Procedure for obtaining the designation of "International Doctorate" for a doctoral qualification from the University of Salamanca

(Approved by the Doctoral Committee at its session of 10 November 2011)

 

In application of Royal Decree 99/2011 of 28 January, which regulates official doctoral teaching, and the Regulations for Doctoral Degrees of the University of Salamanca approved by the Governing Board on 25 October 2011, the University of Salamanca may grant the designation of to doctorates that comply with each and all of the following requirements:

a) During the training completed by the student required to obtain the doctoral qualification, he or she must have spent a minimum of 3 months studying or conducting research work outside of Spain at a reputable research centre or higher-education institution. The visit and activities must be endorsed by its head and authorized by the Academic Committee. They will have been incorporated into the Doctoral Student Activities Document.

b) Part of the doctoral thesis—as a minimum, the abstract and conclusions—must have been written and presented for defence in one of the common languages for communicating research in the student’s field of knowledge, other than the official languages of Spain. This rule shall not apply where the visits, reports and experts come from a Spanish-speaking country and the thesis is written in Spanish.

c) A report on the thesis must have been provided by a minimum of two experts who hold doctorates and belong to a reputable non-Spanish higher-education institution or research institute.

d) At least one expert belonging to a non-Spanish higher-education institution or research institute must be on the examination committee for the doctoral thesis. He or she must hold a doctorate and must not be the person in charge of the stay mentioned in the first point.

 

The following has been established as the ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE for the designation of :

Step one. The doctoral student seeking the designation of “international doctorate” must submit at the time of applying to deposit his or her doctoral thesis with the academic body responsible for the doctoral programme:

1. A copy of the doctoral thesis, of which part—as a minimum, the abstract and conclusions—must have been written in one of the common languages for communicating research in the student’s field of knowledge, other than the official languages of Spain. This rule will not apply where the visits, reports and experts come from a Spanish-speaking country and the thesis is written in Spanish.

2. The following additional documents:

2.1. designation application form.

2.2. Certification of having completed, within the activities endorsed by its head, which will have been authorized by the Academic Committee and feature in the Doctoral Student Activities Document, a minimum stay of 3 months outside of Spain studying or conducting research at a reputable higher-education institution or research centre.

2.3. Reports endorsing the doctoral thesis by at least two experts holding a doctorate who belong to a higher-education institution or research centre of repute that is located outside of Spain.

Step two. Once the body responsible for the doctoral programme has accepted the deposit of the thesis, it will send the additional documentation mentioned in the previous point to the president of the Doctoral Committee. Within a maximum period of 15 working days, and in view of the reports and documents submitted, he or she will issue a ruling (favourable or otherwise) that in the case that the thesis being assessed with a classification of “sufficient,” the subsequent qualification of doctor from the University of Salamanca will include the designation of “doctorate.”

Step three. The doctoral commission shall forward its ruling to the body responsible for the doctoral programme, so that it is included in the documentation that this body makes available to the members of the examination committee for the doctoral thesis.

Step four. Following the thesis defence event, the secretary of the examination committee for the doctoral thesis must certify:

1. If the writing and presentation of the doctoral theses was completed in part—as a minimum, the abstract and conclusions—in one of the common languages for communicating research in the student’s field of knowledge, other than the official languages of Spain. This rule will not apply where the visits, reports and experts come from a Spanish-speaking country and the thesis is written in Spanish.

2. If the examination committee included 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 and is not the person responsible for the visit accredited in the additional documentation presented when opting for the “international doctorate” designation

Step five. The secretary of the examination committee will forward the certifications listed in the previous point, together with a certification document for the overall classification and the rest of the reports on it by the examination committee, to the president of the Doctoral Committee, who will issue a ruling (favourable or otherwise) in the light of the documentation provided that the qualification of doctor from the University of Salamanca will include the designation of “international doctorate.”

Step six. The designation of “international doctorate” will appear on the front of the doctoral certificate from the University of Salamanca.

Step seven. The designation “international doctorate” will not in any case entail exceptional measures in the financing of the thesis’s reading procedure.