Thesis Defense: Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Ph.D. thesis?

The Ph.D. thesis is the intended outcome of the doctoral training period. Your thesis must give account of your scientific work and meet the quality standards established by the Academic Committee of the program.

It involves presenting the doctoral research work (objectives, achievements, method, results...)

in a public academic event before an expert Court that will evaluate the work and the exhibition.

Prior to the development of the academic act, it is necessary to comply with a series of steps:

Approval of the thesis by the thesis directors, Review of the thesis by external experts, Approval of the thesis by the CAPD, Pass the plagiarism analysis, Deposit the thesis with the academic community, Obtain the approval of the thesis defense and the evaluation panel.

As a general rule, you must have been enrolled on your Ph.D. program for at least 24 months before initiating the thesis defense proceedings.

You must bear in mind that the deposit of the thesis must begin before your maximum period of permanence in the Doctoral Program expires (please check your deadline and start the process at least two and a half months in advance).

It depends on the date you started your studies and your dedication to the doctoral project: there is a maximum period of 5 years - including an extension of one final year - if your dedication is "full time"; There is a maximum period of 8 years - including an extension of one final year - if your dedication is “part-time” (in mixed cases, the maximum period will depend on the dates). Please check your deadline well in advance - in your electronic file - to properly schedule the final stages.

Once you comply with the requirements to initiate the process, a minimum of 15 weeks (University holidays period not included) is normally necessary to carry out the entire process:

1. Defense request to the Academic Committee of the PhD Program, along with the thesis document and a proposal of two external experts to issue their reports (starting point)

2. Reports received by the external experts (4-8 weeks approx.)

3. Plagiarism control procedure (2 weeks approx.)

4. Thesis deposit. (2 weeks)

5. Approval of thesis defense and appointment of Thesis Committee by the Dean of Doctoral School. (1 week approx)

6. Organization of the defense session (2 weeks approx).

7. Thesis defense session

You must have the final document “doctoral thesis” with the approval of your thesis director/s and make a request to the Doctoral Program (by electronic means, through SIGMA, or through the Doctoral School Management Office).

You must have the final thesis document, check that all the information related to your doctoral file is correct (tutor, director, title of the thesis, etc.), review and finalize the Doctoral Activity Report that resides on the SIGMA electronic platform, prepare your CV and the required technical and non-technical summaries and, with the help of your director(s), prepare a proposal for external reviewers that is accepted by the Academic Committee of the PhD Program.

The doctoral thesis must be informed by external reviewers-evaluators, at the beginning of the process. Therefore, you must prepare, with the help of your thesis director(s), a proposal for reviewers, which the Academic Committee will approve or modify, and finally request the reports, so that they are prepared within the maximum period of a month.

Further information: Review by external experts

Once the reports are requested and received, the Academic Committee of the PhD Program may suggest changes or additions to the thesis, based on said opinions. You will have one month to prepare the final thesis document and respond to the Academic Committee with an improvement report.

To ensure compliance with the principles established in the Code of Good Practice for Managing Plagiarism of Ph.D. Theses of the Doctoral School, all theses must be subjected to a plagiarism control procedure prior to the authorization of the defense.

Once the Academic Committee of your Ph.D. program determines that your research period is finished and your thesis is ready for deposit, a pdf file of the thesis will be submitted to the Doctoral School.

The plagiarism analysis will produce a Coincidence Report and a Reasoned Report of said coincidences, which the Academic Committee will review and approve first, sending the result to the Director of the Doctoral School, so that the plagiarism analysis may be considered satisfactory.

The final document of the thesis that will go through the defense process (deposit, sending to the Evaluation Court and custody in the institutional archive of uc3m) will be the document that has satisfactorily passed the plagiarism control.

The results of this study will be at the disposal of the members of the Thesis Committee, should they be requested.

Further information:  Plagiarism analysis

The deposit of your thesis enables UC3M professors and scholars of your field to review your work before the defense. The deposit period is 15 days (excluding August), after which all comments and observations by the experts will be reported to the Academic Committee and yourself. 

Further information:  Thesis deposit

Once your thesis has successfully passed both stages, the Academic Committee of the program will elaborate their proposal for thesis defense, providing details of the proposed members of the Thesis Committee on the Authorization of thesis defense and appointment of Thesis Committee. Eligibility for “Doctorado Internacional”, “Doctorado Industrial” or International Cotutelle must be indicated, where applicable.

This proposal will be submitted for the Dean of the Doctoral School's approval of the thesis defense and the appointment of Thesis Committee members.

The Thesis Committee consists of three members (President, Secretary, and a spokesperson) and a substitute. All of them must hold a Ph.D. degree and a proven track record in research. In all cases, the Committee will be formed by a majority of members external to the University and to the institutions collaborating with the School or the Ph.D. Program.

Further information:  Defense session. Appointment of Committee members

Once all authorizations and the appointment of the Evaluation Committee have been obtained, the defense date will be agreed. The Doctoral School office will be in charge of organizing the event, developing the necessary logistical activity (reservation of rooms, media, etc.), as well as managing travel and stays of the members of the tribunal. The Doctoral School will announce the date and place of the academic event to the entire community.

15 business days in advance of the defense act, the Doctoral School will also send each of the Committee members a copy of the thesis in digital format.

Further information:  Defense session. Appointment of Committee members

Yes. The payment of thesis defense fees must be fulfilled before proceeding to defense. Additionally, payment of enrollment fees for the academic year in which the defense takes place must be up to date.

The defense act is a public academic act. Once the doctoral student has presented and defended his or her thesis, the committee may provide comments or ask questions to the doctoral student. Subsequently, in a private session, the court will deliberate, which will render a report and an evaluation decision. The grade obtained (Failed, Passed, Notable or Excellent) will be reflected in the defense report.

Additionally, and only in those cases in which the qualification has been Excellent, the members of the tribunal will proceed to record, by means of a separate and secret vote, their proposal for granting the cum laude mention and, when appropriate, their opinion on the merit of the thesis candidacy for the Outstanding Thesis Awards of the Carlos III University of Madrid.

Your application for the official Ph.D. degree certificate and the payment of the corresponding fees is done online.

Issuance of your certificate may take a few months. Until then, you may apply for a temporary certificate as proof of successful completion of your Ph.D. studies as of the date of your thesis defense.

Your thesis will be published in e-archivo, the open online repository of Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, and Teseo, the Ph.D. database managed by the Ministry of Universities. In the event of partial or temporary restrictions pertaining to the publication of your thesis, you must report them to the university.