The application of the new Royal Decree 778/1998 of 30 April, which regulates doctoral studies, and the consolidation and the increasing development of our university have highlighted the need to establish regulations to incorporate new developments, clarify some aspects, improve systems, attribute competences to the Doctoral Studies Committee and the University departments and institutes, and above all, to enhance their quality.

The contents of this document are divided into three chapters that govern programming, the implementation of doctoral programmes and the preparation and presentation of the doctoral thesis, respectively. The first chapter also contains some specific guidelines for the preparation and presentation of master's programmes with links to doctoral studies which except for these guidelines, are governed by the rules for UPF-endorsed degree courses.

All matters not covered by these regulations shall be governed by Royal Decree 778/1998 of 30 April and the legislation applicable thereto.

Chapter I

Programming: preparation, submission and approval of proposals

Article 1. Academic bodies responsible

1. Doctoral programmes can be organized by UPF university departments or institutes. University institutes coordinating doctoral programmes must be constituted in accordance with the Organic Law 11/1983 on university reform.

2. The master's degree programmes linked to the doctorate will be organized by the same department or institute responsible for the doctoral programme to which they are linked. The director of the doctorate concerned must give his/her consent to these proposed studies, if the supervision of the master's degree is not the same as that of the doctorate.

3. From the internal point of view, doctorates organized jointly with other universities will operate as UPF programmes and must fulfil all the conditions of the latter. The proposal for these programmes must be accompanied by a draft agreement which must be signed by the participating institutions.

Article 2. Knowledge areas

1. The knowledge areas that can be assigned to a doctoral programme in order to obtain research proficiency in those areas must be in the department that has academic responsibility.

Under exceptional circumstances, if knowledge areas other than those of the department responsible for the doctor course are to be included, the director of the department must submit a report to the Doctoral Studies Committee, and where applicable this body will ask for a report from the department to which these areas are assigned.

2. For departments undergoing constitution, the Doctoral Studies Committee must assess the affinity of the proposed areas for the doctoral programme in terms of the possible development of the department.

Article 3. The teaching staff

1. Lecturers on doctoral programmes must be doctors. The proposal for each programme must include a full list of the lecturers responsible for teaching and the lecturers tutoring students with responsibility for their studies and research work. The professor lecturers must be members of the university department or institute responsible for the doctorate.

2. Teaching staff teaching shared courses or seminars on master's degree programmes linked to the doctorate may receive no financial compensation, as these credits are part of the teaching in the University's Teaching Activity Plan (PAD). Likewise, teaching credits in the master's degree not shared with the doctoral programme are not counted in the PAD.

Article 4. Duration of the programmes

1. The doctoral programme is divided into a teaching period and a research period, has a minimum duration of two years and a maximum of four academic years.

The teaching period will take place during at most the first two academic years.

The research period begins with passing a minimum of twenty credits in the teaching period (fifteen of which must be core credits) and ends with the presentation and assessment of the research work not later than the fourth academic year.

2. The minimum duration of the master's degree programmes linked to the doctorate is that shown in the regulations governing UPF-endorsed degree courses for these postgraduate studies.

Article 5. Minimum number of students in a programme

There must be at least ten students in a programme, in accordance with article 2.5 of Royal Decree 778/1998 of April 30.

Article 6. Requirements in credits

1. Doctoral programmes must stipulate a minimum number of credits to be passed, which may be equal to or less than the minimum established by the general regulations governing doctoral studies. A maximum of five credits in courses outside the programme can be counted in the minimum credits for the teaching period for each programme (agreement of the Board of Governors of 8 April, 2003).

2. Master's programmes linked to a doctoral programme, which may include a specific number of credits for the teaching period of the doctorate, require a minimum of forty credits to be passed.

Passing credits shared with the doctorate will not guarantee a validation of more than 50% of the credits in its teaching period under any circumstances.

Article 7. Structure and content of the programmes

1. The teaching period for the doctorate will be divided into courses offered during the first and second academic year of the programme.

