Academic regulations for doctoral studies

The passage of Organic Law 2/2023, of 22 March, on the university system, and of Royal Decree 576/2023, of 4 July, amending Royal Decree 99/2011, of 28 January, has updated the legal framework for official doctoral degree courses, introducing new provisions on their organization, development, and monitoring.

The academic regulations for doctoral degree courses at UPF were approved by resolution of the Board of Governors on 20 June 2012. In light of the new regulatory framework, it is necessary to draw up new academic regulations that include, among other things, the new continuance standards, which are now set at four years for full-time study and seven years for part-time study, the requirement of a personal training plan for the doctoral student, and the requirement of expert reports prior to the thesis defence.

The new regulations also strengthen the role of the thesis supervisor and provide for the adaptation of the degree courses’ duration to accommodate specific needs, including situations of disability and the suspension of the deadline for submitting the thesis for health reasons or situations of gender-based violence.

Finally, the present regulations include certain new provisions arising from the experience gained from their application, with the aim of improving their management and ensuring a more efficient implementation of doctoral degree courses.

SECTION 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Purpose

The purpose of these regulations is to regulate the doctoral degree courses offered by Pompeu Fabra University, which are governed by Royal Decree 99/2011, of 28 January, regulating official doctoral degree courses.

SECTION 2. ADMISSION AND ENROLMENT

Article 2. Access and admission

2.1. Access and admission requirements

Students meeting the access requirements established under current regulations, as well as any additional admission or selection requirements or criteria approved by the academic committee of each doctoral programme, which must be stated in the verification report for that programme, are eligible for degree courses leading to a doctoral degree.

2.2 The academic committee of each doctoral programme, under the coordination of the Doctoral School, is responsible for admitting applicants to the doctoral degree courses.

2.3. The university will publish the timetable for the submission of applications, which will be annual and divided into rounds. Candidates meeting the access and admission requirements set out in Articles 6 and 7 of Royal Decree 99/2011, as well as those who, while not yet meeting them, expect to do so by the start of the academic activity, are eligible to participate in them.

If a public fee has been established for participation in the admission process, proof of payment of this amount is required to participate.

2.4. When submitting the application for admission, candidates must attach the documents offering proof of their fulfilment of the access and admission requirements, as well as of any other aspects to be assessed.

Final admission is subject to accreditation of fulfilment of the access and admission requirements by the first day established each academic year for enrolment on doctoral degree courses.

If enrolment is not completed by the established deadline and within the approved timetable, the offer of admission will lapse and, where appropriate, the candidate will have to re-apply.

2.5. Assessment of applications for admission

a) Criteria

Applications for admission will be ranked according to the assessment criteria established by each doctoral programme in its approved verification report.

b) Procedure

Each doctoral programme’s academic committee will establish its own selection procedure.

2.6. The university will reserve a number of places for students with special needs, pursuant to Royal Decree 99/2011.

Article 3. Enrolment

3.1. Doctoral students must formalize their enrolment every year, including the academic year in which they submit their thesis, for the academic supervision of their doctoral studies, and must pay the corresponding public fees by the deadlines set by the university and in accordance with the enrolment regulations in force at Pompeu Fabra University.

Doctoral students enrolling on doctoral degree courses with a foreign qualification from outside the European Higher Education Area that has not been officially recognized will have to pay the corresponding public fee for the equivalence assessment.

The university’s acceptance of the enrolment is conditional upon the truthfulness of the information provided in the application, the doctoral student’s fulfilment of the requirements stipulated in the current regulations for access and admission to the doctoral programme, and full payment of the fee, in accordance with the established manner and deadlines.

Doctoral students who fail to formalize their enrolment in the manner and by the deadlines established by the university will be permanently withdrawn from the programme.

Doctoral students are considered trainee research staff.

3.2. Doctoral students may withdraw their enrolment within two months of the enrolment date.

For the withdrawal to be accepted, the doctoral student must submit the request by the established deadline and have paid the full enrolment fee. Once the withdrawal has been accepted, it will take effect from the date of the doctoral student’s withdrawal request.

In academic terms, acceptance of the enrolment withdrawal has the same effects as if the doctoral student had never enrolled. Withdrawal from enrolment by the doctoral student shall not under any circumstances entail the refund of the enrolment fee paid.

