The regulations on the preparation, presentation and reading of the doctoral thesis will be those established by each of the participating universities.
In particular, said regulations are contained in Chapter II of the USAL Doctoral Regulations, approved by the Governing Council on October 25, 2011. The text of this chapter is set out below.
Chapter II: Preparation and defense of the doctoral thesis
Article 14: Doctoral thesis and PhD degree
14.1. Doctoral studies conclude with the preparation and defense of a doctoral thesis, which will consist of an original research project prepared by the doctoral candidate in any field of knowledge, following the format determined by the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Program, among the possible formats established by the Doctoral Committee.
14.2. A passing grade for a doctoral thesis means passing the Doctoral Programme, obtaining a PhD from the University of Salamanca and being qualified for independent work in the field of R&D&I.
14.3. The doctoral thesis must be written in Spanish or one of the languages commonly used for scientific communication in the field of knowledge. If the doctoral thesis is written in a language other than Spanish, it must be accompanied by a document, approved by the supervisor, containing the title, table of contents, introduction, a substantive summary, and conclusions of the doctoral thesis in Spanish.
14.4. In the event that the doctoral candidate wishes to opt for the inclusion of the mention “International Doctor” on the front of his or her Doctorate degree, he or she must prove the following circumstances in the Doctoral Student Activities Document:
a) Have completed, within the activities endorsed by their Director, authorized by the Academic Committee and reflected in the PhD student's Activity Document, a minimum stay of three months outside Spain, pursuing studies or conducting research work, in a prestigious higher education institution or research center.
b) Have written part of the doctoral thesis, at least the abstract and conclusions, in one of the languages commonly used for scientific communication in their field of knowledge, other than the official languages of Spain. This rule does not apply when the stays, reports, and experts mentioned in the previous paragraph originate in a Spanish-speaking country and the thesis is written in Spanish.
c) Have reports supporting the doctoral thesis from at least two expert doctors belonging to a prestigious non-Spanish higher education institution or research center.
Article 15: Research plan: project and development of the doctoral thesis
15.1. Before the end of their first year in the Doctoral Program, the doctoral candidate will prepare a Research Plan that will outline their doctoral thesis project, including at least the methodology to be used and the objectives to be achieved, as well as the means and timeline for achieving them, and the language in which the thesis will be written.
15.2. The Research Plan must be endorsed by the doctoral thesis supervisor and, if different, by the doctoral student's tutor. It must be approved by the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Program, which will incorporate it into the doctoral student's Activity Document.
15.3. The Academic Committee of the Doctoral Program will annually evaluate the doctoral candidate's Activity Document, their Research Plan, and the progress of their doctoral thesis, based on the reports issued for this purpose by the tutor and the thesis director. These reports will be consolidated into a single report if the tutor and director are the same.
15.4. A positive evaluation by the Academic Committee will be an essential requirement for continuing in the program. In the event of a negative evaluation, which will be duly justified, the doctoral student must be re-evaluated within six months, for which purpose a new Research Plan will be drawn up. In the event of another negative evaluation, the doctoral student will be permanently withdrawn from the program.
Article 16: Extension of the deadline for submitting the doctoral thesis
16.1. If the doctoral student has requested an extension for the preparation of the doctoral thesis, in accordance with the provisions of article 5.3, the report from the Thesis Director on the state of development of the doctoral thesis, corresponding to the third year from the doctoral student's admission to the program, or the fifth year in the case of part-time dedication, must assess the consistency of the doctoral thesis work developed, and inform the Academic Committee of the extension request.
16.2. The Academic Committee of the Doctoral Program, in its evaluation of the development of the doctoral thesis corresponding to the third or subsequent year following the doctoral candidate's admission to the program, must decide, based on the report of the Thesis Director, on the authorization of said extension for one more year, which may exceptionally be extended, following the analogous process corresponding to the following year, for an additional year. In the case of part-time studies, the Academic Committee may authorize the extension for two more years, which, likewise exceptionally, could be extended for another additional year.
Article 17: Deposit of doctoral thesis
17.1. Once the doctoral thesis has been completed, and in order to begin the procedures for its defense and evaluation, the doctoral candidate must submit to the academic body responsible for the Doctoral Program an application for deposit of the doctoral thesis. This application must be endorsed by their advisor and thesis director, and accompanied by a copy of the thesis endorsed by their director, indicating, where applicable, that they are eligible for the "International Doctor" designation. No part of the doctoral thesis may be modified after this deposit application has been submitted.
17.2. In anticipation of archiving the doctoral thesis in open electronic format in an institutional repository, in a manner compatible with other interests and ensuring, where appropriate, the non-publicity of certain aspects, the doctoral candidate will also submit a document, authorized by their Supervisor, containing reliable information about the thesis so that, if it is approved, it can be archived and forwarded to the databases maintained for this purpose by the Ministry of Education.
17.3. Within a maximum of five working days from receipt of the deposit request, the responsible academic body will verify whether all the requirements set forth in these Regulations for continuing processing of the doctoral thesis have been met. If so, it will accept its deposit. If not, it will return it to the doctoral candidate so that they can correct any defects detected.
