PhD thesis

The doctoral thesis consists of an original research project prepared by the candidate in any field of knowledge. The thesis should equip the doctoral candidate for independent work in the field of R&D&I.

Doctoral students may choose to write and, where appropriate, defend their thesis in Spanish or English.

At the request of the doctoral student, the General Doctoral Commission may authorize the writing and, where appropriate, defense of the thesis in a language other than Spanish and
English, if there is proof that this language is commonly used for scientific communication in the relevant field of knowledge. This requires a favorable report from the academic committee responsible for the doctoral program.

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 writing language is not Spanish, the thesis must include 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 integrates the Program.

The thesis as a compendium of publications

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

Before submitting the thesis, and accompanied by a favorable and reasoned report from the academic committee of the doctoral program and approval from the committee of the branch of knowledge or, where appropriate, the doctoral school, the doctoral candidate must request authorization from the General Doctoral Committee to submit the doctoral thesis as a compilation of publications.

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

a. Copy of published works.

b. Thesis director's report justifying the presentation of the compendium of publications as a doctoral thesis.

c. A report from the doctoral student specifying his or her contribution to each article, which will be endorsed by the thesis supervisor.

d. Signed documentation from which it results.

e. The agreement of the co-authors of each of the articles submitted with the presentation 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 above provisions regarding the writing of theses and their language shall apply to theses formulated in the form of a compendium of publications.

Theses submitted as a compendium of publications must necessarily contain the following additional sections:

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

b. A comprehensive summary of the research objectives and final conclusions, unifying the partial results presented in each of the papers.

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 letter addressed to the academic committee of the doctoral program, which must include:

• 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 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 the General Doctoral Committee to authorize its defense, submitting 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 receipt of the file has been verified, 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 thesis defense has been authorized, there may not be more than six months between the date of registration of the application for presentation and the date of the thesis reading.

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 working days according to the academic calendar of the University of Murcia.

2. It must be convened by the president of the court and communicated by the secretary of the same to the other members, the doctoral student and the General Doctoral Commission at least seven days before it is held.

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

The doctoral student's training activities document cannot result in a quantitative score, but it can constitute a qualitative assessment tool that complements the evaluation of the doctoral thesis.

The members of the committee may ask any questions they deem appropriate, to which the doctoral candidate must respond. Likewise, the doctors present at the public event may ask questions at the time and in the manner indicated by the chair of the committee.

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

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

The court may propose that the thesis be awarded the "cum laude" distinction if, through a specific vote, a secret vote is cast unanimously in favor of it.

The vote cast by each member of the court is kept by the court clerk. If the court meets in a separate session (even if it is held on the same day), it must count the secret votes cast for this purpose.

The results of the evaluation must be recorded in a report that must be sent to the vice-rectorate responsible for doctoral studies. This report will include the results of the vote count and the votes cast.

Non-face-to-face defense act

On an exceptional basis, requiring discretionary assessment and prior approval by the General Doctoral Committee, the doctoral student may defend his or her thesis remotely, without being physically present at the location where the examining board is convened. In such cases, the doctoral student's participation must be carried out using telecommunication technologies such as videoconferencing or others that allow for the necessary immediacy and simultaneous exchange of information through images, sound, and, where appropriate, the transmission of other data.

To do so, once the defense has been authorized and the evaluation committee has been appointed, the doctoral candidate must submit a request to the General Doctoral Committee at least one month before the scheduled date of the thesis defense. The request must be accompanied by documentation proving the following circumstances:

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

b. Have 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 any case.

c. That the technical resources provided for this purpose by the institution from which the doctoral student's intervention is to take place meet the technical specifications that, for this purpose, are generally indicated by the General Doctoral Commission.

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 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 examining board using the appropriate remote technical means. The examining board must then verify the identity of the doctoral candidate, for which purpose it may rely on personal knowledge of the candidate among its members or on the specific accreditation issued for this purpose by the institution from which the examination is being conducted. The signing of the examination report must be carried out in accordance with the general instructions issued for this purpose by the General Doctoral Committee.

The sudden occurrence of technical impediments authorizes the presiding judge to suspend the proceedings for the time strictly necessary for their resumption. The presiding judge shall also make the appropriate decision, in accordance with his or her best judgment, based on any technical incidents that could disrupt the proceedings.

The non-presential defense is subject to the same remaining requirements and produces the same effects as the in-person 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 a maximum of one member of the panel, who cannot be either the president or the secretary, may verify by telematic means their participation in the thesis defense.

2. To this end, the interested party must submit a request to the General Doctoral Commission, through the chair of the tribunal, at least one month before the scheduled date of 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 for proceedings in terms analogous to those indicated in article 24. In the event that there is more than one application, the one deemed to have priority due to concurrent personal and professional circumstances will be granted, where appropriate.

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 electronically and keeping a copy of it, as well as all the supplementary information necessary for the Ministry responsible for universities and for appropriate purposes.

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

The doctoral thesis under a joint supervision regime.

In the case of doctoral theses under joint supervision, the provisions of the Regulations for joint supervision of doctoral theses of each of the universities participating in the program, as well as any regulations that develop, modify, or replace them, must be observed.