During the period of study required to obtain a PhD with an international distinction, the PhD student must have
undertaken one or more sufficiently documented periods of study or research, lasting at least three months, at one or more
prestigious higher education institutions or research centres outside Spain, in order to pursue studies or carry out research,
and with funding obtained through competitive calls for short-term stays. These stays and
activities must be endorsed by the supervisor and authorised by the **CAPD and, once completed and
validated by the host institution, they will be included in the doctoral candidate’s activity record.
In the event that the stay does not have competitive funding, authorisation must be sought from the Doctoral School
via the relevant **CAPD at least one month in advance. The application for the stay must
include the letter of acceptance from the host institution, the CV of the person responsible for the stay and the work plan to
be carried out. The sub-committee of the relevant area within the Doctoral School will issue the required report and
authorise the placement, if appropriate.

Placements undertaken to obtain the ‘international’ distinction may not take place at the university or affiliated institution
of the thesis supervisors, nor at the student’s home university.

A stay of at least three months may be split into a maximum of two periods, neither of which may have
an uninterrupted duration of less than one month.

Part of the doctoral thesis – at least an abstract of at least 15,000 words and the conclusions –
must have been written and defended in one of the languages commonly used for scientific communication in the relevant
field of study, other than any of the official languages of Spain, without prejudice to Article 7.2

Where the periods of study recognised for the international specialisation have been undertaken in Spanish-speaking countries and
the experts are from those same countries, the preceding paragraph shall not apply by default. However, the CAPD
may request, subject to justification, that the majority or the entirety of the thesis be written or defended
in one of the foreign languages commonly used for scientific communication in its field of study,
in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

At least two experts with proven research experience, who are affiliated with a non-Spanish higher education institution or
research institute, must provide a positive assessment of the thesis prior to its defence.

The thesis assessment panel must include an expert from a
non-Spanish higher education institution or research centre, with a permanent affiliation of at least three years,
holding a PhD and with proven research experience, provided that they are not responsible for the
stays mentioned in the section on incompatibilities.

At least one expert holding a doctoral degree from a non-Spanish higher education institution or research centre – other than the person responsible for the placement referred to in the first paragraph – must be a member of the examination board for the doctoral thesis. It is recommended that a substitute from a foreign institution also be appointed.

The thesis defence must take place at the university to which the doctoral candidate is affiliated.

A doctoral candidate wishing to apply for the title of ‘international doctor’ must state this when applying for authorisation to deposit the doctoral thesis.

There may be situations of conflict of interest involving the individuals concerned with these requirements:

The application for this distinction is processed at the same time as the submission of the doctoral thesis. Please consult the submission website to find out how to upload the documentation to the system.

Required documentation:

A certificate of the stay, issued by the host institution on its official letterhead, stating the start and end dates of the activity as well as the name of your supervisor. You can see the information that the certificate must contain in this template.
You must attach this as a Type 4 activity (Research stays at national or foreign centres, public or private) in the activities document. In the case of **international co-supervision, the certificate of stay may be the same as that for the **co-supervision, but it must not be signed by the thesis supervisor from the other university (it may be signed by the head of the centre, department, etc.). In this situation, please check the specific activities relating to **joint supervision, which you will also need to enter.

Two reports from international experts, who will also act as the external examiners for your doctoral thesis. The doctoral programme co-ordination team will request these reports from the examiners. You will simply need to add the document confirming the suitability of these examiners when submitting your thesis online.