Processing of the thesis. Procedure outline.

1. THESIS DEPOSIT CHECK LIST

It is recommended that students go to their program’s administrative office to confirm that they meet the requirements for the thesis submission:

• I have formalized the enrollment for the current academic year.
• I have had at least two positive evaluations (in ordinary period) and I have passed the evaluation of the current course.
• I have completed the mandatory program activities and I have added them, together with the corresponding supporting documents, to the DAD through the Doctoral Management application (SIGMA), with the acceptance of my tutor/supervisor.
• I have passed the extra training, if applicable.
• I have not exceeded the deadline for thesis deposit.

At the program headquarters it will be checked that the appropriate documentation has been provided, with special attention to the theses that opt for any of the special modalities contemplated in the regulations.

The deadlines referred to in this procedure will have no effect if the thesis is not accompanied by the corresponding documentation. Should the documentation provided need to be corrected, the established deadlines will be interrupted.

2. THESIS DEPOSIT AND APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION FOR PROCESSING

Once the thesis is completed and the report has been written, the student should submit the documentation indicated here through the UZ application management platform solicit@, and address it to the Doctoral Program (Help Manual).

This must be done within the academic year in which the student is enrolled or, at the latest, before the start of the following academic year’s official enrollment period. Regardless, students must have up to date accident insurance to cover possible eventualities until the date of the thesis defense. Students who prefer to postpone the deposit until after the beginning of the enrollment period for the new academic year must have previously formalized their enrollment in the new academic year.

3. ACADEMIC COMMITTEE’S RESOLUTION ON THE ADMISSION FOR PROCESSING

A decision will be made by the Academic Committee within ten school days - approximately fifteen calendar days - following the deposit, taking into consideration the thesis’ contributions to the knowledge of the field in which it has been developed, as well as the quality of its writing and presentation. Outside experts by me consulted.

Once the thesis has been accepted for processing, the program’s Academic Committee will send the corresponding documentation to the UZDS, duly signed by the program coordinator. The Academic Committee will also submit a jury proposal including at least two publications of each of its members, which must be directly related to the thesis subject. If any of the proposed members do not have relevant research experience, the proposal should be accompanied by a list of the required merits, for consideration by the Doctoral Committee.

Should the thesis not be accepted by the Academic Committee, the resolution will be communicated to the candidate and the thesis supervisor(s), who may present allegations to the Doctoral Committee within seven school days. The Doctoral Committee will make a reasoned decision within the following seven school days.

4. PUBLIC DISPLAY AND DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION

A. Public display

Once admitted for processing, the UZDS Administration will announce a period of ten school days in which the thesis will be publicly displayed so that any doctor can communicate observations to the UZDS. The thesis may be accessed upon request at the UZDS (tesis@unizar.es), after prooving doctoral status and signing the necessary commitment and confidentiality documents.

B. Defense authorization and appointment of the jury

If no observations are received during the public display period and the proposed jury complies with the regulations, the UZDS Management Committee will appoint the members of the jury and authorize the thesis defense within thirty school days of the conclusion of the public display period. The designation will clearly specify who are to act as chairman, secretary, and board member, as well as who will be the first and second deputies. In case of resignation, jury members will be replaced by one of the deputies.

The Doctoral Committee must have approved the applications for recognition of the research experience of the proposed jury members and the panels of five members and two substitutes before the appointments are sent.

Likewise, the UZDS Management Committee will decide on whether to grant any requested specializations (international specialization and/or industrial specialization) or not.

The UZDS will communicate with the student about the thesis defense authorization, providing instructions for the payment the fees and the upload of the thesis information to the doctoral thesis database (TESEO).

If observations have been received during the public display period, the thesis will be sent to the Doctoral Commission for a decision on the authorization of its defense. The Doctoral Commission will examine the documentation received and the observations submitted and may make use of any other complementary information needed.

Should the authorization for thesis defense be denied, a reasoned resolution will be communicated to the candidate, thesis supervisor(s) and the program’s Academic Committee. Allegations may be presented by the student and the supervisor(s) within seven school days. A reasoned decision will be made within the following seven school days.

In the event of a thesis defense via VIDEOCONFERENCE –regardless of how many of the participants attend in this format– the student must make a request via electronic registration addressed to the UZDS director using the Application for authorization of thesis defense by VIDEOCONFERENCE form.

5. THESIS DEFENSE. SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTATION TO THE JURY AND ANNOUNCEMENT

A. Sending the appointment letter and the doctoral thesis to the jury members.

Once the defense has been authorized, an appointment letter, the thesis document and the DAD will be sent to the members of the jury. If necessary, the candidate may send an erratum document to the jury members (with the knowledge and authorization of the program’s Academic Committee). Likewise, the program’s Academic Committee may establish a complementary procedure to ensure that a hard copy of the thesis is sent to the jury members. This copy must be the same as the electronic document submitted.

B. Thesis defense announcement

The thesis defense ceremony will be announced by the chairman of the jury and communicated by the secretary to the UZDS (tesis@unizar.es). The communication will be made at least ten school days before the event, which must be scheduled on a school day within the four months following the appointment of the examining board. The UZDS and the DP’s Academic Committee will announce the defense ceremony to the university community.

The UZDS will send the documentation regarding the defense ceremony to the DP’s administrative headquarters in the ten days prior to the date of the defense.

SUMMARY TABLE AND ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME

Average processing time from thesis deposit to defense: 2 to 3 months.

Maximum time: four months from the appointment of the jury.

NOTE: Postdoctoral orientation period (POP) contract management. It is recommended that predoctoral contract holders read the thesis on a date that allows signing a POP contract, according to the call for grants, contact the Research Management Service (SGI) one month in advance. Then, a communication will be made to the Teaching and Research Staff Service to formalize the POP contract starting the day after the reading of the doctoral thesis.

For more information, please consult the procedure for the formalization of the contract here.

QUERIES: tesis@unizar.es

FORMS