3.3. This university’s regulations governing the financial aspects of enrolment on official degree courses shall apply to the prices, discounts, payment methods, modifications, withdrawals and refunds of enrolment fees.

SECTION 3. DURATION OF THE DEGREE COURSES AND COURSE LOAD

Article 4. Duration of doctoral degree courses

4.1. Doctoral degree courses shall have a maximum duration of four years, full-time, or seven years, part-time. For doctoral students with a certified degree of disability equal to or greater than 33%, these degree courses shall have a maximum duration of six years, full-time, and nine years, part-time. The duration is calculated from the date of formalization of the first enrolment to the date of the request to submit the doctoral thesis, pursuant to Royal Decree 99/2011.

4.2. The minimum duration of doctoral degree courses is two years, full-time, and four years, part-time, calculated from the date of the doctoral student’s enrolment on the doctoral programme to the doctoral thesis’s submission. Students may request a reduction of this period from the doctoral programme’s academic committee, with the authorization of the thesis supervisor or tutor, on justified grounds.

Article 5. Full-time or part-time course load for doctoral students

5.1. Doctoral degree courses are ordinarily pursued on a full-time basis. However, at the doctoral student’s request, the doctoral programme’s academic committee may authorize a part-time course load, pursuant to Article 3 of Royal Decree 99/2011.

5.2. Applications for a part-time course load must be submitted to the doctoral programme’s academic committee in the manner and by the deadlines established by that committee. The course load is stated in the doctoral commitment document and in the research plan.

5.3. The change from a full-time to a part-time course load must be requested before the deadline to submit the doctoral thesis. Under no circumstances may it be requested during the extension period provided for in Article 18 below.

SECTION 4. SUPERVISION AND MONITORING OF THE DOCTORAL STUDENT

Article 6. Assignment of the thesis supervisor and tutor

6.1. Once admitted to the doctoral programme, each doctoral student will be assigned a thesis supervisor by the relevant academic committee. This role may be assigned to any Spanish or foreign doctor with accredited research experience, regardless of the university, centre or institution where they are employed. Exceptionally, the thesis may be supervised by doctors who are not affiliated with a research institution, subject to prior authorization from the Doctoral School’s Management Committee.

Pursuant to Royal Decree 99/2011, accredited research experience is understood to mean having at least one period of research activity recognized by the Spanish National Commission for Assessment of Research Activity (CNEAI), in accordance with Royal Decree 1086/1989, of 28 August, or, if it cannot be demonstrated by this means, having equivalent research merits in accordance with the university’s regulations and the rules established by each doctoral programme’s academic committee.

The thesis supervisor has ultimate responsibility for the coherence and suitability of the training activities and the impact and originality of the thesis in its field, for offering guidance on planning and for ensuring alignment, where appropriate, with other projects and activities in which the doctoral student is interested.

Each doctoral programme may, where appropriate, establish additional criteria for serving as a doctoral thesis supervisor.

6.2. Likewise, once admitted to the doctoral programme, each doctoral student will be assigned a tutor, who will be a doctor, with accredited research experience, affiliated with the programme, and who will be responsible for overseeing the doctoral student’s interaction with the academic committee. The tutor may or may not also be the doctoral thesis supervisor.

The tutor is responsible for ensuring the alignment of the doctoral student’s training and research activities with the principles of the doctoral programmes.

Article 7. Changes in thesis supervision

7.1. The doctoral student may request a change of thesis supervisor from the doctoral programme’s academic committee. The committee may change the supervisor after consulting the parties involved (the doctoral student, the current supervisor, and the proposed new supervisor), provided there are justified reasons for doing so and no objections. In the event of objections, the committee will refer the case to the Doctoral School’s Management Committee.

7.2. Likewise, the thesis supervisor may request to resign from their position on justified grounds. The academic committee may accept this resignation and must propose a new thesis supervisor to the doctoral student within a maximum of two months.

7.3. In the event of medical leave of the thesis supervisor, and provided this leave could affect the supervision of the doctoral student and progress on the thesis, at the doctoral student’s request, the doctoral programme’s academic committee will decide, exceptionally and in collaboration with the thesis supervisor, to change the thesis supervisor or appoint a new one, in order to ensure proper supervision of the doctoral student.

