The Doctoral Program in Interdisciplinary Gender Studies will apply the provisions of Article 14 of Royal Decree 99/2011 of January 28, which regulates official doctoral programs.
The doctoral thesis will consist of an original research project prepared by the candidate and related to Interdisciplinary Gender Studies.

Once the doctoral thesis has been prepared, and following a favorable report from the thesis supervisor(s) and the thesis advisor (if applicable), the doctoral student must request authorization to submit the thesis from the Academic Coordination Committee of the doctoral program. Once the thesis has been authorized by the Academic Coordination Committee of the doctoral program, it must be submitted to the University or Doctoral School where the student is enrolled, following the deadlines and procedures established by the doctoral bodies at each institution.

The committee responsible for judging the doctoral thesis will be proposed by the doctoral program's academic coordination committee and approved by the relevant competent body of the university where the student is enrolled. The committee proposal will be accompanied by a reasoned report on the suitability of each of the proposed members to constitute the committee.

The tribunals shall be composed of at least three regular members and the necessary substitutes, except in the case of a joint guardianship agreement. The following requirements must be met in their composition:

• All members must hold a doctorate degree, may be Spanish or foreign, and must have proven research experience.
• In any case, the court will be composed mostly of members external to the University and the institutions collaborating in the School or program.
• Under no circumstances may the thesis director or tutor form part of the committee, except in the case of doctoral theses presented within the framework of bilateral joint supervision agreements with foreign universities that provide for this.

The committee that evaluates the thesis will have the document of the doctoral student's activities, with the training activities carried out by the doctoral student.

This follow-up document will not result in a quantitative score, but will constitute a qualitative assessment tool that will complement the evaluation of the doctoral thesis.

The doctoral thesis defense will be evaluated at the Spanish university where the doctoral student is enrolled. In the case of jointly supervised thesis programs between two universities, the thesis defense will take place at one of the two universities under the terms agreed upon in the corresponding collaboration agreement. The doctoral thesis will be evaluated at the defense ceremony, which will take place in a public session and will consist of the doctoral student presenting and defending their research work before the members of the examining board. The thesis may be developed and, where appropriate, defended in the languages commonly used for scientific communication. Doctors present at the public ceremony may ask questions at the time and in the manner indicated by the chair of the examining board.

The tribunal will issue a report and the overall grade awarded to the thesis according to the following scale: Failed, Passed, Remarkable and Outstanding.

The committee may award the cum laude mention if a unanimous secret vote is cast in favor. To this end, the public session will be closed, and each committee member will hand the President a sealed envelope containing their vote on this matter. The President will follow the mechanism established by the university where the defense is taking place to ensure that the counting of votes for this award takes place in a session separate from the one corresponding to the doctoral thesis defense.

Once the doctoral thesis has been approved, the university will archive it in an open electronic format in an institutional repository and will send, in electronic format, a copy of the thesis, along with all necessary supplementary information, to the Ministry of Education for appropriate purposes. A copy of the doctoral thesis and the transcript with the grade will be sent to the Academic Coordination Committee, which will keep a copy in the doctoral student's file.

In exceptional circumstances determined by the program's academic committee, such as, among others, the participation of companies in the program, the existence of confidentiality agreements with companies, or the possibility of generating patents that affect the content of the thesis, part or all of the defense may be carried out in a closed session, and confidential data may be omitted from the copy sent to the universities and the academic committee.

The title of Doctor may include on its front the mention "International Doctor", provided that:

• During the training period required to obtain the doctoral degree, the doctoral student must have completed a minimum of three months of stay outside Spain at a prestigious higher education institution or research center, pursuing studies or conducting research. The stay and the activities must have been endorsed by the supervisor, authorized by the Academic Committee, and recorded in the doctoral student's activity log.
• Part of the doctoral thesis, at least the abstract and conclusions, must be written and presented in one of the languages commonly used for scientific communication in the field of knowledge, other than any of the official languages of Spain. This rule does not apply when the internships, reports, and experts come from a Spanish-speaking country.
• The thesis must have been reviewed by at least two expert PhDs from a non-Spanish higher education institution or research institute.
• That at least one expert belonging to a non-Spanish higher education institution or research center, with a doctorate degree, and different
  of the person responsible for the stay, has been part of the thesis evaluation committee.