2. The courses offered in each academic year will be classified as core, methodological or similar courses or seminars, and for each course or seminar, the name, credit value and academic year(s) in which it will be taught, whether it is compulsory or optional and the name of the lecturer in charge must be specified, as well as the centre to which he/she is affiliated as a teacher or researcher.

Compulsory courses and seminars must be taught in both the first and second year of the teaching period.

3. The inclusion of subjects linked to other doctoral programmes must be authorized by the academic head of the other programme, and attached to the programme proposal.

4. The academic programmes of all the courses and/or seminars, with a description of the main content and where appropriate, the reference literature, must be presented with the proposal for the doctorate.

5. The research period in the doctorate involves producing and presenting one or more supervised research studies. The directors of each programme will establish guidelines for work and monitoring during this period by the students in the programme's presentation document.

6. Master's programmes linked to a doctorate must specify the courses and/or seminars, the teaching staff and the number of credits shared with the doctoral programme, in addition to all the items stipulated in the regulations for UPF-endorsed degree courses.

Article 8. Courses offered

1. Approval of the courses offered on a doctoral programme does not imply that all the courses therein will necessarily be taught, except for the compulsory subjects.

2. The final formulation of the courses offered for the first and second academic year will be determined in accordance with the guidelines for approval of the PAD of each department, and this body will notify the Doctoral Studies Committee three months before the start of the doctoral programme.

3. The courses offered in the first academic year of a doctoral programme may include seminars from another doctoral similar in the same department or university institute as its own courses.

Similarly, the inclusion of courses and seminars from the first academic year of a similar new doctoral programme approved by the same university department or institute may be applied for before the start of the second academic year of the programme.

Article 9. Calendar

1. The department or institute responsible for each programme must specify the timeframe of the courses and/or seminars and research assignment within the general academic calendar of the doctoral studies established by the University for each academic year - indicating the periods of dissemination, preregistration, registration tutorial, admission, teaching and assessment.

2. The master's degree programmes linked to the doctorate must establish their own schedule and the doctoral programme calendar will only be applicable for courses and seminars that are common to the two programmes.

Article 10. Formalization of the proposals

The doctoral programme proposals must consist of a presentation document and a dossier with the characteristics and structure listed in Appendices I and II of this document.

Article 11. Deadline for presentation and approval

1. Departments and institutes must submit their proposals for doctoral programmes and master's programmes with links to the doctorate before the end of December in the academic year prior to the start of the programme.

2. The Doctoral Studies Committee must decide on the proposals for each academic year before the end of February in the academic year prior to the start of the programmes.

3. For master's degree programmes linked to doctorates, the Doctoral Studies Committee must also decide on the start of activities in these studies, in accordance with the procedures established by the regulations governing UPF-endorsed degree courses.

Article 12. Admission requirements

1. To gain admission to a doctoral programme, it is necessary to hold a bachelor's, architect's, or engineer's degree or the equivalent or a degree homologated to these. Candidates may be admitted to any doctoral programme that is scientifically related to their university curriculum.

2. Candidates with a bachelor's or equivalent level degree obtained at a foreign university or higher education institution must specifically be admitted in accordance with the first additional provision of Royal Decree 778/1998 of 30 April, and must follow procedures established by UPF to that end.

3. The academic heads of each doctorate may provide a list of academic qualifications related to the programme's academic profile in the proposal. However, if any qualification is to be declared an essential access requirement, it must be in place at UPF. The Doctoral Studies Committee must decide upon the admission of candidates presenting an academic curriculum not related to the doctoral programme, subject to a report by the director of the programme.

4. Access to the master's degree programmes linked to the doctorate has the same requirements as the doctorate in terms of academic level. In exceptional circumstances, the Doctoral and Postgraduate Studies Committee may authorize the admission of three-year degree holders, technical engineers, technical architects and graduates, depending on the specific nature, characteristics and content of the programmes, subject to a report from the directors of the master's degree and doctorate (agreement of the Governing Board of 20 February 2002).