Article 8. Co-supervision of the doctoral thesis

The doctoral thesis may be co-supervised by other doctors, when so justified for academic reasons or on grounds of thematic interdisciplinarity, subject to prior authorization from the doctoral programme’s academic committee. This authorization may be subsequently revoked if, in the judgement of the doctoral programme’s academic committee, the co-supervision is not of benefit to the thesis’s progress.

The academic committee may also authorize co-supervision of the thesis by doctors who do not meet the accredited research experience requirements set out under Royal Decree 99/2011.

Under no circumstances may there be more than three thesis supervisors.

Article 9. Doctoral student activities document

Once they have enrolled on the programme, a personalized activities documents will be created for each doctoral student, to serve as a record of all activities relevant to the doctoral student’s development, as agreed by the doctoral programme’s academic committee.

This document must be regularly reviewed by the tutor and the doctoral thesis supervisor and annually assessed by the doctoral programme’s academic committee.

Article 10. Doctoral student’s research plan and personal training plan

10.1. By the end of the first year from the date of initial enrolment, the doctoral student must, with the assistance of the thesis supervisor and tutor, prepare a document including a research plan and a personal training plan. This document may be improved and completed throughout the doctoral student’s time on the programme and must be endorsed by the tutor and thesis supervisor. The academic committee will annually assess the doctoral student’s progress on the research plan.

10.2. The research plan shall include, at least, the methodology to be used and the objectives to be met, as well as the means and timeline.

10.3. The training plan consists of the list of different training activities that the doctoral student is expected to complete over the course of the doctoral thesis (courses, seminar delivery, research stays, etc.).

Article 11. Doctoral commitment

The doctoral student, university, tutor and thesis supervisor will sign a doctoral commitment establishing the supervisory duties vis-à-vis the doctoral student. This commitment, which must be signed as soon as possible after admission and no later than three months after enrolment, must include the procedure for resolving conflicts, scientific best practices and ethical conduct in doctoral studies and research and must also provide for aspects relating to intellectual or industrial property rights that might arise in the context of doctoral programmes.

Changes of supervisor or tutor, or of the doctoral student’s course load, shall require signing a new commitment document.

Article 12. Annual assessment of the doctoral student

12.1. Each doctoral programme’s academic committee shall establish mechanisms to ensure the quality of theses during the process of their preparation (prior publication in prestigious journals, public presentation at seminars, external reports, etc.).

12.2. The doctoral programme’s academic committee will assess the research plan and activities document annually, together with the reports to be issued for this purpose by the thesis supervisor and tutor. A positive assessment is required to continue on the doctoral programme.

In the event of a duly justified negative assessment, the doctoral student will be re-assessed within a maximum of six months from the date of the previous assessment. Should the shortcomings be found to persist, following a hearing with the student, the doctoral programme’s academic committee will draw up a report stating the negative assessment and will decide on the doctoral student’s permanent withdrawal from the doctoral program, pursuant to Article 11 of Royal Decree 99/2011.

SECTION 5. THE DOCTORAL THESIS

Article 13. Contents of the doctoral thesis

The doctoral thesis must consist of an original piece of research in one of the doctoral programme’s research lines.

Article 14. Thesis by publication

The doctoral thesis may consist of a compendium of papers resulting from the doctoral student’s own research. In this case, the doctoral thesis must include a report presenting the defended thesis, with an introductory chapter and chapters for discussion and final conclusions. The papers must have been written after the initial enrolment on the doctoral programme and in accordance with the research plan.

Each doctoral programme shall determine and publish the requirements for authorizing doctoral theses by publication.

In cases of co-authorship, a single paper may be part of more than one doctoral thesis, provided the doctoral students demonstrate distinct and substantial contributions, subject to approval by the corresponding academic committees.

Article 15. Annual information on doctoral theses

Each doctoral programme’s academic committee must report annually to the Doctoral School’s Management Committee on the progress made on all its doctoral students’ doctoral theses. This information may be reported in aggregate for all doctoral theses in each doctoral programme.

Article 16. Language in which the doctoral thesis is written and defended

The thesis may be written and defended in any of the languages commonly used in scientific communication in the relevant field of knowledge. For theses to be written and defended in a language other than Catalan, Spanish or English, the doctoral student must request authorization from the doctoral programme’s academic committee.

