIS JURIES:

In accordance with art. 16.8 of the Regulations of Doctoral Studies of the UCLM, the jury will receive the administrative support it needs from the Administration and Services Staff of the Centre where the defence of the doctoral thesis is to take place, as well as from the corresponding Department, to arrange the travel, lodging and subsistence of the members of the jury, and any other matter related to preparation for the defence act of the doctoral thesis.

SUBMISSION OF THE DOCUMENTATION TO THE JURY:

The doctoral candidate will send the following documentation to the jury ordinary members and alternates, so that it is in their possession at least five days before the date of the thesis defence:

• A copy of his/her doctoral thesis.
• A copy of the candidate’scurriculum vitae.
• The activity document report which can be obtained atRAPI.

For alternate members it is sufficient to submit it in a PDF file.

ANNOUNCEMENT AND CONDUCT OF THE ACT OF DEFENCE

The defence of the doctoral thesis will take place in a public session during the academic calendar and will be announced at least seven days in advance by the department or centre, on the bulletin board of the centre where the thesis is to be read.

The jury will determine any circumstances regarding the conduct of the thesis defence act that are not provided for in the regulations (format, duration, etc.).

DOCUMENTATION OF THE DEFENCE ACT:

Once the defence has been completed, the members of the jury will complete the following documentation:

• The Proceedings of the doctoral thesis defence, signed by all the members of the jury.
• The final report on a doctoral thesis, completed, signed and graded (in terms of "FAIL", "PASS", "VERY GOOD" and "EXCELLENT") by each member of the jury.
• The Certificate of International Doctorate Mention, in the case the doctoral candidate chooses this mention, completed and signed by the secretary.

Additionally, in the case that the overall grade is EXCELLENT, the following documents shall also be submitted:

• Secret ballot on the awarding of the Cum Laude mention: Each member will cast a secret ballot, which will be collected by the secretary of the jury and sent that same day in a sealed and signed envelope to the International Doctorate School (Edificio José Prat, Plaza de la Universidad nº 2. Campus Universitario. 02071 Albacete). This envelope will be labelled with the following text: “SECRET BALLOTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE CUM LAUDE MENTION.”
  Once the sense of the votes cast has been verified, the EID will communicate the result to the doctoral candidate, the thesis supervisor(s) and the programme coordinator so that, if a positive vote has been cast unanimously by the members of the jury, the "Cum Laude" mention will be added to the grade of "EXCELLENT".

• The confidential report for the Extraordinary Doctorate Award: In this case, it is the responsibility of each member of the jury to issue this report, without forgetting to sign it and to indicate the numerical evaluations required in the document, which will be essential for the admission and evaluation of the candidate's application in due course.

FORMS

• Proceedings of the doctoral thesis defence[English]
• Individual final report on the thesis[English]
• Secret ballot for the “Cum Laude” Mention.
• Confidential report for Extraordinary Doctorate Award

SUBMISSION OF THE DOCUMENTATION:

The Secretary of the Jury will send the following documentation to the respective destinations:

To the International Doctorate School:

• A copy of the Proceedings of the doctoral thesis defence.
• The Certificate of International Doctorate Mention, if applicable.
• The individual appraisal reports from each of the members.
• Confidential reports for the Extraordinary Award, if applicable.
• The documentation on the award of the Cum Laude Mention in the form referred to above.

To the Campus Academic Administration Unit (UGAC):

• A copy of the Proceedings of the doctoral thesis defence.
• The Certificate of International Doctorate Mention, if applicable.

6. Publication of the thesis:

RUIdeRA REPOSITORY

The University will be responsible for archiving the doctoral thesis in electronic format in RUIdeRA (University Repository of Open Resources of the UCLM), for which the documentation submitted to the General Secretary’s Office at the time of admission to the defence process will be used.

In exceptional circumstances, such as the participation of companies in the programme or School, the existence of confidentiality agreements with companies or the possibility that the content of the thesis could give rise to patents, temporary or partial suspension of the open publication of the doctoral thesis may be requested.

TESEO:

On the other hand, in order to comply with the legal requirement to publish information about the doctoral thesis in thenational database TESEO, the doctoral candidate (preferably in the final stages of his/her thesis) will register in this tool and enter all the required data in the sections "Author data" and "Thesis information".

With this same profile he/she will be able to obtain the summary required in this procedure to accompany the application for admission to the defence procedure.

After the thesis defence, the EID will complete the rest of the information required in the database for its definitive publication.

Registration and data introduction in TESEO

Registration as a doctoral candidate in the TESEO tool shall be carried out at the following address:https://www.educacion.gob.es/teseo/teseo/redireccionDoctorando.do

Getting the PDF in TESEO:

The sheet of the data entered in TESEO required for the submission of the doctoral thesis can be obtained at: https://www.educacion.gob.es/teseo/teseo/listarImprimir.do?tipo=todas&action=print

7. Application for a doctoral degree from the UCLM:

  Once the doctoral thesis has been defended and approved, and the result of the "Cum Laude" Mention is known, if applicable, the doctoral candidate will apply for the Doctoral Degree at the corresponding Campus Student Affairs Unit, submitting the documentation required by that Unit.

This procedure may also be carried out through procedure available at the UCLM Virtual Office.