Article 13. Selection criteria

1. The programmes proposed must explain the criteria for selection of candidates.

2. The admission or non-admission of the candidates selected is the responsibility of those responsible for each programme, in accordance with the selection yardstick and the number of places offered.

Article 14. The research proficiency board

1. A board must be constituted for each doctoral programme that conducts an overall assessment of the knowledge acquired by the students who have passed the programme, and confers recognition of research proficiency and the Advanced Studies academic level that enables them to begin work on the doctoral thesis.

This board, of which there will be one for each programme, will consist of three doctors, one of whom must not be a member of the department responsible for the programme, and the president must be a professor at the university.

2. The presentation document of each doctorate will determine the composition of this board, with a minimum of six members (three full members and three substitutes): a president, a substitute president, two members and two substitute members, for whom a brief teaching and research curriculum vitae will be attached.

Those responsible for a doctoral programme that has more than six knowledge areas related to it may, if they deem it appropriate, present a proposal for a board with more than six lecturers (including full and substitute members), so that each belongs to one knowledge area in the doctoral programme.

In the doctoral programme proposal, the department may also stipulate that the research proficiency board may require reports from experts in the field related to the academic line worked on by the student in the research period, if it deems this appropriate.

Article 15. Qualifications

1. Doctoral studies lead to the Advanced Studies Diploma and the doctorate from the UPF.

2. Master's programmes linked to doctoral programmes will lead to a master's degree qualification from UPF, in accordance with the provisions of the regulations for UPF-endorsed degree courses.

Article 16. The budget

The distribution of resources allocated to postgraduate studies is the responsibility of the Doctoral Studies Committee, under the terms of the agreement of the Governing Board of the UPF of 14 October 1998.

Chapter II

Implementation of doctoral programmes

Article 17. Admission to the programmes

1. After the registration and selection processes have been completed, and before the end of September, the director of the doctoral programme will send the Doctoral Studies Committee the full list of candidates admitted, showing the tutor assigned to each student.

2. As well as the list of those admitted, the programme director must send the following information on pre-registered candidates: name and surnames, place and date of birth, name of the academic qualification showing the year and centre of issue, number of years of duration of studies to obtain the qualification, details of the academic transcript (number of fail, pass, good, excellent and honours grades in absolute and percentage terms and transcript average) indicating whether the candidate has been accepted or not.

Observations on the qualitative assessment of the transcript must be included instead of the numerical value for candidates with academic transcripts from foreign studies, given the complex nature of equivalence between grades.

Article 18. Tutorials and registration for the teaching period

1. During the first two academic years of the doctorate, students must register for all courses and/or seminars that enable them to pass the minimum required credits in the teaching period. Credits will be distributed by academic year in agreement with the tutor and according to the requirements stipulated in the syllabus.

2. In September, the department or institute responsible for the doctoral programme will announce the courses offered in the coming academic year, the academic calendar and timetables of courses and related seminars.

3. Registration for each academic year will require a prior tutorial, and the list of courses and seminars to be registered for must have been specifically authorized by each student's tutor.

4. Students may register for courses outside the programme up to five credits, if this is stipulated in the programme. Authorization from the tutor and academic head of the doctoral programme to which the course or seminar belongs is required for registration for these credits.

5. Students may register for the number of non-compulsory courses authorized by their tutor. However, in order to obtain the minimum number of credits for the programme, the distribution of credits stipulated by the syllabus as regards the type and characteristics of the course or seminar (core, methodological, related and compulsory or optional) must be taken into consideration.

6. Registration for each academic year will take place in October, on the dates established by the University, except for exceptional cases, which must be justified before the Doctoral Studies Committee.

7. Students may apply to the directors of the doctoral programme for a change of tutor, stating their grounds for doing so.

Directors of the programmes will send an updated list of the doctor lecturers assigned to each doctoral student to the administrative unit responsible for registration of these studies before the start of each academic year in the doctorate.

