Important news:

PREVIOUS NOTE REPEALED by the CAED agreement of September 29, 2021 on the mobility of doctoral students.

PRIOR NOTE: Requests for a virtual stay must first have the “application to stay at a higher education institution or research center” referred to below. In other words, if you submit the request to carry out the virtual stay in an institution, you must have authorization to carry out the stay (in person or virtual) in it.

• When: You can start your mobility period once you are admitted to the doctoral programme. It will be included in the doctoral student's activity document.

• Where: In a higher education institution or prestigious research centre in a foreign country different from where the doctoral student obtained the degree (undergraduate and master's degree or equivalent) that gave them access to the doctoral programme and different from the country of residence. The Management Committee of the respective Doctoral School may authorise mobility periods in the country where the student obtained the degree that gave them access to the doctoral programme, provided that the excellence of the institution is properly documented and justified and that the aforesaid stay is more suitable than other possible stays (Agreement of 26 November 2015 of the Advisory Council for Doctoral Schools [CAED]).

• Duration: The mobility period will last a minimum of 3 months. In duly justified cases, stays totaling 3 months or more which are conducted over multiple periods will be accepted, as long as each one lasts at least one month.

• Application for a mobility period in a higher education institution or research centre.

To apply for a mobility period you must fill out the form that can be obtained from this LINK. The pdf file will be submitted through the ‘Solicitudes’ (Applications) section of the ACADEMIC MONITORING PORTAL. The application type is “DTI”.  You can also add any other necessary documents.

• Language of the thesis: Part of the doctoral thesis, at least an extensive abstract and the conclusions, must be written and submitted in one of the customary languages for scientific communication in the field of knowledge of the research work. The language must be different from any of the official languages of Spain. This standard does not apply to mobility periods undertaken in Spanish-speaking countries and to reports and experts from Spanish-speaking countries.

• Referee reports: The doctoral thesis must include reports from at least two experts who are doctoral degree holders from a non-Spanish higher education institution or research institute. These reports must be uploaded on the computer application at least two working days prior to the doctoral thesis public defence (forms section).

• The experts must be different from the researcher (or researchers) who hosted the student and/or tutored or supervised their projects at the host institution. Likewise, the experts cannot be part of the board of examiners in charge of evaluating the doctoral thesis.

• The reports must be written in Spanish or English. These reports may be requested once the supervisor(s) have authorised the presentation of the thesis. The experts must meet the same requirements that apply to members of the board of examiners and a Suitability Report (”Informe de idoneidad”) must be attached.

• Composition of the board of examiners: At least one expert from a non-Spanish higher education institution or research centre must be part of the board of examiners. The expert must be a doctoral degree holder and must not be the coordinator of the mobility period or one of the signatories of the expert reports.

• Subsequent actions regarding the international doctorate mention, including the application for it, are part of the doctoral thesis submission procedure which can be viewed in the students section of the website.

• Including a mobility period as a training activity

Any international mobility period undertaken during a student's doctoral studies (stays lasting one month or more whose primary aim is research and/or activities directly related to the development of the doctoral thesis) must be registered as an academic activity in the Activity Document (“DAD”) on the Academic Monitoring Portal for Doctoral Students.

Once you have received the invitation letter for the stay from the host centre, your tutor will have to include the mobility as a training activity (PD11).

You must then fill in the required information about the stay.

• How is mobility included as a training activity?

• Prior authorisation and justification of the mobility period

Before the stay: the doctoral student will request authorisation to undertake the stay from the academic committee of their doctoral programme via the application for a stay abroad which can be found in the Application and Forms section.
Applications must be submitted to the ‘Solicitudes’ (Applications) section of the Academic Monitoring Portal which can be reached via your “Acceso Identificado” Student Account.
The International School for Postgraduate Studies (EIP) will subsequently inform the applicant and thesis supervisor about the authorisation by email.

Required documents to be attached to the Application for Authorisation for a Stay Abroad: To facilitate the approval of the Doctoral Programme Academic Committee or the respective management committee, it is recommended that you provide the invitation letter from the host institution, as well as references from your tutor using the Suitability Report document (“Informe de idoneidad”) available in the Applications and Forms section.

At the end of the stay at the host institution: The doctoral student must request a certificate accrediting the mobility period from the host institution. The certificate must include the name of the tutor, the activities undertaken and the length of the mobility period. The documents accrediting the research stay will be added to the activity created in the doctoral student's activity document (“DAD”) on the Academic Monitoring Portal for Doctoral Students.

The certificate can be in Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese or English. If it is written in any other language, a translation of the certificate into Spanish and a declaration of responsibility of the doctoral student concerning the fidelity to the original certificate must be attached.

• Possible sources of funding

• I have already taken part in the mobility period without requesting prior authorisation from the academic committee of my doctoral programme. Can I still apply for the “International Doctorate” Mention?

Yes, you can apply for the “International Doctorate” Mention as long as your mobility period took place while you were enrolled as a student in a doctoral programme. You must submit the Application for Authorisation for a Stay Abroad via the ‘Solicitudes’ (Applications) section of the Academic Monitoring Portal for Doctoral Students. In this case, it is recommended that you submit all the relevant documents that may support your application.

• I am an FPI/FPU contract/grant holder and my mobility period was included within the call of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MEFP) for grants for short-term stays at other R&D research centres. Do I need the authorisation of my Doctoral Programme Academic Committee to undertake the mobility period in order to apply for the “International Doctorate” Mention?

Yes, in this case the authorisation will be issued automatically as long as you accredit that you were awarded this Ministry grant. This must be specified and accredited in the Application for Authorisation for a Stay Abroad submitted to your Doctoral Programme Academic Committee.

You must apply for authorisation for a research stay abroad via the Academic Monitoring Portal for Doctoral Students using the standardised form which can be found in the Applications and Forms section.

• Forms you may need during your doctoral studies

Once your application has been resolved, you will receive an email with the corresponding resolution and the annotation “ACEPTADO” will appear on the application carried out on the Portal.

Likewise, to apply for the “International Doctorate” Mention to be included on your doctoral degree certificate, you will have to submit the following forms together with the other documents required for the doctoral thesis submission:

• Application for the “International Doctorate” Mention (“Solicitud de Mención Internacional”)
• Suitability Report (“Informe idoneidad”)
• External Referee Report (“Informe experta/o”)

• Link to Applications and Forms