17.4. Within a maximum of fifteen working days from the acceptance of the deposit, the academic body responsible for the Doctoral Program will assess the suitability of the work as a doctoral thesis, concluding with the approval or denial of the continuation of the procedures, leaving a record of this and of the doctoral thesis in the doctoral student's Activity Document.
17.5. To proceed with the assessment referred to in the previous point, the academic body responsible for the Doctoral Program will summon the Academic Committee to submit a report on the doctoral thesis and its future archiving. If the report is negative, it will be binding. Likewise, the academic body responsible for the Doctoral Program may convene the doctoral candidate to a public session and may invite other external expert doctors to advise them and participate in the preparation of the report.
17.6. In the event of a denial of further processing, which must be duly justified, the academic body responsible for the Doctoral Program will inform the doctoral candidate of the avenues that may lead to adequate correction of their doctoral thesis, before proceeding with a new deposit request.
Article 18: Proposal for a doctoral thesis evaluation panel
18.1. Along with the approval to continue the procedures for defending the doctoral thesis, the academic body responsible for the Doctoral Program will formulate a proposal for the evaluation committee, recording this in the doctoral student's Activity Document.
18.2. The proposed doctoral thesis evaluation committee will be made up of:
a) Seven doctors, Spanish or foreign, with accredited research experience, in accordance with institutional criteria and guidelines, the majority of whom will be external to the University of Salamanca and unrelated to the faculty participating in the Doctoral Program.
b) To the extent academically reasonable, it will include a balanced presence of men and women.
c) The Director and co-directors of the thesis and the tutor of the doctoral student may not form part of the committee.
18.3. The conditions of the proposed tribunal described in the previous point may be modified based on the agreements established in joint doctoral programmes or double degrees with other universities.
18.4. In the event that the doctoral thesis is eligible for the "International Doctor" designation, the evaluation committee will include at least one expert with a doctorate degree, belonging to a prestigious non-Spanish higher education institution or research center, and different from the person responsible for the stay indicated in article 14.4.a).
18.5. The proposal for a doctoral thesis evaluation committee will be accompanied by the acceptance of the proposed members.
Article 19: Public presentation of the doctoral thesis
19.1. Once the submission of the doctoral thesis, the continuation of the procedures for its defense, and the proposal for the evaluation committee have been approved, the academic body responsible for the Doctoral Program will notify the President of the Doctoral Committee.
19.2. The President of the Doctoral Committee will immediately open a ten-working-day public exhibition period so that any doctor may examine the doctoral thesis and, where appropriate, address any comments they deem appropriate regarding its content, ensuring the widest institutional dissemination of this public exhibition.
Article 20: Authorization for the defense of doctoral thesis
20.1. Once the public presentation period for the doctoral thesis has ended without receiving any comments, the Chair of the Doctoral Committee will authorize its defense. If such comments are received, within a maximum of five working days from the end of the public presentation period, the Doctoral Committee will decide, based on the information on the doctoral thesis contained in the Doctoral Student's Activity Document and, where applicable, the comments received, whether to authorize the defense of the doctoral thesis. The defense authorization will indicate whether the thesis is eligible for the "International Doctor" designation.
20.2. The decision on the authorization of the defense will be incorporated into the doctoral student's Activity Document. In cases where authorization is not granted, the reasons justifying such a decision will be indicated and, if possible, the appropriate means to correct the observed defects before proceeding with a new deposit request.
20.3. Once the doctoral thesis defense has been authorized, the doctoral candidate must formally pay the corresponding fees to the doctoral administrative service. Failure to pay these fees in full within the specified period will result in the withdrawal of the thesis defense application, as provided for in Article 71 of Law 30/1992, of November 26, on the Legal Regime of Public Administrations and the Common Administrative Procedure, and will result in the closure of the file.
Article 21: Appointment of the evaluation board
21.1. Along with the authorization of the doctoral thesis defense, the President of the Doctoral Committee will appoint the doctoral thesis evaluation committee, composed of five doctors from among those proposed, most of whom will be external to the University of Salamanca and not part of the faculty participating in the Doctoral Program. The appointment will specifically mention the doctors who will act as President and Secretary, and will be recorded in the doctoral student's Activity Document.
21.2. In the event that the thesis is eligible for the “International Doctor” award, it will ensure that the composition of the tribunal is in accordance with the provisions of Article 18.4.
21.3. The appointment of the evaluation committee will be communicated to the body responsible for the Doctoral Programme, so that the latter may proceed to constitute the committee.Article 22: Announcement of the doctoral thesis defense.
22.1. Within a maximum period of five working days from receipt of the appointment of the doctoral thesis evaluation committee, the academic body responsible for the Doctoral Programme will provide each member of the committee with:
a) A copy of the thesis.
b) The PhD student's Activities Document, with the training activities carried out by the PhD student.
c) A form for the preparation of an individual and secret report, relating to the recognitions to which the thesis may be eligible, reflecting a score from 0 to 10 points for the purposes of competing for extraordinary doctoral awards, and a vote in favor or against the thesis' qualification for obtaining the mention "cum laude."