Article 19. Number of students per course or seminar

1. The number of students per course or seminar must not be less than six.

2. The academic directors of the programme must assess the feasibility of each course or seminar in relation to the number of students registered at the end of the tutorial process.

3. Authorization must be sought from the vice-rector's office responsible for the subject if a course or seminar is to be taught with less than six students. If a decision is taken to cancel the course or seminar, the students must be notified so that they can make the appropriate change to the registration tutorial in agreement with their tutor. The Doctoral Studies Committee must also be notified.

Article 20. Changes to the syllabus

1. Directors of doctoral programmes must notify the Doctoral Studies Committee of any changes they wish to make regarding the syllabus (courses and seminars offered, number of credits, lecturers responsible, etc.). This notification must be accompanied by a reasoned justification and must be provided with due advance notice, according to the deadlines established by the Doctoral Studies Committee.

2. Acceptance of a modification to the programme involving changes in the courses offered must be notified to the appropriate bodies responsible for the teaching activity plan.

Article 21. Changes to registration

1. On justified grounds and subject to authorization from their tutor, students can change their registration by increasing, cancelling or changing the courses or seminars in the courses offered in the second and third term of each academic year, within the deadlines established to that end.

2. Cancellations or changes to courses and/or seminars may not affect compulsory subjects and for second-year students, may not entail a reduction below the minimum required for passing the programme in the number and type of total credits registered.

3. Applications to change the registration must be made before the deadline for the start of the teaching of the course or seminar that is to be changed.

Article 22. Registration of teaching credits in the third academic year

1. The UPF Board of Trustees will stipulate the minimum number of credits that students must have passed to register for teaching credits in the third academic year of the programme.

2. In the third academic year, students may only register for teaching credits that were not passed on the first sitting and that are necessary to fulfil the minimum requirement of their syllabus.

Since there are no courses offered during the third academic year of a programme, the academic managers must anticipate the mechanisms for monitoring and assessment of the courses and seminars for which students have to register.

3. In exceptional circumstances and subject to authorization from the tutor, students can register in the third academic year of courses or seminars outside the programme, when these are necessary to pass the minimum credits for the teaching period.

Article 23. Cancellation of registration

1. Students may request cancellation of the entire registration within a maximum of two months from the registration date, with no need to provide justification.

2. Acceptance of the cancellation, which does not entail the refund of the registration fee, will be considered as if the student had not registered. Cancellation of the registration will entail the loss of the rights acquired by the student upon admission to the programme.

Article 24. Assessment and sittings

1. All courses and/or seminars will be subject to grading by the assessment mechanisms established in each case. According to the academic calendar of the programme, the assessment may take place on a termly basis during the periods listed in the general academic calendar, or at the latest, during the first week of September in each academic year.

2. The UPF Board of Trustees will stipulate the maximum number of calls for each course or seminar.

Article 25. Continuance and progression in studies

1. The UPF Board of Trustees will stipulate the minimum number of credits that students must have passed at the end of the second academic year of the teaching period and the deadline for doing so.

Article 26. Validations

1. The validation of doctoral courses and seminars shall be governed by the following criteria: the course subject to academic recognition must be a doctorate or postgraduate programme linked to a doctoral programme, the contents of the course taken must have equivalence with those of a UPF doctoral programme, and its number of credits must be greater than or equal to those in the course or seminar of the doctorate subject to validation.

2. Applications for validation, academic certificates and documents accrediting the content of the course subject to the validation process must be assessed by the director of the doctoral programme concerned, who will then issue a report for the Doctoral Studies Committee and where appropriate, a proposal for validation clarifying the equivalence with the courses and seminars in their doctoral programme.

3. Applications for validation must be presented within the ordinary deadline of two months before the tutorial and registration period, and for the extraordinary deadline, two months after the start of the academic year of the first and second year of teaching.

4. The Doctoral Studies Committee will decide on applications for validation.

Article 27. Recognition of credits

1. At the request of the doctoral student, a maximum of five credits from courses or seminars passed in other doctoral programmes or master's programmes related to doctoral programmes that do not meet the criteria of the validation process may receive academic recognition.

