Deposit and defence

Deposit of the doctoral thesis

Once the thesis has been produced, the student will submit to the academic body responsible for the doctoral programme (according to article 4.1 of the Regulations for Doctoral Degrees, “The academic bodies responsible for the organization, management, development and monitoring of the doctoral programmes at the University of Salamanca are the Doctoral Schools and the University Research Institutes, as well as the departments, where appropriate.”):

• The application to deposit the doctoral thesis, accompanied by a printed copy of the thesis approved by the student’s supervisor. The application to deposit the thesis will specify the field or fields of knowledge that the thesis should be considered to belong to for the purpose of an Extraordinary Award
• Two CDs containing the thesis (the sleeves for these will be plain plastic or paper; other cover formats will be discarded)
• Electronic format repository form, pursuant to article 14.5 of RD 99/2011
• Application for international designation, if applicable

The doctoral thesis may not be modified in any way after the application to deposit has been made.

The academic body responsible for the programme will assess the adequacy of the work as a doctoral thesis, concluding with its approving or rejecting the continuation of the proceedings. It will send the following documentation to the Doctoral Service:

• The doctoral student’s application to deposit along with the application for European or international designation
• Form on storing the thesis in the institutional repository
• The two CDs containing the thesis

The printed copy of the thesis will be deposited with the responsible academic body, which will handle its registration and safekeeping

Along with approval for the continuation of the proceedings for the thesis defence, the academic body responsible for the doctoral programme will draw up an examination committee proposal for the evaluation of the thesis. This will be sent to the Doctoral Service, together with the acceptance of the proposed members (acceptance form in English).

 

Registration and public presentation

Once the deposit of the doctoral thesis has been completed and the proceedings for the thesis defence have progressed, the academic body responsible for the doctoral programme will communicate this to the president of the Doctoral Committee. This will open a period of public presentation of ten days so that the thesis can be consulted by any holder of a doctorate who requests to do so and so that, where appropriate, he or she may make any written submissions to the Doctoral Committee that he or she considers appropriate.

 

Authorization of the defence and appointment of the doctoral thesis examination committee

Once the period of the public presentation of the doctoral thesis has ended without any considerations on it having been received, the president of the Doctoral Committee will authorize the thesis defence and the appointment of the examination committee, communicating this to the academic body responsible for the doctoral programme so that it can proceed to set up the examination committee.

The examination committee will be comprise:

1. Five Spanish or foreign doctorate holders with accredited research experience, in accordance with the institutional guidelines and criteria. The majority of these five individuals will be external to the University of Salamanca and not faculty members for the doctoral programme.
2. To the extent reasonable from an academic point of view, there will be a balanced presence of men and women.
3. The supervisor and cosupervisor of the thesis and the student’s tutor may not form part of the examination committee.

Special situations for faculty involved in examination committees

In the event that an “international doctorate” designation for the doctoral thesis has been opted for, the examination committee will include at least one expert holding a doctorate who belongs to a higher-education institution or research centre of repute that is located outside of Spain. He or she will not be the individual responsible for the student’s visit. 

The outcome of approval and appointment of the examination committee will be communicated to responsible academic body so that it can proceed to payment of the public price for the thesis defence and a TESEO database record.

The academic body for the doctoral programme will provide each member of the examination committee with a copy of the thesis, with the doctoral student deciding the format (electronic or printed) in which the thesis will be sent for this purpose.

Once the defence of the doctoral thesis has been organized, and before it takes place, the doctoral student must pay the reading rights for the thesis. He or she must contact the Administration Office of the Doctoral Schools to this end.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS. The Governing Board of the University of Salamanca in its regular meeting held on 26 June 26 2014 agreed that, for doctoral theses for which application to deposit takes place from 1 September 2014, the examination committee appointed by the president of the Doctoral Committee will comprise three individuals who hold doctorates (full text of the implementation of agreements)

 

Defence and examination of the doctoral thesis

The secretary of the examination committee, at the request of the president, will convene a defence event in which the doctoral thesis will be evaluated. He or she will communicate notification of this at least ten days prior to the date it will be held to the body responsible for the doctoral programme, which in turn will inform the Academic Committee, the doctoral student, the thesis supervisor and the doctoral administrative service to provide publication of it.

Once communication of the date for the defence event has been received, the Doctoral Service will provide the secretary with the following documentation:

• Certification document for establishing the examination committee for the doctoral thesis
• Certification document for the classification of the doctoral thesis
• Individual report from each member of the examination committee
• Certification of opting for European or international doctoral designation

Once the defence event has been completed, the examination committee will issue a collective report of its assessment. This will also indicate a suggestion for the field of knowledge that the thesis should be considered to belong to (as appropriate) for the purposes of an Extraordinary Award. 

(Orientation guide for areas of knowledge that the examination committee may take into consideration for the assignment of a field of knowledge)

It will also prepare a certification document for the classification that will include award of an overall classification according to the following scale: “insufficient,” “pass,” “merit” and “distinction.” The examination committee may award the designation cum laude if the overall classification is at distinction level and a secret vote on the issue unanimously passes. (second article of R.D. 534/2013 of 12 July).

 

Application for the qualification of doctor

To complete the application process for the qualification of doctor, the person concerned must have passed the thesis and have completed a TESEO database record.

Application for the qualification of doctor

 

Information on legalizing a doctoral qualification

1. General procedure
2. Directions for notaries for the recognition of signatures