Procedures

Description: 

Once the Steering Committee of the Doctoral School has appointed the thesis assessment board, the Postgraduate and Doctoral Office will communicate the appointment to the members of the assessment board within one week, with a copy to the Secretary of the UGA.

Once the assessment board members have been notified, the Secretary of the Department will send them the thesis and will contact the president of the assessment board to plan the act of the thesis defence (reserving the room, notifications, travel and accommodation, eventual remote connections, record of the act of reading, etc.).

The date of reading the thesis should be later than three weeks from the receipt of the thesis and the call notification should be made at least fifteen calendar days in advance.

Procedure and documentation: 

The thesis defence act must be carried out in a public session during the academic year. The month of August is unfit for academic procedures.

The event must consist of the student presenting the research work carried out, the methodology used, the content and the conclusions, in particular mentioning the original contributions of the work.

The assessment board members may ask the student any questions they deem appropriate. Likewise, the doctors present at the public act of defending the thesis may ask questions at the time and in the manner indicated by the president of the assessment board.

The maximum term to defend the thesis is six months from the appointment of the thesis assessment board (extendable by the Doctoral Academic Committee for unforeseeable and unforeseen justified reasons).

• TESEO file of the Spanish Ministry of Education

Once authorized by the assessment board, the Postgraduate and Doctoral Office (OPD) sends the student by e-mail the instructions to fill in the TESEO form of the Ministry of Education, the approval of the thesis assessment board, and the form for the student to pay the thesis reading exam fees.

The student must connect to the Ministry's website in order to access the TESEO application and fill in the data requested. The student is registered with their DNI or passport number and password. The DNI or passport numbers of the thesis supervisor(s) and the members of the assessment board are also necessary.

If there is any problem with the TESEO file, the student must contact the OPD.

The student must bring proof of having paid the examination fees (which must be paid with the form sent to them by the OPD). It must be taken to the secretary before the reading date or on the same day.

Regulations:

Art. 22 of the Academic Regulations for Doctoral Studies at UPF

Art. 14 of the RD99/2011, which regulates official doctoral studies (consolidated text with changes in RD534/2013, of 12 July and RD576/2023, of 4 July).

• Grading the doctoral thesis

The doctoral thesis can be graded as "fail", "pass", "good" or "excellent". The assessment board can propose that the thesis be awarded the distinction of cum laude, if the secret vote is unanimous in this regard. Within one week, the      programme coordinator will count the votes for the cum laude mention. The secretary will communicate the result to the student, the assessment board members, the thesis supervisor and the Steering Committee of the Doctoral School.

The theses that have obtained cum laude will participate in the Extraordinary Doctoral Thesis Awards.

Regulations:

Art. 14 of the RD99/2011, which regulates official doctoral studies (consolidated text with changes in RD534/2013, of 12 July and RD576/2023, of 4 July).

• Thesis reading certificate

You can request a thesis reading certificate, stating the day of the reading and the grade obtained, by sending an e-mail to the address [email protected].

The certificate can be requested in Catalan, Spanish and English.

This certificate is issued free of charge.

The Oficina de Postgrau i Doctorat will issue the certificate in approximately 7 days and will send it to the same email address you requested.

Regulations: 

Academic Regulations for Doctoral Studies at UPF

Academic Regulations for submitting and defending doctoral theses of the Department of Communication

Description: Once the student has defended the thesis, they can apply for the doctoral degree certificate.

Procedure and documentation: apply for the doctoral degree certificate. It is advisable to start this procedure as soon as possible.

Description: 

The student can request to CAD that the thesis be co-tutored by more than one supervisor, as long as there are academic reasons for this, such as thematic interdisciplinarity.

The co-supervisor of the thesis must be a doctor with accredited research experience according to the requirements established for thesis supervisors.

Procedure and documentation: 

The student must fill in the doctoral thesis co-tutorship application and send it by email with the following documentation to the PhD Secretary ([email protected]):

- in case of a co-supervision with UPF Communication Department researchers:

• Doctoral thesis co-tutorship application.
• Written explanation of the academic reasons for co-supervision.
• Report of the thesis supervisor in which he/she accepts the incorporation of another supervisor.
• Acceptance of the new supervisor of the doctoral thesis.
• New doctoral commitment signed by the student

- in case of a co-supervision with external researchers, in addition to the above documentation, must be provided: 

• Curriculum vitae of the new supervisor of the doctoral thesis.
• Accreditations of the new supervisor of the doctoral thesis: doctoral degree.
• Copy of DNI or passport (to be registered in the the Thesis module)

It should be noted that the Doctoral Academic Committee must authorize the co-tutorship of a doctoral thesis. This authorization may be revoked later if, in the CAD’s opinion, the co-tutorship does not benefit the progress of the thesis.