Article 17. Theses with international co-supervision

The university will promote initiatives by the bodies responsible for the doctoral programmes to enhance the international dimension of doctoral theses and, where appropriate, will establish the necessary systems for their recognition. Moreover, in certain cases it may propose that a doctoral thesis be written with the co-supervision of another international institution, through the signing of an agreement, in accordance with the regulations in force at Pompeu Fabra University. The maximum number of universities that may participate in the co-supervision is three.

The doctoral programme’s academic committee is responsible for authorizing the international co-supervision of doctoral theses.

Doctoral students completing theses with co-tutorship by other universities will have to formalize the enrolment for the tutoring and continuous assessment of the doctoral thesis at both universities each year, including the academic year in which the doctoral thesis is submitted. They must also pay UPF the amount of the public fees for teaching-related academic services established by the Catalan government, as well as any other fees approved by the UPF Board of Trustees.

Each university shall award its own doctoral degree based on a single defence.

Doctoral students must request the co-supervision of their thesis by the end of the first academic year at the latest.

For all matters related to the co-supervision of doctoral theses not provided for in these regulations, the Pompeu Fabra University Regulations for co-supervision of doctoral theses shall apply.

Article 18. Maximum duration of degree courses and extensions

If no request to submit the doctoral thesis is made by the deadline for the maximum duration of the degree course, the academic committee responsible for the programme may authorize a one-year extension at the doctoral student’s request. Doctoral students failing to submit their doctoral thesis within this additional period will be permanently withdrawn from the programme.

Article 19. Situations entailing the suspension of the submission deadline

19.1. Situations of temporary disability, childbirth, adoption, fostering for the purposes of adoption, temporary fostering, pregnancy risk, breastfeeding risk and gender violence, as well as any other situation provided for under current regulations during the aforementioned period of time, will result in a suspension of the calculation of the maximum duration of doctoral degree courses.

At the start of the academic year, during the enrolment period, the doctoral student must report whether they remain on leave.

19.2. Should the doctoral student’s temporary disability be for health-related reasons, the deadline for submitting the doctoral thesis will be extended as follows:

• Individuals registered with the Spanish Social Security system will have to provide proof of their situation by means of the medical certificate of temporary disability issued by the Public Health Service or Social Security partner organization. The calculation of the deadline for submitting the thesis will be suspended for the period between the start and end of the temporary disability leave, both of which must be reported and duly accredited to the doctoral programme secretariat. The deadline for reporting and accrediting the temporary disability leave is two months from the date of the leave’s start.
• For doctoral students not in the aforementioned situation, the submission deadline will be extended by the time established by an ad hoc committee created specifically for each case. To avoid conflicts of interest, in no case may the doctoral programme’s coordinator or any other person affiliated with the programme sit on this committee. Among other documents, the committee will be provided with the doctoral student’s request, the medical report detailing the grounds for and expected duration of the disability, a report from the thesis supervisor and a report from the doctoral programme’s coordinator. The doctoral student’s request must specify the period of leave requested, which may not exceed six months. To extend this deadline, the doctoral student must submit a new request, along with the requisite supporting documents. The deadline for submitting the request is two months from the date of the medical report.

In any case, at the start of the academic year, during the enrolment period, the doctoral student must inform the university whether they remain on leave.

19.3. Situations of voluntary temporary interruption

Doctoral students may request periods of voluntary temporary interruption of up to a total of two years. This request must be approved by the doctoral programme’s academic committee, which will assess the need to request the relevant report from the doctoral thesis supervisor.

The voluntary interruption may not be for a period of less than three months and shall not, under any circumstances, be granted in the first year of the degree course or during the extension period.

Article 20. Submission of the doctoral thesis

20.1. Upon completing the doctoral thesis, the doctoral student must apply to the doctoral programme’s academic committee to submit it, in accordance with the submission process established by the Doctoral School.

The submission application must be accompanied by a favourable, comprehensive report from the thesis supervisor, a copy of the doctoral thesis, and a statement of thesis authorship. It must additionally be accompanied by reports from at least two doctors with expertise in the field, unaffiliated with the university, who must provide individual reports and may suggest areas of improvement. These individuals may be part of the thesis assessment board.

The doctoral programme academic committees are responsible for establishing the mechanisms to obtain the reports from the external experts.

