General information General information

  • Please check your submission deadline and note that it refers to the date of authorization of the program academic committee, so you must submit at least your application one month before your submission deadline date.

    If you submit your thesis on the 1st working day of September, you don't need to enroll the new academic year. Exceptionally for COVID reasons, if you submit before end of 2021 you must enrol but without economic cost (please notify before enrolling).

    The submission of the doctoral thesis can be done any working day during the academic year (August and Christmas holidays are excluded)

    For guidance, a four-month period is needed from  your submission application until you get the UPF PhD School approval for your thesis defence.

    Once you'll have the UPF PhD School approval confirmed, you have 6 month period to defend your thesis

     

     

  • A doctoral thesis may be submitted in one of the following two formats: 

    1. A classical thesis book, consisting of chapters written in a cohesive way. Next to the original research described in the thesis, the rest of the contents cannot be made out of copying & pasting from other sources, and especially not from other PhD theses.
    2. A set of articles preceded by an introductory chapter and followed by a discussion and conclusions chapter or chapters. We discourage the submission of a set of articles where all of them are manuscripts in preparation because, as unfinished work, they often contain errors and lack coherence. If they are not published at the time of submission, we encourage depositing them in a preprint server such as arXiv or bioRxiv and including the preprint citation reference in the thesis. With respect to the set of articles included: 

    2.1.  There cannot be two doctoral theses from two different doctoral students including the same set of articles.

    2.2.  An article with two or more joint first authors can be used in more than one thesis as long as each PhD student has made a major research contribution on this article. This specific major contribution of each PhD student in the article must be described in the manuscript of the doctoral thesis.
    2.3. A doctoral thesis must include one or more original research contributions. While review articles are a valuable exercise of synthesis of a research field or problem, and can be included in the thesis as additional thesis material, they do not qualify as original research contributions.

    Full regulation

1. Submitting a Doctoral Thesis 1. Submitting a Doctoral Thesis

  • Please, check at your Activities Document, that the information you have entered about your Doctoral Thesis and your personal details are correct. Any changes (title, supervisor or tutor) must be done before submisssion:

    To notify as to any personal change

    [email protected]

    To notify as to a title change

    Doctoral Thesis Title Registration online form

    To change your thesis supervisor or tutor

    Submit the originals to the PhD Secretariat (PRBB, 3rd floor, office 300.04; opening hours: from 11.00 am to 1.00 pm) 

    Application to the Academic Committee of the doctoral programme. Documents required:

    To request for a special procedure to ensure confidentiality

    (When the doctoral thesis includes work in which companies have participated, is subject to a confidentiality agreement or contains information that possible patents may cover)

    		 Confedentiality agreement or possible patents

     

  •  

    Please check your submission deadline and note that it refers to the date of authorization of the program academic committee, so you must submit at least your application one month before your submission deadline date. 
    1. Please make an appointment with the PhD Programme in Biomedicine Secretariat by email: [email protected] to submit the Doctoral Thesis. 
    2. Once you'll have your appointemnt scheduled, the PhD secretaria will give you access to a Personal Drive Folder to upload all your thesis submission documents. 
    3. Bring to the PhD PRBB office 300.04, 3rd floor; 1 printed book-copy of the doctoral thesis for the UPF library. Together with the original hand signed  "Declaration by the author of the thesis" document (see point 6).

    ​

    All documents must be submitted at the same time and duly filled in and signed:

    Doctoral Thesis Copies:

    1.

    A book-copy of the doctoral thesis for the UPF 

    See compulsory format requirements 

    IMPORTANT! please indicate the University name and program departement (DEPARTMENT OF EXPERIMENTAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES
    UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA) on your thesis.   Without this information the deposit will not be considered valid.  

    2.

    Five copies of the doctoral thesis for the thesis committee members

    You can choose between:

    • sending personally your thesis copies to your tribunal member (with electronic support or printed copies, both are valid)
    • or bring your printed book-copies to the PhD secretariat on your submission day and we'll send them by post.

    Documents to upload on your Personal Drive Folder: 

    3.

    Doctoral thesis submission form

    Thesis submission form (word, pdf)

    4.

    The PhD supervisor report 

    Free-format document (approx. 2 pages) 

    (The report should highlight which has been the original major research contribution of the doctoral thesis as well as contain the specific approval of the thesis supervisor confirming that the thesis has the appropriate quality for its presentation )

    * In case you have a UPF tutor (different from your thesis supervisor) you also need to present a letter confirming your tutor agreement with your thesis submission.

    5.

    The doctoral thesis Committee

    Committee proposal form

    The composition of the court must respect gender parity.

