Process for deposit and defense of doctoral thesis

Regulatory regulations and recommendations:

Prerequisites:

  • Having registered the thesis project.
  • Having obtained two consecutive positive annual monitoring and evaluation reports of the research plan.
  • Being up to date on the payment of the doctoral tuition since the doctoral studies began.

Doctoral thesis modalities:

The TITLE, SUMMARY AND KEYWORDS must always be in Catalan

  • MONOGRAPH
    or Minimal sections: index, summary, keywords, introduction, research question, objectives, methodology, results, discussion, conclusions and bibliographic references.
  • COMPILATION OF PUBLICATIONS
    o At least two published or accepted publications (since the first registration) o Doctoral student first author of at least one o UB affiliation of the doctoral student at the publication
    o Publication deposited in the UB Digital Depository Sections: summary or synopsis, introduction, publications , general discussion, references

 

Modalities of defense

  1. Face-to-face (acts are electronic)
  2. Telematics:
    1. The PhD student not present
    2. neither doctoral student nor court present
    3. some member of the court not present

 

What to do (procedure under review due to change in regulations – consult the SED) : 

ASSOCIATED FORMS 

  1. Doctoral student submits the Deposit Request via electronic Office (manual)

The request must be sent to the Faculty’s Student and Teaching Office (SED) for review and must be accompanied by the following documents:

  • Sample of thesis in electronic format ( pdf in normal theses and encrypted in thesis subject to intellectual protection, transfer of technology or knowledge) signed electronically The thesis must contain, at least, the following information:
    • On the title page or on the first page, the name of the doctoral program, title of the thesis, name and surname of the doctoral student, name and surname of the thesis director(s) and the tutor, if any.
    • Theses must include a general introduction, methodology, results or argumentative development, final conclusions and bibliography.
    • If doctoral theses are not written in Catalan, a summary in this language must always be included, as well as the title and keywords.
    • The Academic Committee of the program may establish other format and content requirements depending on the scope of the thesis. In the case of presenting a thesis as a compendium of publications or theses subject to processes of protection or transfer of technology or knowledge, it is necessary to take into account what is established in article 37 of the Regulations.
  • FORM 6 AND FORM 7 – The form filled out with the data on the thesis necessary for subsequent publication in the institutional repository of the UB and the TDX theses repository together with a summary of a maximum of 600 words in the language of the thesis and a extract of 350 words (in Catalan or Spanish if the thesis is in English) (more information here)
  • FORM 8 – The form filled in with the necessary data for the TESEO database according to the standardized model . The TESEO file must include, at a minimum, the personal data of the doctoral student, the summary of the thesis and the UNESCO codes .
  • FORM 9 – DOCUMENT OF ACTIVITIES (DAD) (The document of activities carried out by the doctoral student throughout the doctorate)
  1. Doctoral student or director sends to the SED via email (sec.mat.inf@ub.edu):
  1. FORM 2 – Reports from the thesis director/s and the tutor, on the authorization of the deposit
  2. FORM 3 – Proposal of the members of the panel (3 regulars and 2 substitutes): 5 experts, doctors, and a short reasoned report of the curriculum of each of the proposed members and proposal of at least 2 possible external evaluators of the doctoral thesis (they can be part of the panel ). The defense proposal is included: face-to-face or online
  3. FORM 4 – Declaration signed by the doctoral student according to which the thesis is original, the codes of ethics and good practices have been complied with and that the thesis does not contain plagiarism, stating that he knows and consents that his thesis will be subjected to procedures to verify its originality .
  4. FORM 5- Declaration signed by the director of the doctoral thesis that the ethical codes and good practices have been complied with and that they are not aware of any plagiarism. The report from the plagiarism detection program must be attached to this document and the director and tutors must justify the results. (URKUND program – user guide)

IMPORTANT: If opting for the award of the international mention, the doctoral student must send by email to the SED:

  • Accreditation through the corresponding certificate issued by the person responsible for the research group of the organizations where a minimum stay of three months has been carried out outside Spain in a higher education institution or in a prestigious research center.
  • At least one member of the panel must belong to a non-Spanish higher education institution or research research center and different from those in charge who have certified the research stays or the activities carried out.
  • Presentation of 2 favorable reports of the doctoral thesis of 2 experts, doctors, from a higher education institution or non-Spanish research institute.
  • That part of the doctoral thesis, at least the summary and conclusions, has been written and presented in one of the usual languages for scientific communication other than the official or co-official languages in Spain, with the exception that the stay, the reports and the experts come from a Spanish- or Catalan-speaking country. (This requirement will be certified by the president of the court who will evaluate the thesis)
  • NOTE: once the thesis has been defended, before applying for the doctoral degree , within a maximum period of 3 months from the day after the defense date , the doctoral student can request the granting of the mention of an international doctor by submitting the request for international mention to the General Registry of the UB or the UB Electronic Office by generic request addressed to the Secretariat of Students and Teaching (SED)  which will be resolved by the Academic Committee of the doctoral program.