Regulations: 

Article 3 of the Academic Regulations for submitting and defending doctoral theses of the Department of Communication

Article 8 of the Academic Regulations for Doctoral Studies at UPF

Description: 

The student can request a change of thesis tutorship from CAD as long as there are justified reasons.

The thesis supervisor must be a doctor with accredited research experience according to the Academic Regulations for submitting and defending doctoral theses of the Department of Communication.

Procedure and documentation: 

The student must fill out the request for change of thesis supervision and send it by email with the following documentation to the PhD Secretary ([email protected]):

• Request for change of thesis supervision.
• Resignation of the initial supervisor of the doctoral thesis.
• Acceptance of the new supervisor of the doctoral thesis.
• New doctoral commitment signed by the student.

Regulations: 

Article 2 of the Academic Regulations for submitting and defending doctoral theses of the Department of Communication

Article 7 of the Academic Regulations for Doctoral Studies at UPF

The CAD of the Communication Doctoral Programme does not allow additional extensions (2nd extension).

Regulations: 

Article 18 of the Academic Regulations for Doctoral Studies at UPF

Criterion of the CAD of the Communication Doctoral Programme

Description: 

If the thesis has been affected by the situation caused by the covid-19 pandemic, students may apply to CAD for an extraordinary extension to submit the thesis after the 4th year.

This extension is only valid for students that began PhD the 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 courses who, once they have finished their term to submit their thesis (3 ordinary courses + 1 optional year of extension), need this extension due to the situation caused by the pandemic.

Procedure and documentation: 

The student must complete the application and send it by email with the following documentation to the PhD Secretary ([email protected]):

• Application form.
• Justification report signed by the supervisor or co-supervisors of the doctoral thesis.

The deadline to apply for the extension is from 13 to 24 January 2025, both inclusive (deadline for 4th year doctoral students who have completed the 1st extension).

Regulations: CAD Agreement, 1 December, 2020

Description: 

Students may request temporary voluntary interruption in the programme for a maximum period of one year, extendable up to one more year. This application may be approved by the Doctoral Academic Committee based on justification from the doctoral student.

Procedure and documentation: 

The student must complete the application and send it by email with the following documentation to the PhD Secretary ([email protected]):

• Application form.
• Justification documentation.

Regulations: Article 19.3 of the Academic Regulations for Doctoral Studies at UPF

Description: 

Students may request the interruption of studies due to the following special situations:

• Temporary disability
• Risk during pregnancy
• Motherhood
• Fatherhood
• Adoption or foster care
• Risk during lactation

Procedure and documentation: 

In the case of disability due to health reasons (including risk during pregnancy) the period will be extended in the following terms:

• With an employment contract: it will be extended during the time the student is on sick leave.
• No employment contract: it will be extended for the time established by a committee created specifically for each situation. In no case will the programme coordinator or any related person be a part of this committee.

In the case of maternity, paternity, adoption or foster care, the period will be extended during the maximum period that labour regulations recognize as a “period of rest or leave for employees”.

The application must be completed and submitted to the Secretary of the Department of Communication, accompanied by supporting documents justifying this interruption.

In addition, in the case of applications for disability without an employment contract, a report from the thesis supervisor and another from the coordination of the doctoral programme must be attached.

The Secretariat will communicate this situation to the Postgraduate and Doctoral Office and, in the case of applications for disability without an employment contract, a committee will be created to decide the relevance of the application.

• Application form.
• Documentary justification and reports, if applicable.

Regulations: Article 19.2 of the Academic Regulations for Doctoral Studies at UPF

Description: The International Mention for a doctoral thesis is an honorary qualification that is awarded in addition to the doctoral degree. The qualification includes the mention "international doctor", provided that the requirements established in RD 99/2011 are met, Royal Decree amended by the new requirements incorporated by RD576/2023.