2. The application for recognition must be accompanied by the relevant certificates on the contents of the course or seminar, the number of credits and the grade obtained. The student's tutor must write a report on the application which must be approved by the director of the programme.

3. Applications for recognition must be presented within the ordinary deadline of two months before the tutorial and registration period, and for the extraordinary deadline, two months after the start of the academic year of the first and second year of teaching.

4. Applications for recognition shall be decided upon by the Doctoral Studies Committee.

5. The number of credits of courses or seminars recognized will be added to the student's transcript as credits outside the programme according to the number of credits passed, up to a maximum of five. If the student has previously registered other courses or seminars as credits outside the programme, only the remaining credits up to a maximum of five will be recognized.

Article 28. Teaching exchanges and research preparation stages

1. The directors of a doctoral programme may apply to the Doctoral Studies Committee for official recognition of specific subjects in foreign doctoral programmes or equivalent academic studies.

2. Applications for official recognition require justification of the academic level of these studies, the teaching programmes of the subjects and the course load, and the list of UPF subjects with which they have equivalence. An agreement or arrangement must be reached with the academic institution concerned.

3. Likewise, under exceptional circumstances and for an individual student, the academic directors of a doctoral programme may apply to the Doctoral Studies Committee to postpone the completion of the teaching period in the third academic year due to a research preparation stage outside the UPF.

Article 29. Certification of the teaching period

Students passing the minimum credits for the teaching period stipulated for each programme may apply for the appropriate certificate of accreditation.

Article 30. Registration and production of research work

1. Subject to authorization from their tutor, students may register the credits for research work at the beginning of the second or third academic year of the programme after having completed a minimum of twenty credits in the teaching period, fifteen of which must be for core subjects.

2. The directors of the doctoral programme will be responsible for determining the guidelines for conducting, monitoring, and assessment of research work, in accordance with the academic guidelines of the department or university institute responsible for those studies and the deadlines stipulated in section 31.1 of this document.

Article 31. Assessment of research work

1. After the end of the second academic year of the programme, students will have a maximum of two academic years for the presentation and assessment of the research work. The student must submit the research work before the end of second week of September in the second, third or fourth academic year.

2. The deadline for passing credits in the research period is the fourth academic year after the beginning of the doctoral programme.

Under exceptional circumstances, students who have not passed the research work in the fourth academic year of the programme may apply to the Doctoral Studies Committee, with the authorization of the tutor and of the director of the programme, for extraordinary registration of the research work in the fifth academic year of the programme.

Article 32. Registration of the doctoral thesis project

1. The doctoral thesis project must be presented before the end of the programme. This presentation will be made at the same time as the presentation of the research work.

2. Students must submit the application for registration of the doctoral thesis project in the department or institute responsible for the programme, together with the acceptance of the thesis supervisor, the endorsement of the tutor and director of the programme, and a brief summary of the work that they plan to undertake. The director of the department or university institute will decide whether to accept the project after making the enquiries that he/she deems appropriate.

3. Department and institute directors must submit the list of thesis projects registered for each doctoral programme for which they are responsible to the Doctoral Studies Committee before the end of October in each academic year.

Article 33. Assessment of research proficiency

1. Students who have completed the two academic periods of a doctoral programme may apply to defend the knowledge acquired at public proceedings before the research proficiency board of their programme.

2. The application must be submitted one month before one of the two defence periods established for each academic year, with a report in which the director of the doctoral programme gives a reasoned decision regarding the knowledge area in which the doctoral student may obtain research proficiency. The knowledge area in which research proficiency is to be recognized must be one of those attached to the doctoral programme.

3. Applications for the research efficiency examination can be made from the second academic year of the programme onwards, and before the end of the fourth academic year of the programme.

