Regulations for the presentation and reading of theses

PhD thesis

The doctoral thesis consists of an original research work prepared by the candidate in any field of knowledge. The thesis must enable the doctoral candidate to work independently in the field of R&D&I.

The doctoral candidate may choose to write and, where appropriate, defend his or her thesis in Spanish or English.

At the request of the doctoral candidate, the General Doctoral Committee may authorize the writing and, where appropriate, defense of the thesis in a language other than Spanish and
English, if there is evidence that this language is customary for scientific communication in the field of knowledge in question. To do so, a favourable report from the academic committee responsible for the doctoral programme is required.

The request to write and, where appropriate, defend the thesis in a language other than Spanish and English must be submitted to the General Doctoral Committee prior to the thesis submission process.

The title of the thesis must appear in the original language of its writing and in Spanish, on the cover and the title page.

If the language of writing is other than Spanish, the thesis must contain a summary in Spanish. This summary must be at least two thousand words long and must be bound as part of the thesis.

Format of the doctoral thesis

The preparation of the doctoral thesis must be verified in accordance with the formal requirements determined by each University that makes up the Program.

The thesis as a compendium of publications

PhD students who, in the period between the endorsement of their research plan in accordance with article 11.6 of Royal Decree 99/2011, of 28 January, and the presentation of their thesis and with the express authorisation of their thesis supervisor or co-supervisors, containing a reasoned report on the suitability of this model, have published or accepted a minimum of three works in journals indexed in international databases of recognised prestige or in scientific journals or edited books of justified importance, according to the quality indicators established by the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA) for each of the five branches of knowledge in the evaluation of research activity, may choose to present their thesis in the form of a compendium of publications.
Works must have scientific value in themselves and, at the same time, must constitute a scientific unit.

Prior to submitting the thesis and accompanied by a favourable and reasoned report from the academic committee of the doctoral programme and approval from the branch of knowledge committee or, where appropriate, from the doctoral school, the doctoral candidate must request the General Doctoral Committee to authorise the presentation of the doctoral thesis as a compendium of publications.

To obtain authorization from the General Doctoral Committee, the doctoral candidate must provide the following documentation:

a. Copy of published works.

b. Report from the thesis director, justifying the submission of the compendium of publications as a doctoral thesis.

c. Report from the PhD student specifying his/her contribution to each article, which will be endorsed by the thesis director.

d. Signed documentation from which it results.

e. The agreement of the co-authors of each of the articles submitted with the submission of the corresponding article by the doctoral student for the purpose of formulating a thesis as a compendium of publications.

f. The commitment of each of the co-authors not to present the articles of their co-authorship as part of another doctoral thesis.

g. The declaration of each of the co-authors regarding the relevance of the PhD student's contribution to the research whose results were reflected in the articles of their co-authorship.

In no case may the defense be authorized before the third year of the doctorate.

The provisions set forth above regarding the writing of the theses and their language shall apply to theses formulated in the form of a compilation of publications.

Theses submitted under the compendium of publications format must necessarily contain the following additional sections:

a. A general introduction, in which the works are presented and the scientific unity of the thesis is justified.

b. A global summary of the research objectives and final conclusions, which unifies the partial results presented in each of the works.

c. A complete copy of the works (articles, book chapters or books, etc.). The complete reference of the works, personal details of all authors and the journal in which they have been published must be included. The PhD candidate must specify what his or her contribution has been to the works included.

d. Copies of the acceptance letters for the publications included in the thesis, in the case of works pending publication.

In any case, the co-authors of the submitted works cannot form part of the tribunal that is to judge the thesis.

Presentation and deposit of the thesis

1. Once the doctoral thesis has been completed, the doctoral candidate will request authorization for its presentation by means of a written document addressed to the academic committee of the doctoral program, which must be accompanied by:

• Favorable report from the thesis director or all co-directors. If none of them have academic ties with the universities of the program, a favorable report will also be required from the tutor.
• A copy of the thesis.

2. Once the authorization has been requested, the academic committee of the doctoral program must proceed:

• To formulate a proposal for experts in the field who can form part of the committee in charge of judging the thesis. This proposal must be accompanied by a reasoned report on the suitability of the proposed experts, indicating the proposed president and secretary of the thesis committee. The academic committee of the doctoral programme or, where appropriate, the doctoral school may establish additional requirements, which must be public, for being a member of the committee that is to judge the thesis.
• To request a report from the corresponding branch of knowledge committee or, where appropriate, from the steering committee of the doctoral school, on the suitability of the experts proposed to form part of the tribunal that is to judge the thesis.