Procedure and documentation: 

To apply for the International Mention, the doctoral student must meet the following requirements:

1. a) Students enroled before course 2023-2024: That, during the period of training necessary to obtain the doctoral degree, the student has made a minimum stay of three months outside Spain in a prestigious higher education institution or research centre, studying or carrying out research work (important: although the stay can be made continuously or in different periods, the institution where it is carried out must always be the same). The stay and the activities must be endorsed by the supervisor and authorized by the Academic Committee, and must be included in the student's activity document. (See the application procedure “Authorization of stays for Mention”).

b) Students enroled from course 2023-2024: That, during the period of training necessary to obtain the doctoral degree, the student has carried out one or more stays for at least three months outside Spain in one or more higher education institutions or research centers with the aim of complementing and reinforcing their research training. If you make several stays, at least one of them will have a minimum duration of one month. The stays and activities must be endorsed by the Director and authorized by the Academic Committee and once carried out and validated by the host entity, certificates must be included in the student's activity document. (See the application procedure “Authorization of stays for Mention").

2. That a part of the doctoral thesis, at least the summary and the conclusions, has been written and presented in one of the usual languages for scientific communication in the specific field of knowledge, different from any of the official languages of Spain. This rule does not apply when the stays, reports and experts come from a Spanish-speaking country.

3. That a minimum of two doctoral experts belonging to a non-Spanish higher education institution or research institute have issued a report on the thesis. (Report template).

4. That at least one expert belonging to a non-Spanish higher education institution or research centre, with a doctoral degree, and other than the person in charge of the stay mentioned in section a), was part of the thesis assessment board.

5. The reports from the international experts cannot, in any case, be written by the director of the stay (and the latter cannot be on the examination board either).

6. Authorization from the Doctoral Academic Committee for the stay and activities. This authorization must be part of the student's activity document.

7. The thesis must be defended at the same Spanish university in which the student is enrolled.

Procedure: When requesting the deposit of the thesis, it must be indicated in the deposit form that the international mention is also requested and the reports for obtaining the mention must be delivered also to the secretariat. Secretary will check that the documentation, thesis writing requirements and composition of the tribunal correspond to what is established by the regulations and will send the documentation to the OPD, which will submit it to the Management Committee of the Doctorate School.

The Management Committee of the Doctorate School may agree to grant the International Mention to the title conditionally on the fact that at the time of the defense the doctoral candidate submits the thesis according to the regulations and that the composition of the tribunal corresponds to the legal requirements, or the Committee can deny the International Mention to the title. The OPD will send the Committee's agreement to the doctoral student and / or the UGA of the doctoral program and a copy of this agreement to the Grants and Degrees Unit. Once the thesis has been defended, the OPD will verify that it has been presented in accordance with the regulations of the mention and will proceed to close the file so that the doctoral student can apply for the title online

Term: Students wishing to request international doctor recognition must do so at the time of deposit, indicating it on the deposit form.

Documents to submit with the deposit:

• Certificate/es of the stay/s acoording to the regulations and previously authorized by the Doctoral Academic Committee.
• Two favourable reports from two experts belonging to a non-Spanish higher education institution or research institute.

Regulations: Article 15 of the RD99/2011 modified by RD576/2023.

Description: The stay and activities must be endorsed by the thesis supervisor, authorized by CAD, and the student must include them in his/her activity document.

Procedure and documentation: 

The student must present the completed form and send it by email with the following documentation to the PhD Secretary ([email protected]):

• Application form.
• Letter from the researcher who invites/accepts the student.
• Report signed by the supervisor or co-supervisors of the doctoral thesis in favour of the stay proposed by the student.

At the end of the stay, the student must obtain the corresponding certificate of having completed the stay.

Regulations: Article 15 of the RD99/2011 modified by RD576/2023

Description: The This is a certificate just to detail your degrees, but it does'nt detail the PhD AF (for this kind of certificates select the "other certificates"). This personal academic certificate can be obtained by paying the corresponding issuance fee in advance. It must be specified in which language you want the certificate: Catalan, Spanish or English.

Procedure and documentation: 

The personal academic certificate can be requested using a form at the Student Information Point (PIE), upon payment of the corresponding issuance fee, or by e-mail to the Postgraduate and Doctoral Office ([email protected]).

It can be applied for throughout the academic year and, once processed, the Postgraduate and Doctoral Office will issue it within seven days.