4. In each academic year, the defence can be undertaken within one of two periods stipulated by the directors of the programme. The directors of the program will announce the dates of the defence periods and notify the Doctoral Studies Committee to that end in September each year.

5. In exceptional circumstances, students who have been granted an extraordinary registration for the research work for the fifth academic year of the programme may apply to defend the research proficiency at the end of that academic year. This defence will take place in one single period before the end of October in the following academic year.

Article 34. Application for Advanced Studies Diploma

1. A favourable decision by the Research Proficiency Board allows students to apply for the Advanced Studies Diploma (ASD).

2. The contents of the ASD must be as follows: the student's name and surnames; the number of credits passed by the student in the doctoral programme; name of the university department or institute responsible for the doctoral programme; the date the research proficiency was passed; name of the knowledge area in which the student obtains research proficiency.

3. The ASD must include the signatures of the rector and of the interested party.

4. The price of issue of the ASD will be established by the Decree of the Generalitat (government) of Catalonia that establishes prices for the provision of academic services at public universities for each academic year.

5. The University must keep a record of these diplomas in accordance with the provisions of Article 7.3 of Royal Decree 1496/1987 of 6 November, on the issuing and recognition of university degrees.

Article 35. Assessment of doctoral programmes

The university departments or institutes responsible for a doctoral or master's programme linked to a doctorate will submit an assessment and monitoring report to the Doctoral Studies Committee at the end of the fourth year of the programme.

Chapter III

The doctoral thesis

Article 36. Registration of the thesis tutorial

1. Students who have registered a doctoral thesis project must maintain the association with the University and register the thesis tutorial every academic year until the thesis is deposited.

2. Payment of this registration fee shall be made in accordance with the Decree of the Generalitat (government) of Catalonia establishing prices for academic services.

3. Doctoral students must file an annual report on the progress of their research work and the most significant results produced to date, which must be assessed by the supervisors of the doctoral thesis.

4. The body responsible for the postgraduate programme, based on the reports received from the thesis supervisors, will submit a list of the doctoral students in the process of writing their doctoral theses and a copy of the reports issued to the University committee responsible for official postgraduate studies before the start of each academic year.

Article 37. The thesis supervisor

1. The body responsible for the postgraduate programme will assign the doctoral student a thesis supervisor for the preparation of the doctoral thesis. Thesis supervisors must be lecturers at Pompeu Fabra University in active service, although in exceptional circumstances, the thesis may be supervised by doctors in administrative situations other than active service, by doctors working at other universities or institutions and in short, by any other doctor. In these cases, authorization from the University committee responsible for official postgraduate studies will be required, subject to a report by the body responsible for the postgraduate programme, and a tutor must be appointed, who must be a doctor linked to the research line of the thesis.

2. The thesis supervisor must be a doctor with accredited research experience. The body responsible for the postgraduate official programme Committee to which the doctorate belongs must justify compliance with this requirement and inform the University committee responsible for official postgraduate studies. Having at least one period of positively assessed research activity will be deemed sufficient grounds.

3. The doctoral student may request the body responsible for the postgraduate programme for a change in the thesis supervision. After hearing the interested party, the thesis supervisor and the doctor proposed as the new supervisor, the body responsible for the postgraduate programme will come to a decision if there is no opposition. In the event of any disagreement, the transcript will be presented to the University committee responsible for official postgraduate studies to be resolved.

Article 38. Transcript transfer

1. Applications to transfer the transcript of students who completed studies in accordance with Royal Decree 778/1998, of 30 April, will be decided upon in accordance with Article 15 of the Royal Decree. Students who completed doctoral studies prior to the application of this Royal Decree must accredit research proficiency certification.

2. The Committee responsible for postgraduate studies will decide upon all transfer applications, subject to a report from the body responsible for the postgraduate programme in which the doctoral thesis project is to be registered. However, the Committee will reject these requests in cases in which the supervisor of the thesis is not a lecturer at UPF, unless there are exceptional reasons that justify accepting the transfer.