3. Once the doctoral candidate's complete file has been evaluated, which will include the document of activities, the academic committee of the doctoral programme will authorise, if appropriate, the presentation of the thesis, issuing a resolution within a maximum period of one month. In the event that authorisation is denied, the doctoral candidate may appeal to the rector, who will resolve the matter following a report from the General Doctoral Committee.

4. Once the presentation of the doctoral thesis has been authorized, the academic committee of the doctoral program will submit the proceedings to the General Doctoral Committee by sending the following documentation:

• The PhD student's activity document, with the training activities carried out by the student.
• The report of the branch of knowledge committee or the steering committee of the doctoral school on the proposal of experts who may form part of the tribunal.
• Authorization of the academic committee of the doctoral program.

5. Once the thesis submission has been authorized, the doctoral candidate will request authorization from the General Doctoral Committee for its defense, enclosing the following documentation:

• A printed copy of the thesis in accordance with the format, binding and other specifications established by resolution of the rector.
• A copy of the thesis in the open digital format specified by resolution of the rector.
• Authorization from the academic committee responsible for the doctoral program.

6. Once the file has been received, the General Doctoral Commission must proceed:

• To check the formal regularity of the file.
• To communicate the presentation of the thesis to all doctors in the university community and, where appropriate, to all universities participating in the program.
• To arrange, through the competent administrative services, for the copy of the thesis to be deposited in the General Libraries of the universities participating in the Programme for a period of fifteen working days, so that it can be examined by any doctor. For the purposes of said period of fifteen working days, Saturdays and Sundays, holidays for any reason in the municipal area and days corresponding to the non-teaching periods of Christmas, Easter and holidays specific to each university, as well as the month of August, are considered non-working days.

7. Once the statutory period for public presentation has elapsed, and after notification from the academic committee of the doctoral programme in charge, the General Doctoral Committee will decide on the authorisation to defend the thesis. To this end, it will deal with the administrative or non-academic aspects of the file, unless objections have been made during the period of public presentation, in which case it will decide what it deems appropriate, following a report from the academic committee in charge and a hearing with the doctoral student. In the event that authorisation is denied, the doctoral student will be notified and the director or co-directors of the thesis and the academic committee of the doctoral programme will be notified. The doctoral student may appeal to the rector, who will decide following a report from the General Doctoral Committee.

8. Once the defense of the thesis has been authorized, there cannot be more than six months between the date of registration of the application for presentation and the date of reading of the thesis.

Doctoral thesis evaluation committee

1. The doctoral thesis evaluation committee is appointed by the General Doctoral Committee, once the defense of the thesis has been authorized, according to the proposal formulated by the academic committee of the doctoral program and taking into special consideration the reasons given in this regard in the report of the branch of knowledge committee or, where appropriate, of the doctoral school.

2. The tribunal must be composed of five members and its proposal must include five regular members and two substitutes. The following requirements must be observed in the composition of the tribunal:

• All members must hold a doctorate degree, have proven research experience and be specialists in the subject to which the thesis refers or in another subject that is related to it.
• No more than two members of institutions collaborating with the School or doctoral program may be part of the jury.
• In no case may the tutor, director or co-directors of the thesis form part of the committee, except in the case of a thesis presented in a joint doctoral programme with a foreign university or universities, in which case the provisions of the corresponding agreement must be observed.
• Professors with a permanent link to universities or research centres may be part of doctoral thesis committees, even if they are on leave or retired.

3. In the event of a regular member of the tribunal resigning for justified cause, the president of the tribunal must proceed to replace him with the corresponding substitute.

4. The decision of the General Doctoral Committee appointing the committee must be notified to the body responsible for the doctoral programme and to the thesis director. The thesis director then has a period of seven days to send the thesis to the members of the committee, accompanied by the document on the doctoral candidate's activities.

Defense and evaluation of the Doctoral Thesis

The doctoral thesis is evaluated at the defense ceremony, which

1. It must take place on a day or days that are considered business days according to the academic calendar of the University of Murcia.

2. It must be convened by the president of the tribunal and communicated by the secretary of the same to the other members, the doctoral candidate and the General Doctoral Committee at least seven days in advance of its celebration.

Once the tribunal has been formed, the defence and evaluation must take place in a public session and consist of the presentation by the doctoral candidate of the work carried out, the methodology, the content and the conclusions, with special mention of his or her original contributions.

The doctoral student's training activities document cannot give rise to a quantitative score, but it can constitute a qualitative evaluation instrument that complements the evaluation of the doctoral thesis.

The members of the panel may ask any questions they consider appropriate, which the doctoral candidate must answer. Likewise, the doctors present at the public event may ask questions at the time and in the manner indicated by the president of the panel.

