General information

Please check your submission deadline in your Campus Global.

If you submit your thesis any working day before the end of September, you don't need to enroll the new academic year.

Exceptionally, those students who were enrolled on 2019/2020 academmic year and affected by the COVID reasons can benefit from enrolment advantatges for their last enrolment in case of submitting the thesis between October and December. Please contact us for further information.

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 (minimum 2)  preceded by an introductory chapter and followed by a discussion and conclusions chapter or chapters.  At least 1 article should be as a first author and already published in a peer-reviewed journal. Preprint articles (arXiv or bioRxiv) could be accepted in addition to at least 1 published article in a peer-reviewed journal. Preprints articles cannot substitute the mandatory published article.

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. Review articles cannot be included as original research contributions, but can be included in the thesis as additional thesis material.

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:

1. Personal data change

 

Notify any personal change at the PIE point by CAU or mail at

[email protected]

2. Thesis Title change

Please fill this online form with your new thesis title:

Doctoral Thesis Title Registration online form

3. Supervisor or tutor

 

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

Atention!    this is an important change that may not be accepted if you apply just before submiting the thesis. Please check 1st the requirements here.

4. Confidentiality protection

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

5. Positive

Assured that your last assessment is positive because otherwise you will not be able to submit your thesis. If you have a "Not presented" assessment, please contact with the PhD secretariat and ask for an advanced evaluation in order to be able to submit your thesis.

Go to the Academic transcript to check your personal assessment

 

  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 Medicine and Life Sciences

Departament de Medicina i Ciències de la Vida

Departamento de Medicina y Ciencias de la Vida

on your thesis.   Without this information the deposit will not be considered valid.  
  • Bring 1 printed book to the PhD PRBB office

​The UPF thesis copy book must come with the UPF official cover, Apply for it here:  Ask for the UPF official Cover

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 (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.

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.

2. Doctoral Thesis Defence

Once the notification email with the Doctoral Thesis Defence Authorization and Approval of the Thesis Committee are received you can start organising your thesis defence following these steps. Please note that the date will not be fixed until you recive our confirmation. 

Atention Please -> 100% online defences are accepted until September 2023.

 

PhD student’s duties

How to do it

1. Suggest a date

with your supervisor and tribunal members

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 1h of difference.
  • Check this web calendar and contact by mail with the PhD secretariat in order to see disponibility. 
  • Please note that the date will not be fixed until you recive our confirmation. 
  • Thesis defences should be scheduled on working days, monday to friday with starting time between 9:00 and 12:00h. Or monday / thursday afternoons with starting time between 14:30 to 15:30h.
  • For excepcional situations please contact with the PhD secretariat. 
  • Thesis defences can be presented face to face or in hybrid form.
  • Hybrid defenses are accepted only when at least: the doctoral student, 1 tribunal member and the thesis supervisor are in the defence room.
  • If you need Videoconference because one or more tribunal members attend online, keep in mind that the preference data for your defence should be on Thursday or Friday to assure the equipped room availability.

2. Fill out this online form

 to let us know your defense details

 

check here available rooms

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. 

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).

3.Organise a defence test

 

Thesis defenses are held by defauld in the UPF spaces (Dr Aiguader 80, building). The UPF IT technician services 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.


In case you want to celebrate your thesis defence on a PRBB room, keep in mind that:

  • We cannot offer UPF technical support or video conferencing service.
  • The reservation of PRBB spaces must be made by you personally, respecting the rules of use of the center. [email protected] 

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. Pay 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:
  • We will care from the PhD secretaria to contact your tribunal members and organise their trip necessities once your thesis defence will be officially authorise.
  • Please contact us by mail in order to book your trip in case you need this in advance:  [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.

​

We can offer a limited budget to help you on covering the travel expenses of the main members of the board.

For that reason we recommend that you contact us before deciding the members of your board in order to confirm that you’ll be able to afford the necessary tribunal expenses. Once invited, we understand that a trip, taxi or lodging needed by a main member of the board  cannot be left unattended.

Alternatively, the university offers you the chance to attend the defense electronically. This makes management more affordable and environmentally friendly.

 

 

 

  • The thesi 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 (PhD in Biomedicine <phd.biome[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

More information about the PhD Annual Extraordinary Award HERE

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.

If your main tribunal members are travelling to attend the thesis defence please contact us by mail at the following address [email protected]

 

Please, note that we will not be able to reimburse your travel expenses if you manage transport or/and accommodation by yourself.

 

We can offer a limited budget on covering the travel expenses of the main members of the board and we do not charge diets. Please confirm the limits with the PhD secretariat and look for an alternative budged in case of extra expenses.

 

Alternatively, the university offers you the chance to attend the defence electronically. This makes management more affordable and environmentally friendly.

3. After Doctoral Thesis Defence

If you have to send your PhD certificate to a foreign institution, you might also apply for the “European Diploma Supplement (SET)”. This document is included in the cost of the title and it's issued in English. You should ask for it together with your official PhD degree certificate application

(See a SET exemple here)

 

Summary of the procedure


Download a summary of the procedure (PDF)