20.2. After reviewing the submitted documents, the doctoral programme’s academic committee will decide whether or not to authorize the doctoral thesis’s submission. Should the submission be denied, the academic committee will provide the doctoral student and the thesis supervisor with a written explanation of the reasons for its decision.

20.3. Once the doctoral programme’s academic committee has authorized the thesis’s submission, the submission will be announced on the Doctoral School’s website. The doctoral thesis will be held in deposit for seven working days, from the day following the date of submission, so that doctors may examine it and, where appropriate, submit any comments they might deem appropriate to the Doctoral School in writing.

Consultation of the doctoral thesis will take place under conditions that make it possible to preserve its originality and the confidentiality of its content. To this end, only individuals who can prove that they hold a doctorate will be granted access, the consultation time will be limited, and a designated area will be set aside for this purpose. If authorization to consult the thesis is obtained, the applicant will have to accept and sign a confidentiality agreement undertaking not to disseminate information related to the thesis during the consultation period and, furthermore, not to disseminate the full or partial content of the thesis by any other means.

20.4. In the case of doctoral theses involving the participation of companies with which confidentiality agreements have been signed or doctoral theses that could give rise to patents, the university, acting through the Doctoral School, will put the necessary mechanisms and procedures into place to ensure that the thesis’s submission is authorized with all the necessary confidentiality guarantees.

Article 21. Doctoral thesis assessment board

21.1. Proposed assessment board

The thesis supervisor will submit to the Doctoral School Management Committee, via the medium enabled by the Doctoral School for such purpose, a proposal for the thesis assessment board, which will have the approval of the doctoral programme’s academic committee.

The academic committee will provide the Doctoral School Management Committee with all of the documentation generated by the doctoral thesis assessment procedure, for processing. The academic committee may establish a deadline for the thesis supervisor to submit the assessment board proposal.

The proposed assessment board must include three members and two alternates, all of whom must hold a doctoral degree and have accredited research experience, and the majority of whom must be external to the university and to any partner institutions for the doctoral programme. The assessment board must not have more than two members from any university or partner institution. When an alternate is required at the defence, preference must be given, where appropriate, to one who allows the assessment board to continue to be composed of members from different universities and partner institutions.

This proposal must be accompanied by a report on the suitability of each of the five proposed members in relation to the thesis topic. Should the thesis supervisor fail to submit the proposed assessment board composition by the aforementioned deadline, the Doctoral School Management Committee may proceed to appoint the assessment board in accordance with the terms of this article.

Neither the doctoral thesis supervisor nor the tutor may be part of the assessment board, except in cases of theses submitted under bilateral co-supervision agreements with foreign universities that provide for this possibility. Nor may the person responsible for the placement required for the industrial doctorate distinction or the period abroad required for the international doctorate distinction be part of the assessment board.

Efforts must be made to achieve a balanced presence of women and men in the thesis assessment board’s composition.

21.2. Approval and appointment of the assessment board

The Doctoral School Management Committee shall appoint a chair, a secretary and a member from among the assessment board members, as well as a first and second alternate member. Should any member of the assessment board resign for just cause, that member will be replaced by the first alternate, or failing that, the second.

21.3. Confidentiality of assessment board members

When the thesis is subject to intellectual property protection processes or could give rise to patents, the members of the assessment board must have access to the full version of the doctoral thesis and shall be obliged to maintain absolute secrecy and confidentiality regarding its contents. The doctoral programme’s academic committee is responsible for establishing the necessary procedures to ensure the assessment board members’ confidentiality.

Article 22. Defence and marking of the doctoral thesis

22.1. Deadline to defend the thesis

The deadline to defend the doctoral thesis is six months from the time the doctoral thesis assessment board is appointed. Each doctoral programme’s academic committee may authorize an extension of this deadline on justified grounds.

22.2. The defence proceedings

The thesis defence must be conducted in a public session within the academic period established for reading theses, which spans from September to July.

The defence shall consist of a presentation by the doctoral student of the research work undertaken, the methodology used, the contents and the conclusions, with special reference to the student’s original contributions.

The members of the assessment board may ask the doctoral student any questions they deem fit. Likewise, any doctors in attendance at the public defence may ask questions at the time and in the manner indicated by the assessment board chair.