3 . Pay the defense fees (Once the deposit is completed) : After receiving the authorization to read the thesis, the doctoral student has a period of 10 days to pay the defense fees and deliver them to the SED proof of payment for the reading rights of the doctoral thesis.

4.Reserve the classroom for the defense: Just in case the defense doesn’t be online, with a minimum of seven calendar days before the date of the thesis defense, the classroom must be reserved for the defense.

Internal procedure:

  • The SED reviews the documentation received and if any errors and/or omissions are detected, the doctoral student will have 10 days to correct them (important: the electronic copy of the thesis cannot be amended).
  • The Academic Committee of the Doctorate Program must make a report on the deposit request
  • Once all the correct documentation has been received, the SED sends it to the Faculty’s Research and Doctorate Commission (CRID) to authorize the deposit, defense and appointment of the members of the tribunal. The CRID can ask for improvements to be made in the Thesis. CRID also request the reports from the 2 experts proposed by the directors (they have 30 working days to send the report)

Maximum term 60 working days from the day after the deposit request is submitted in the application. If the CRID asks to make improvements to the thesis, the deadline is 75 days

CRID FAVORABLE AUTHORIZES:
  • Agreement is notified to the PhD student/director, thesis tutoring and program coordination
  • Start of the deposit: The deposit is made public on the website within a maximum of 5 working days from the day after the communication of the deposit approval agreement Duration of the deposit: 7 working days from the day after publication on the web. During this period, any doctor can examine the thesis and make written objections.
  • Appointment of members of the court and alternates and determines the mode of defense
CRID DOES NOT AUTHORIZE:
  • CRID must make a reasoned report and notify the PhD student, director, thesis tutor and program coordinator
  • If the doctoral student has not completed the duration of the doctorate, he/she can do the annual follow-up of the research plan.

4. The doctoral student pays the defense fees (Once the deposit is completed): After receiving the authorization to read the thesis, the doctoral student has a period of 10 days to make the payment of the defense fees and hand over to the SED the proof of payment for the rights to read the doctoral thesis.

5. From the SED, the appointments to the regular and substitute members of the court are sent via email within a maximum of 10 working days. Attached: DOCTORAL DISSERTATION, DAD, REPORTS OF THE 2 EXPERTS. The proposed members must communicate their acceptance within a maximum period of 10 days, by email.

6. The Secretary of the court:

  • Once the relevant consultations with the other members of the tribunal have been carried out, the public act of defense of the thesis must be convened no later than 3 months after the president of the tribunal received the appointment.
  • With a minimum of seven calendar days before the date of the celebration , the secretary of the tribunal must communicate in writing the call for the public act of defense of the doctoral thesis to the other members of the tribunal, to the doctoral student president of the Research and PhD Committee, the thesis director, the thesis tutor and the SED.
  • You must notify the SED at least 7 days in advance : the date and place of the reading
  • Reserve the classroom for the defence : Just in case the defense doesn’t be electronic with a minimum of seven calendar days before the date of the thesis defense, the thesis director must reserve the classroom for the defense.
  • The SED will make it public on the Faculty’s website and will send the documentation and instructions that the court will need to carry out the defense.

Act of defense

IMPORTANT: Proceedings will always be electronic regardless of the mode of defense. They must be signed electronically and with a mandatory electronic certificate in the case of the Secretary

It will take place according to the approved modality, in public session, on a working day in accordance with the calendar of the UB electronic headquarters and in a UB space or linked research center.

For the court to be able to act validly, the presence of the 3 titular members is necessary (in case of situations that arise, the SED must be contacted as soon as possible so that the court can be told how to solve them)

The act consists of the presentation and defense of the research work prepared by the doctoral student before the members of the court. The doctors present at the public event can formulate questions at the time and in the manner indicated by the president of the court.

After the defense and discussion of the thesis, the court, in a private session, must issue a single written report and the overall grade awarded to the thesis in terms of not suitable, passed, remarkable or excellent . The president of the court publicly communicates the grade obtained

In case of obtaining an Excellent, the court will issue a secret vote to obtain the mention cum laude which must be unanimously positive.

The scrutiny of the votes for obtaining the cum laude mention is done in a different session from the act of defending the thesis.

The result of the voting with the final qualification will be communicated to the doctoral student by the Presidency of the CRID

Note: In the case of online sessions, the session can only be recorded with the prior consent of the doctoral student and all members of the panel. This recording has only documentary value; under no circumstances may it be made public or published by any electronic means. The defense procedure, the form of deliberation by the court and the documentation that must be completed is the same as that indicated for theses read in person.

Archiving and publication of the thesis – Issuance of the doctorate

The digital version of the thesis will be included by the SED in the institutional repository of the UB and in the TDX thesis repository or equivalent. The SED will send the approved theses in electronic format and the complementary information to the Ministry. The official title of doctor must be requested from the SED. It is obtained once it is defended and the favorable rating is obtained and the title issuance rights are paid. In case of International Mention in the degree, co-supervision , industrial doctorate and other special situations, the SED must be consulted

 

Doctoral theses of the Doctoral Program in Mathematics and Computer Science read since 1998