Requirements

The "International Doctorate" mention shall be awarded to doctoral theses of the Universidad Católica of Murcia whose preparation and defence meet the following requirements:

During the period of training required to obtain the doctoral degree, the doctoral student must have spent a minimum of three months outside Spain in a prestigious higher education institution or research centre, studying or conducting research work. The stay and activities must be endorsed by the supervisor and authorised by the academic committee (click here to download the application), and shall be included into the doctoral student's activity document.

Part of the doctoral thesis, at least the summary and the conclusions, must be written and presented in one of the usual languages for scientific communication in its field of knowledge, different from any of the official languages in Spain. This rule shall not apply when the stays, reports and experts come from a Spanish-speaking country. The thesis must have been peer-reviewed by at least two highly qualified doctors from a non-Spanish higher education institution or research centre.

At least one expert belonging to a non-Spanish higher education institution or research centre, with the title of doctor, and other than the person responsible for the stay mentioned in section a), must be a member of the thesis examining board.

Documentación

When submitting their doctoral thesis, students wishing to obtain the "International Doctorate" mention must attach the following documents in addition to those required for this process:

Application for the certifying of International Doctorate in which the language chosen for the defence of the thesis shall be specified.

The two previous reports of the experts must be issued by two doctors belonging to a higher education institution or foreign research centre, accompanied by the suitability report corresponding to said experts.

Certificate issued by the foreign centre where the stay was made, indicating the start and end date of said stay, endorsed by the supervisor of the thesis and authorised by the corresponding academic committee according to the indicated application.

At least one doctor from a non-Spanish university or research centre, other than the doctor responsible for the stay outside Spain, must be part of the doctoral thesis examining board. Provision should be made for the replacement of this person by someone else who meets the same condition.