22.3. Should errors be detected in the thesis or should the doctoral thesis assessment board consider it necessary to add the recommendations made by the board itself or by other doctors during the public defence, the secretary of the board shall draw up a report on this point, explicitly record this fact in the minutes and submit the original signed report to the Doctoral School. The Doctoral School will add the secretary’s report to the submitted copy.

Article 23. Format of the doctoral thesis defence

23.1. Pompeu Fabra University doctoral thesis defences may have a face-to-face or hybrid format. In both cases, the doctoral student is required to attend the thesis defence in person.

A defence is considered to have a hybrid format when one of the assessment board members connects remotely.

In the event of a hybrid thesis defence, at least two assessment board members should attend in person, one of whom must always be the secretary.

23.2. The session may only be recorded with the prior consent of the doctoral student and all members of the assessment board. This recording will be of documentary value only; under no circumstances may it be published or posted by any electronic means.

Article 24. Marking of the doctoral thesis

The members of the assessment board will issue a report and award an overall mark to the thesis in accordance with the applicable regulations. The assessment board may propose that the thesis be awarded the distinction ‘cum laude’, if the secret vote cast to this end is unanimously in favour. Once the doctoral thesis defence session is over, the votes for the ‘cum laude’ distinction will be counted at a session other than that of the thesis defence.

The assessment board for the thesis defence may unanimously recommend that the thesis be considered for a special doctoral award.

Article 25. Publication of the doctoral thesis

25.1. Once approved, the doctoral thesis will be archived electronically and in open access in the TDX (Theses and Dissertations Online) repository. The Doctoral School will send the Spanish Ministry of Education a digital copy of the thesis, as well as any additional information that might be required for the appropriate purposes.

25.2. In cases in which, pursuant to Article 14.6 of Royal Decree 99/2011, the academic committee has provided for the possibility of partially restricting the thesis’s publication, the doctoral student must inform the Doctoral School accordingly, providing a copy of the thesis from which any points subject to special protection have been removed, as well as a full-text copy, which, in compliance with the applicable rules, will be held in the University Archives. This copy will be kept confidential for the term agreed by the doctoral programme’s academic committee.

SECTION 6. THE DOCTORAL DIPLOMA AND THE DOCTORAL THESIS SPECIAL AWARD

Article 26. The doctoral diploma

Once they have successfully completed their thesis defence, the doctoral student may request a doctoral diploma from Pompeu Fabra University.

Article 27. Doctoral diploma with the international distinction                               

The doctoral diploma may include the words ‘International doctor’ on the front, provided the conditions set out under Article 15.1 of Royal Decree 99/2011 are met.

Article 28. Doctoral thesis with the international co-supervision stamp

The doctoral diploma may include the words ‘Thesis co-supervised with U University’ on the front, provided the conditions set out under Article 15.2 of Royal Decree 99/2011 are met.

Article 29. Doctoral diploma with the industrial distinction

The doctoral diploma may include the words ‘Industrial doctor’ on the front, provided the conditions set forth under Article 15 bis of Royal Decree 99/2011 are met.

Article 30. Special awards for doctoral theses

30.1. The doctoral programme’s academic committee may submit a proposal for a Doctoral Thesis Special Award to the Doctoral School’s Management Committee. Each doctoral programme’s academic committee may request the award of one special award for every ten doctoral theses defended or fraction thereof earning the mark of ‘excellent’ and awarded the ‘cum laude’ distinction.

30.2. Prizes may not be awarded ex aequo.

TRANSITIONAL PROVISION

For doctoral students who formalized their first enrolment for thesis supervision in the doctoral programme prior to the entry into force of Royal Decree 576/2023, of 4 July 2023, the regulations governing doctoral studies and issuance of the doctoral diploma in force when they began their studies shall apply. In any case, the regulations concerning the assessment board, defence and assessment of the doctoral thesis provided for under Royal Decree 576/2023 shall apply to all students from the 2024–2025 academic year onwards.

SOLE OVERRIDING PROVISION

These regulations repeal the academic regulations for doctoral studies approved by resolution of the Board of Governors on 20 June 2012 and amended by resolution of the Board of Governors on 19 February 2020.

SOLE FINAL PROVISION

These regulations shall enter into force the day after their approval and publication in the Online Office.

 

Publication date: 23 February 2026