    The thesis committee must be composed of:

    • 3 full members: must belong to 3 different universities or institutions between them
    • 2 substitutes: must belong to 2 different universities or institutions between them, although the universities or institutions of the full members can be repeated
    • All members must be doctors and have proven experience in research

    It is recommended that the secretary of the board should belong to UPF or to a research institution at the PRBB
    It is also recommended that at least one of the substituts should belong to UPF or to a research centre at the PRBB

    Keep in mind that:
    The indicated emails must match the workplace of each proposed doctor.

    ( contact us before deciding the members of your board in order to confirm that you’ll be able to afford the necessary tribunal expenses)

    6.

    Declaration by the author of the thesis

    Declaration form

    Please upload a copy of this document on your Personal Drive Folder and bring the original hand signed document to the PhD secretariat together with the printed thesis book for the Upf Library.
    7. A electronic copy of the doctoral thesis:
    • The complete doctoral thesis (pdf)
    8. A word document with:
    • A short explanation of the project in Catalan or Spanish AND English (approx. 150 words)
    9. A word document with:
    • Keyword list related to the PhD thesis in Catalan or Spanish AND English. Maximum 10 words (5 in English + 5 in Catalan or Spanish)

    Other requirements:

    10.

    Fill in the online application form

    Temporary unavailable

    11.

    Check if you have the requirements to apply for a Doctoral Mention

    International Mentions

     

     

    * Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey concerning your experience. Thank you.

  • Please note that, nowadays, all the documents required to apply for the international mention must be presented the same day of your thesis submission application.

    Description:

    The International mention in the doctoral diploma is an honorary qualification given in addition to the doctoral diploma. The diploma can include on its obverse the mention of "International Doctor" in case that the following requirements are met:

    Requirements

    a) That during the training period required to obtain the qualification of doctor, you have undertaken made a minimum stage of three months outside Spain at a renowned higher education institution or research centre, studying or doing research work. The stage and activities must be approved by the supervisor and authorized by the academic committee, and they must be included in the student's Activities Document.

    b) That part of the thesis (at least the summary and conclusions) has been written and is presented in one of the usual languages for scientific communication in your field of knowledge, other than any of the official languages in Spain. This regulation is not applicable when the stages, reports and experts come from a Spanish-speaking country.

    c) That at least two expert doctors belonging to a non-Spanish higher education institution or research institute have issued reports on the thesis.

    d) That at least one expert with a doctorate belonging to a non-Spanish higher education institution or research centre, other than the person responsible for the stage referred to in paragraph a), has been a member of the thesis assessment board.

    2. The thesis defence must be undertaken at UPF.

    NOTE: the internship may be carried out either in a single period or distributed in different periods; however, the receiving institution must be always the same.

     

    Procedure:

    Fill in the "International Mention in the Doctoral Diploma" application form and hand it in with all the documentation to the doctoral programme secretary.

    IMPORTANT: you must apply for the "International Doctor mention" at latest the same day of your thesis submission application.

    Decision :

    The Doctoral School's Steering Committee will decide whether to grant or deny the International Mention in the Doctoral Diploma

    The doctoral programme secretary will notify you of the decision

    Regulations:

    Academic regulations for doctorate courses  (art. 21)

    * COVID 19 exceptional conditions:

    - For final year students and during the time we are affected by the Covid-19, the PhD Academic Committee has agreed that research stays shorter than 3 months will be  accepted to grant the International Mention as long as the thesis supervisor certifies that the stay completed meets the majority of the proposed objectives.

    - Students of other academic years will be asked to delay their stays so that they can do them in optimal conditions

    - Virtual stays will be allowed to students who do their thesis in bioinformatics disciplines and their directors endorse and justify the stay to be carried out.

2. Doctoral Thesis Defence 2. Doctoral Thesis Defence

  • Please note that, we can only schedule a maximum of 2 thesis defence on the same day and they can not be simultaneous. They should start with a minimum of 2h of difference. Check this web calendar in order to see disponibility.  

    Thesis Defences should be scheduled on working days, monday to friday from 9:30h to 14:00h. For excepcional situations please contact with the PhD secretariat. 

    Once the notification email with the Doctoral Thesis Defence Authorization and Approval of the Thesis Committee are received you can start to organise your thesis defence following these steps:

    PhD student’s duties

    How to do it

    1. Set a date with your supervisor and tribunal members

    When? any working day, monday to friday from 9:30h to 14:00h. For excepcional situations please contact with the PhD secretariat. The UPF allow a maximum of 2 thesis defense with non-simultaneous schedule time. If there are more than 2 thesis we will ask you to change the date.
    2. Fill out this online form to let us know your defense details

    We will care from the PhD secretaria to book a room for your defence. By default all PhD students must defend their thesis at the UPF Campus del Mar rooms. 
    3. You'll receive a confirmation 

    You will receive an answer through CAU with this information: 

    • A confirmation of the booking room for the thesis meeting (only in case of face to face). 