Article 39. Language of the thesis

If the student wishes to present the thesis in a language other than Catalan, Spanish or Spanish, he/she must specifically apply to that end to the University committee responsible for official postgraduate studies, with the approval of the supervisor of the thesis.

Article 40. Conventions or agreements with other institutions

The University will promote initiatives by bodies responsible for postgraduate programmes that reinforce the international dimension of work on doctoral theses and where necessary, will establish the appropriate systems for their recognition. Likewise, in certain cases, it may be possible to undertake a doctoral thesis under joint supervision with another international institution, by establishing agreements.

Article 41. Deadline for submission of the doctoral thesis

The UPF Board of Trustees will determine the deadline date for presentation of the doctoral thesis.

Article 42. Preparation and authorization of the doctoral thesis defence

1. The doctoral thesis must consist of original research work related to the scientific, technical, humanistic or artistic fields of the postgraduate programme. Subject to authorization of the thesis supervisor, the doctoral thesis may also consist of a series of articles which have recently been published or are in press. In the latter case, the doctoral thesis must include a report presenting the thesis defended, with an introductory chapter and final conclusions. Articles included in a thesis may not be included as part of any other.

2. The student may deposit his/her doctoral thesis after the doctoral thesis has been completed, subject to a favourable report from the thesis supervisor, which must be comprehensive and individual, and the tutor's report in the case of external supervision, if applicable.

3. Each body responsible for the postgraduate programme will propose the mechanisms to ensure the quality of the theses during their production process (public exposition at seminars, prior publication in journals of renowned prestige, external reports, etc.). These mechanisms must be approved by the committee responsible for postgraduate studies in each case. The documentation generated by the application of these mechanisms must be attached as prior documentation for the authorization of the doctoral thesis.

4. The doctoral thesis must be presented before the body responsible for the postgraduate programme. The application must state the language in which the thesis will be defended, and must be accompanied by favourable authorization reports from the supervisor or supervisors, three hardcover bound copies of the thesis, seven copies of the thesis published in paper format and a copy of the thesis in electronic format. Copies of the thesis must be submitted under the conditions determined by the University committee responsible for official postgraduate studies.

5. The body responsible for the postgraduate programme will notify the Academic Management Service of the presentation of the doctoral thesis so that this is circulated to the entire University community. The doctoral thesis will be deposited for 10 calendar days from the day following the date of deposit, so that doctors at the University can examine it and where appropriate, write to the University committee responsible for official postgraduate studies with the observations that they deem appropriate.

6. After this deadline, and within two months, the body responsible for the postgraduate programme will send the University committee responsible for official postgraduate studies all the documentation generated by the assessment process of the doctoral thesis for processing, together with a proposal of 10 experts in the subject who may be members of the board responsible for judging it. This proposal must be accompanied by a report on the suitability of the subject of the thesis from each of the ten members proposed. If the body responsible for the programme does not propose the composition of the board within that period, the University committee responsible for official postgraduate studies may appoint the board under the terms set out in Article 43.

7. The body responsible for the postgraduate programme will send the committee responsible for postgraduate studies all the documentation generated by the assessment process of the doctoral thesis for processing.

8. The committee responsible for official postgraduate studies will authorize the thesis defence or otherwise in view of the documentation received. If the thesis defence is not authorized, the committee must notify the doctoral student, the thesis supervisor and the body responsible for the postgraduate programme of the reasons for its decision in writing.

Article 43. Thesis board (see the agreement of the Board of Governors of 16 June 2010)

1. After the doctoral thesis defence has been authorized, the University committee responsible for official postgraduate studies shall appoint a board consisting of five full members and two substitutes, all of whom must have doctorates and accredited research experience, with no more than two members from the same University. There must be a balanced representation of women and men, except on reasoned and objective grounds, which are duly justified. Each sex must account for at least forty percent of the members.

2. The supervisor or supervisors and the tutor of the doctoral thesis may not be members of the board, except in cases where the thesis has been submitted as part of a bilateral co-supervision agreement with foreign universities with provisions to that end.

