Organization of thesis defense. Appointment of Thesis Committee

Thesis defense proposal

Once the thesis has successfully gone through both plagiarism management and deposit processes, the Academic Committee of the program will elaborate their proposal for thesis defense, providing details of the proposed members of the Thesis Committee in the Authorization of thesis defense and appointment of Thesis Committee  (stating the student's eligibility for the Doctorado Internacional, Doctorado Industrial or International Cotutelle, where applicable).

When requirements for these distinctions are met, all supporting documentation will be attached in each case:

• Further information:  Requirements for the 'Doctorado Internacional' distinction
• Further information: Requirements for 'Doctorado Industrial'  Industrial Ph.D.

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

Thesis Committee

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.

The following profiles cannot be considered for the Thesis Committee:

• The Ph.D. candidate's tutor or advisor, except in joint degree supervision (cotutelle) instances where the terms of agreement allow so;
• The supervisor of the Ph.D. candidate's research visit at the host institution;
• Co-authors of the Ph.D. candidate's publications.

Authorization of defense and appointment of Thesis Committee

The Dean of Doctoral School authorizes the defense and appointment of Thesis Committees, according to the calendar established every academic year:

The Doctoral School Office will notify you of the date of approval of your thesis defense. The defense must take place in the period between 15 days and 3 months after the date of authorization.

Logistics of the defense session

The thesis is defended in public session in the language commonly used for scientific dissemination in the field.

The President of the Thesis Committee will set the date and venue of the session and notify the rest of Committee members and yourself. 

15 working days in advance, the Doctoral School Office on campus will submit a pdf file of the thesis to each member of the Committee. 

The Doctoral School Office is in charge of the reservation of the venues and the announcement of the session to all members of the university. The session will ordinarily take place in the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid premises. However, for justified reasons, the Dean of Doctoral School may authorize the defense at a different location.

Only in exceptional circumstances may the thesis defense be conducted by videoconference. The Academic Committee will be responsible for authorizing this procedure, in which case the Doctoral School Office is in charge of the administration and logistics.

Fees

The payment of the following academic fees must be fulfilled in order to proceed to the thesis defense:

• Enrollment tuition fees for the current academic year
• Thesis defense fees

The Doctoral School Office on campus will provide the forms to fulfill these payments.