International Doctorate Mention
Requirements
During the period of training required to obtain the doctoral degree, the doctoral student must have spent a minimum of three months outside Spain in a prestigious higher education institution or research centre, studying or carrying out research work. The stay may be carried out in different centres, and in periods of at least 30 days, provided that there are reasons that justify it in the opinion of the Academic Committee.
According to Royal Decree 576/2023, of 4 July, which amends Royal Decree 99/2011, of 28 January, for doctoral students enrolled from 2023-2024, they must have completed one or more stays of at least three months outside Spain. In the case of several stays, at least one of them will have a minimum duration of one month.Stays cannot be carried out in institutions in the student's country of origin, residence or work. In any case, the stay and the activities must be endorsed by the director and authorised by the Academic Committee, with the approval of the Standing Committee of the Steering Committee, and will be included in the DAD. The researcher(s) who received the PhD student and/or carried out tutoring/direction of work at the host institution may not have formed part of the panel.
Part of the doctoral thesis, at least the summary and conclusions, must have been written and defended in one of the usual languages for scientific communication in the field of study, other than any of the official languages in Spain. This rule will not apply when the stays, reports and experts come from a Spanish-speaking country. If the thesis is presented in English, or in a language of scientific dissemination other than the official languages in Spain, the thesis must contain at least an abstract and conclusions in Spanish.
At least two of the expert informants in the thesis must belong to two different non-Spanish higher education institutions or research institutes. In any case, research must be one of the main activities of the institution and it will be the academic committee of the programme that must justify this condition to the permanent committee of the management committee of the Doctoral School, for which it may request as many reports as it considers necessary. These experts cannot be the same person as the researcher who supervised the doctoral candidate or carried out tutoring/supervision of work at the host organisation and may form part of the thesis evaluation panel.
At least one expert from a non-Spanish higher education institution or research centre, with a doctorate, and other than the persons responsible for the stays, must have been part of the thesis evaluation committee. In any case, research should be one of the main activities of the institution to which this person belongs, and it will be the academic committee of the programme that must justify this condition to the standing committee of the steering committee of the doctoral school, for which it may request as many reports as it deems appropriate.
Processing
Before the stay is carried out, the application for authorisation to carry out the stay that qualifies for an international mention must be submitted, which will be processed in accordance with the procedure indicated above.
When depositing the thesis, along with the documentation required in all cases, the specific documentation indicated in Thesis deposit documentation must be submitted. The Academic Committee will report on the application made, submitting it to the Standing Committee of the EDUZ Steering Committee for authorisation, if appropriate.
Regulations
See article 18: Agreement of 25 June 2020, of the Governing Council of the University, approving the Regulations on Doctoral Theses of the UZ.
See point 12.2: Procedure for the deposit, authorisation and defence of UZ theses (EDUZ Steering Committee, 28 July 2020).