22.2. Within a maximum of two months from the date the documentation described in the previous point is made available to the panel, the panel secretary will, at the request of the president, convene a defense event in which the doctoral thesis will be evaluated. The secretary will notify the body responsible for the Doctoral Program at least ten days before its celebration. The body responsible for the Doctoral Program will then inform the Academic Committee, the doctoral candidate, the doctoral thesis supervisor, and the doctoral administrative service for publicity.
Article 23: Act of defense and evaluation of the doctoral thesis
23.1. The doctoral thesis defense will take place in a public session and will consist of the doctoral candidate presenting and defending their research work before the members of the committee. Doctors present at the public session may ask questions at the time and in the manner indicated by the chair of the committee.
23.2. Once the defence has concluded, the committee will issue its evaluation of the thesis, by means of a collective report, in which it will take into account the thesis work carried out, as a scientific work in structure, content, methodology and results, as well as the Document of Activities of the doctoral candidate and the defence. It will also draw up a qualification report that will include the awarding of an overall grade in terms of "pass" or "fail", resolving any discrepancies by majority.
23.3. Additionally, each member of the tribunal will submit to the secretary in a sealed envelope his or her individual and secret report regarding the recognitions for which the thesis may be eligible.
23.4. The secretary of the tribunal will send the overall qualification report for the thesis, together with the collective report issued, and the sealed envelopes containing the individual and secret reports to the President of the Doctoral Committee, who will open the envelopes within a period of five working days and, in the event of unanimous votes in favour of recognising the mention “cum laude”, will notify the doctoral student, the Director of the doctoral thesis, the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme and the administrative service of the doctoral program, ordering that the doctoral student's qualification be modified in the corresponding records to include this mention.
23.5. The President of the Doctoral Committee will incorporate the evaluation report, grade and, where appropriate, the “cum laude” mention of the doctoral thesis into the doctoral student's Activity Document, thereby closing this record.
Article 24: Filing of the doctoral thesis
24.1. Once the thesis has been evaluated with a grade of “pass”, the service responsible for the institutional repository will take charge of archiving it in open electronic format, in the terms that appear in the document that the doctoral student, with the authorization of his/her Director, presents for this purpose at the time of deposit.
24.2. The PhD candidate may choose to archive a complete copy of his/her thesis. However, in special circumstances determined in the corresponding report of the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Program, related to the existence of legitimate editorial, commercial and industrial interests that may be harmed by the publicity of the results of the doctoral thesis, the PhD candidate may choose to archive a reduced version of the thesis.
In the latter case, the reliable information to be archived on the thesis, which will be endorsed by its Director, must essentially coincide with that of the full text and ensure that the aspects of the conflicting interest are not made public, such that the restrictions on archiving the thesis are limited to those that are strictly necessary to safeguard the aforementioned interests.
Article 25: Extraordinary doctoral award
25.1. The extraordinary doctoral award is a recognition of the quality of the contributions made by the doctoral thesis in the field of research. Doctoral theses awarded the “cum laude” distinction may be eligible for the extraordinary doctoral award, at the request of their authors.
25.2. Doctors who wish to have their doctoral thesis evaluated for the purposes of granting the extraordinary doctoral award may apply to the Doctoral Committee during the periods established in the academic year following the reading of their thesis, enclosing a copy, or a reliable reference in the case of books and special formats, of the publications to which the thesis has given rise, also providing the objective quality indicators that the author considers most significant.
25.3. The Doctoral Committee will group the applications for extraordinary doctoral awards received by fields of knowledge, which will be determined based on the scientific affinity of the doctoral programs in each of them, taking the Faculties and University Research Institutes as a reference. For each field of knowledge, there must be a homogeneous reference for evaluating the quality of the doctoral theses and the research results, in terms of publication rankings or similar scales.
25.4. The Doctoral Committee will establish, for each field of knowledge, the scientific criteria for evaluating applications for extraordinary doctoral awards. These criteria will include the individual and confidential report prepared by each member of the doctoral thesis evaluation committee, with a score for the purposes of the extraordinary doctoral award, as well as the impact of the publications to which the thesis has given rise and the relevance of the objective quality indicators presented. Likewise, a minimum threshold will be established for each field of knowledge that must be met in the evaluation to be eligible for the doctoral award.
25.5. The Doctoral Committee will evaluate the applications for each field of knowledge in accordance with the established criteria. For this evaluation, it may rely on the advice of experts external to the Doctoral Committee,who may not be the authors, their tutors or Directors of the theses submitted for evaluation.
25.6. The number of doctoral prizes that may be awarded each year for each field of knowledge will be limited. A field of knowledge must accumulate a minimum of five doctoral theses to be eligible to award a prize. Otherwise, the prize will be accumulated for the following year, up to a maximum of three years. After this period, a prize may be awarded to doctoral theses in the field even if they do not reach this minimum number. For each field of knowledge, one extraordinary prize will be awarded annually for every ten (or fraction thereof) applications in the field.