Once the defense and discussion of the thesis has finished, each member of the tribunal must issue a
written a report about it.

The tribunal must issue a report and grade the thesis in terms of "pass" or "fail".

The tribunal may propose that the thesis be awarded the "cum laude" distinction if, by means of a specific vote, a positive secret vote is cast unanimously.

The vote cast by each member of the tribunal is kept by the secretary of the tribunal. When the tribunal is convened in a separate session (even if held on the same day), it must proceed to count the secret votes cast for this purpose.

The result of the evaluation must be recorded in a report to be addressed to the vice-chancellor responsible for doctoral matters, which will record the result of the vote count and will be accompanied by the votes cast.

Non-face-to-face defense act

Exceptionally, which requires discretionary assessment and prior approval by the General Doctoral Committee, the thesis may be defended by the doctoral candidate without being physically present at the place where the committee has been established, but rather remotely. In such cases, the doctoral candidate's participation must be carried out by means of telecommunication technologies such as videoconferencing or others that allow the necessary immediacy and simultaneous exchange of information through images, sound and, where appropriate, the transmission of other data.

To do so, once the defence has been authorised and the evaluation committee has been appointed, the doctoral candidate must submit an application to the General Doctoral Committee at least one month before the date scheduled for the thesis defence. The application must be accompanied by documentation proving the following circumstances:

a. The doctoral candidate's place of residence or usual professional occupation must be located in a place from which travel would be particularly burdensome in economic terms, or the doctoral candidate must be affected by a pathology or disability that seriously hinders or prevents such travel.

b. Obtain the consent of the university or higher education or research institution from whose premises and by virtue of whose technical resources the intervention is to be carried out in all cases.

c. That the technical resources provided for this purpose by the institution from which the doctoral student is to perform the work meet the technical specifications that are indicated in general terms by the General Doctoral Committee.

The General Doctoral Commission must resolve the request within ten days.
The denial may be appealed to the rector, although the appeal will not have, in
no case, suspensive effects.

Once the doctoral student's telematic intervention has been authorized, he or she must be notified without delay.
to this and to the court, as well as to the administrative unit responsible for providing the necessary technical assistance.

On the appointed day and time, the doctoral candidate must appear before the committee using the appropriate technical means of remote communication. The committee must then verify the identity of the doctoral candidate, for which purpose it may use the personal knowledge of the candidate by its members or the specific accreditation issued for this purpose by the institution from which the candidate is speaking. The signing of the minutes of the reading must be carried out in accordance with the general instructions issued for this purpose by the General Doctoral Committee.

The occurrence of technical impediments authorizes the president of the court to suspend the proceedings for the time strictly necessary for its resumption. The president of the court shall also decide what is appropriate, according to his best judgment, due to any technical incidents that could disrupt the development of the proceedings.

The non-face-to-face defense is subject to the same remaining requirements and produces the same effects as the face-to-face defense.

Remote intervention of members of the court

1. Under the same exceptional conditions indicated for the non-face-to-face defense, the General Doctoral Committee may agree that, at most, one member of the tribunal, who cannot be the president or the secretary, verify by telematic means his or her participation in the thesis defense act.

2. To this end, the interested party must submit a request to the General Doctoral Committee, through, where appropriate, the president of the tribunal, at least one month in advance of the date scheduled for the thesis reading.

3. The application must be based on a justified cause of relevant professional occupation,
pathology, disability or special difficulty in travelling from the
economic point of view.

4. The General Doctoral Commission will resolve and arrange to proceed in terms similar to those indicated in article 24. In the event that there is more than one application, the one deemed to have priority due to the concurrent personal and professional circumstances will be granted, if applicable.

5. In accordance with the general instructions to be drawn up for this purpose by the General Doctoral Committee, the tribunal must adopt the appropriate measures to verify the identity of the interested party and to ensure that the signature of the minutes of the reading of the thesis, the formulation of the report that must be made by the interested party and the vote that must be cast secretly can be verified appropriately and remain, where appropriate, at the disposal of the secretary of the tribunal.

Archive of doctoral theses

Once the doctoral thesis has been approved, the university is responsible for archiving it in electronic format and keeping a copy of it, as well as all the complementary information that may be necessary for the Ministry responsible for universities and for the appropriate purposes.

For archiving and preservation purposes, each approved doctoral thesis must have a printed copy and a digital copy at each university. In addition, the corresponding thesis file must be sent to the Ministry responsible for universities, in accordance with the regulations.

The doctoral thesis under a joint supervision regime.

In the case of a doctoral thesis under a joint supervision regime, the provisions of the Regulations for joint supervision of doctoral theses of each of the universities participating in the programme, and the regulations that develop, modify or replace them, must be observed.