3. The University committee responsible for official postgraduate studies shall designate the president from among the members of the board, in accordance with the requirements stipulated by the body responsible for the postgraduate programme, and the secretary. If a full member of the board withdraws on justified grounds, the president will replace him/her with the appropriate substitute.

4. After the board has been appointed, the body responsible for the postgraduate programme will send each member a copy of the doctoral thesis at least three weeks before the date set for the reading.

Article 44. Defence and assessment of the doctoral thesis

1. The doctoral thesis defence will be convened by the president and notified by the secretary to the Committee responsible for postgraduate studies at least 15 calendar days before it is to take place.

2. The proceedings will take place in open session within the academic period established for the defence of theses, from September to July inclusive, and will consist of the doctoral student's exposition of the work done, the methodology, the content and the conclusions, with special emphasis on his/her original contributions.

3. The board members will ask the doctoral student as many questions as they consider appropriate. The doctors present at the public proceedings may also ask questions at the time and in the manner indicated by the president of the board.

4. After the defence and discussion of the thesis, each member of the board will provide an assessment in writing. The secretary of the board will send these written assessments to the Academic Management Service within one week.

5. The board will issue the overall grade finally awarded to the thesis according to the following scale: fail, pass, good and excellent. The board may award the distinction "cum laude" if the overall grade is excellent and there is a unanimous vote to that effect.

Article 45. The doctorate

After the defence of the thesis has been passed, the student will be able to apply for a doctorate from UPF.

Article 46. Extraordinary prizes for doctoral theses

The body responsible for the postgraduate programme may submit a proposal for an Extraordinary Doctoral Thesis Prize to the University committee responsible for postgraduate studies. Each body responsible for the postgraduate programme may request the award of an extraordinary prize for every ten doctoral theses read, with a maximum of one every academic year.

Final provisions

First. These regulations will be applicable to students who began their doctoral studies before the 1998-1999 academic year from the 2000-2001 academic year onwards.

Second. These regulations will be applicable to students who began their doctoral studies before the 1998-1999 academic year and have yet to pass all the credits on their programme from the 2000-2001 academic year onwards.

Third. Students who began their doctoral studies before the 1998-1999 academic year and who are able to obtain research proficiency from the 2000-2001 academic year onwards may obtain it according to the guidelines established by the previous regulations governing doctoral studies and the current regulations regarding the time required, presentation and defence of the doctoral thesis will be applicable to them.

However, these students may apply to take the research proficiency examination and obtain the Advanced Studies Diploma as stipulated in the current regulations, according to the criteria established by the Doctoral Studies Committee in each case.

Fourth. The UPF doctorate, as stipulated in Decree 778/1998 governing doctoral studies, will be issued to students beginning the doctorate in the 1998-1999 academic year or afterwards, and to students obtaining research proficiency on or after 1 October 1998.

The doctorate, as stipulated in the aforementioned regulations governing doctoral studies, which is an official qualification of graduate, architect or engineer, will only be issued to students who obtained research proficiency before 1 October 1998.

 

APPENDIX I

Formalization of proposals. The doctorate presentation document

The presentation document of the programme shall contain at least the following sections:

1. Objectives of the programme.

2. Management of the programme and the department or institute responsible for the programme.

3. Anticipated schedule for teaching of the courses and/or seminars in the teaching period.

4. Academic programmes of the courses and/or seminars, showing the lecturer responsible.

5. Detailed list of lecturers on the program, showing the year in which and university where they obtained their doctorate, the centre where they currently work and their level of academic responsibility in the programme (director, coordinator, tutor and/or lecturer).

6. Description of the research period, research lines offered, frequency of tutorials monitoring and assessing the work, instructions for completion and presentation of the work, final assessment methods, etc.

7. Research proficiency board and brief teaching and research curriculum of all the members.

8. Proposed schedule of implementation (preregistration, admission and tutorial registration periods), showing the academic and/or administrative unit responsible for the information.

 

APPENDIX II