    • Zoom link to hold the session (you can send to your friends or relatives).

    • In both cases, the IT technician will ask you to schedule a meeting before the defence to explain to you the technical requirements for the Zoom app and to solve any doubts you may have.
    4. Complete the TESEO file for the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport Together with your defense autorization, the UPF PhD School will send you a detailed mail with indications to fill the TESEO before your thesis defense. 
    5. Payment of the Doctoral Thesis Defence fee 

    You will receive by mail a few days before your thesis defence a document to pay the Dissertation fee. You can make the payment on line. 
    6. Travel organization for your main tribunal members:

    Please contact us by mail in order to book your trip:  [email protected]

    Please, note that we have a limited budged and -for legal resons- we will not be able to reimburse your travel expenses if you manage transport or/and accommodation by yourself.

     

     

     

  • Under the Covid-19 extraordinary circumstances, nowadays we can only offer you the option to present your thesis defence 100% online or on a semi face-to-face form. In the second case, the session is not open to the public. Just the thesis supervisors, tribunal members, PhD student and University staff to help you are allowed to access the defense room. A few close familiars will be allowed to come in case the room ensures the security protocols. Please inform in advance by mail to the phd secretariat of their names and surnames for the building access.

     

    • The thesis defence is a public event so an audience can attend. There are no specific rules concerning the length of the thesis defence at UPF. In general, the event takes from 1 1/2 to 3 hours in total and the doctoral student defends his/her thesis during 45 minutes approximately.

    • The chairperson of the committee leads the thesis defence proceedings. The proceedings must consist of the doctoral student's exposé of the research work carried out, the methodology used, the contents and conclusions, with special reference to its original contributions. The members of the committee may ask the doctoral student any questions they deem appropriate. Likewise, the doctors present at the public defence proceedings may ask questions at the time and in the manner stipulated by the chairperson of the panel. 

    • The president is also responsible for asking all attendees in the room (virtual or face-to-face) to leave temporarily so that the court can make the deliberation. The attendance to the deliberation session is exclusive for the members of the committee.

    • When the defence is completed, the members of the committee grade the thesis Fail, Pass, Good or Excellent. In case of obtaining an Excellent, they may also propose the thesis for a "cum laude mention" and for being a cadidate of the extraordinary award for its academic year. Both mentions shall be decided by secret ballot of the members of the committe and the student must obtain a unanimous positive vote to achieve each mention. For that reason at the end of the defense the committee cannot make public the maximum grade obtained.

    • At the end of the defence we would need to receive all the required documents, previously received by mail. You can sign with your digital signature / IdCAT or print, sign and scan the documents (in this case, we ask you to send the original copies by post, too. UPF Phd Program. PRBB building. C/Doctor Aiguader, 88. 08003, Barcelona. Spain). We'll appreciate receiving by email the scanned copy of the documents signed after the defence ([email protected]). At latest the day after the thesis defence.

     

    Official documents

    The secretary of the committee should supervise and collect all the official documents of the Doctoral Thesis Defence, and hand them in to the PhD Programme Secretariat after the defence (PRBB, 3rd floor, office 300.04)

    Documents to fill out on the defence day

    Data to be reported

    Signed by

    Who will provide these documents?

    Doctoral Thesis Reading

    • Grade

    • Language of exposition

    • Meeting time

    The 3 committee members

    The PhD Programme Secretariat will prepare all the required documents in advance and will leave them in a folder at the Doctoral Thesis Defence room.

    TESEO Document

    • Grade

    • Meeting date and time

    The committee Secretary

    Doctoral Thesis Report

    • Fill out the personal details

    • Answer the questions

    • Date

    Each member must sign her/his report

    Cum Laude Secret Ballot & Extraordinary Award Secret Ballot

    • Cum Laude secret ballot

    • Extraordinary award secret ballot

     

    Possible doctoral thesis grades

    • Fail
    • Pass
    • Good
    • Excellent.

    Only when a doctoral thesis is graded Excellent, the members of the committee may propose a "Cum Laude mention" by secret ballot.

    After the defence, the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Progamme is responsible for counting the votes and grading the doctoral thesis Excellent Cum Laude, if the secret ballot is unanimously in favor. The Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme is also responsible for informing the doctoral student, the thesis supervisor and the members of the committee of the final grade within the week after the defence.

3. After Doctoral Thesis Defence 3. After Doctoral Thesis Defence

 

Summary of the procedure


Download a summary of the procedure (PDF)