Description: This procedure must be carried out when the student needs to certify circumstances not included in the personal academic certificate (for instance, if you need to certify that you are enrolled, that you are a regular student, your TAs (training activities), program deadlines, visa renewals, or other procedures).

Procedure and documentation: 

• You can apply in person at the Student Information Desk (PIE) by submitting two copies of the form. In this case, the application fee (15 €) must be paid at the PIE by credit or debit card.
• You can also request the certificate by sending an email to [email protected], attaching the proof of payment and the properly completed and signed form. In this case, the payment must be made directly to the following account number: ES74 0049 1806 99 2412053335 (Banco Santander Central Hispano).

The student can request this certificate at any time and the Secretariat will issue it within ten days.

If the student wishes to certify a circumstance that is not certifiable, the Secretariat will notify him/her and the student must request a refund of the fees from the PIE, enclosing the written communication from the Secretariat.

Regulations: Agreement of the Economic Committee of the Social Council of 22 May, 2014

Description: 

The student, the University, the tutor and the thesis supervisor must sign a commitment doctoral in which the student supervision functions are established.

This commitment must be signed as soon as possible after the thesis supervisor has been assigned.

Procedure and documentation: 

The Secretary of the UGA of Communication will communicate to the student the name of the thesis supervisor assigned by CAD and will ask him/her to present a signed copy of the commitment doctoral to the Secretariat. The Secretariat of the Department will process the rest of the signatures.

Once signed by all parties, the Secretariat will return the signed commitment doctoral to the student.

In the event of a change of thesis supervisor or the inclusion or deletion of a co-supervisor, it is necessary to sign a new commitment doctoral.

Regulations: 

Article 11 of the Academic Regulations for Doctoral Studies at UPF

Requirements for being a thesis supervisor, article 2 of the Academic Regulations for submitting and defending doctoral theses of the Department of Communication

Description: 

The Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme may submit a proposal for an Extraordinary Doctoral Thesis Award to the Management Committee of the Doctoral School.

An extraordinary thesis award call can be opened for every ten doctoral theses defended. Students who have obtained an excellent cum laude may be nominated for the award.

Procedure and documentation: 

The call will be launched eighteen months after the defence and approval of the tenth thesis, so that during this period there is time to check the impact of the works in their fields of study arising from academic and scientific publications in the eighteen months following the defence of the thesis or the enrolment in the programme.

CAD will set a deadline for each edition of the award. The Secretariat of the Department of Communication will communicate the application submission period to the candidates.

Regulations: 

Article 30 of the Academic Regulations for Doctoral Studies at UPF

Article 8.2 of the Academic Regulations for submitting and defending doctoral theses of the Department of Communication

Extraordinary Doctoral Thesis Awards

Description: 

The student can request the Academic Doctorate Committee to be able to prepare the doctoral thesis in a regime of co-tutorship with other foreign universities.

Once the authorization for co-tutorship of the thesis has been obtained, the corresponding agreement must be processed, which must also be approved by CAD.

Procedure and documentation: 

In order to obtain authorization from CAD for co-tutorship of the thesis, the student must fill in the co-supervision authorization form for the doctoral thesis and present it together with the following documentation to the Secretariat of the UGA of Communication:

• Completed application form for co-supervision.
• Letter from the doctoral thesis supervisor explaining the reasons for the co-tutorship and accepting the incorporation of a thesis supervisor from the other university (this letter must be signed by the supervisors of both universities).
• Copy of the passport and curriculum vitae of the supervisor from the foreign university.
• Students outside UPF must also attach the following documents:
• Copy of the registration in the programme of the current academic year.
• Copy of the certificate of admission to the programme.
• Copy of their passport.

Following the authorization, the agreement must be processed. The Secretariat will contact the student and provide a model agreement. The student and the thesis supervisor coordinate the final wording of the agreement with the other university and deliver the final proposal to the Secretary of the UGA. The Doctoral Academic Committee approves, if necessary, the specific agreement.

Regulations: Regulations on co-supervision of doctoral theses (agreement of the Governing Council of 19 June 2013)

Description: 

The ordinary supervision regime for doctoral Communication studies is full-time.

Description: Any other request can be addressed to CAD using the general application form.

Procedure and documentation: 

The student must fill in the form detailing their application and send it by email with the documentation (if applicable) to the PhD Secretary ([email protected]):.

• General application form.