Period of extension

The extension request must be submitted within the three months prior to and, in any case, one month before the end of the program's duration. Under the new regulations, there are two groups, depending on the date of admission to doctoral studies:

A) FOR STUDENTS BEGINNING THEIR STUDIES AFTER 2023-24.

An exceptional extension of one year may be requested for both full-time and part-time students. To do so, you must complete the application form and send it to the Academic Committee of your doctoral program, with the approval of your director or directors. Once the Academic Committee has been informed, it will send it to the Doctoral School for registration in the student's file.

B) FOR STUDENTS WHO BEGAN THEIR STUDIES BEFORE 2023-24.

The following applications may be submitted:

• Extension to FULL-TIME for 1 year.
• Extension to PART-TIME for 2 years.
• Extension of 1.5 years, if changes have been made from TC to TP or vice versa.
• Exceptional extension for 1 more year: To request this extension, you must attach a reasoned report approved by your thesis supervisor stating that the research phase has been completed and that you are in the phase of writing, reviewing, and submitting your thesis.

The application procedure will be the same as that indicated in point A).

Drop out of doctoral studies

Temporary leave from the program for unforeseen reasons

Situations of temporary disability, birth, adoption, guardianship for the purposes of adoption, foster care, risk during pregnancy, risk during breastfeeding, gender-based violence, or any other situation covered by current regulations during the period of study will interrupt the calculation of the deadline for the duration of doctoral studies.

Such requests must be addressed and justified to the Academic Committee responsible for the program, which will decide on the appropriateness of granting the request made by the person concerned. Once the Academic Committees have been informed of the request for leave, they must send it together with the supporting documentation to the Doctoral School for processing.

Voluntary temporary leave from the program

Voluntary temporary leave from the program may be requested for up to a total of two years. If several shorter periods of temporary leave are requested, the total duration of the periods of temporary leave may not exceed two years. Such requests must be addressed to and justified before the Academic Committee responsible for the program, which will decide whether to grant the request.

Authorized periods of temporary leave will not be taken into account for the purposes of calculating the established period of enrollment.

In order to request temporary voluntary leave, it is essential to have obtained a positive evaluation in the first academic year of enrollment in the program. During the first year of enrollment, temporary voluntary leave may only be requested in exceptional circumstances and provided that the Research Plan and Personal Training Plan have been approved.

If, at the end of the suspension period indicated by the Academic Committee, the doctoral student does not request the reactivation of their student status, they will be permanently withdrawn from the Doctoral Program.

They will only be exempt from formalizing their enrollment when the duration of the temporary withdrawal covers a full academic year and begins at the start of the academic year. In any case, the doctoral student will only be evaluated on their activity during the academic year in which they have not been on leave.

Leave of absence during the evaluation period

Any person who is on leave of absence during the annual evaluation process will be exempt from evaluation for that year. However, any period not included in the leave of absence that is pending evaluation will be considered in the following annual evaluation. Under no circumstances may the thesis be submitted to the Academic Committee for approval and deposit without a positive evaluation in the previous year and a half.

In the event that voluntary leave is requested after the evaluation period has begun, the doctoral student must complete their Activity Document before formalizing the request, so that their tutors and/or supervisors can prepare their report and the annual evaluation can be carried out by the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Program.

Permanent withdrawal from the program

Permanent withdrawal from the program will occur for any of the following reasons:

a) At the express request of the doctoral student addressed to the Doctoral School with a copy to the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Program.

b) If the enrollment process and payment of academic supervision are not completed within the established deadlines.

c) If enrollment for the academic year is not formalized within the established deadlines.

d) If the additional training required by the Academic Committee is not completed within the established time frame.

e) If the Research Plan and Personal Training Plan has not been approved by the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Program within one year from the date of initial enrollment.

f) If the doctoral student receives a second consecutive negative evaluation from the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Program.

g) If the doctoral student exhausts the deadlines established for their assigned period of study without having submitted their doctoral thesis for deposit.

h) If, at the end of the period of voluntary leave granted by the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Program, the doctoral student does not request the reactivation of their student status.

i) Failure by the doctoral student to comply with the obligations set out in the Good Practice Commitment document. This circumstance will be studied by the Doctoral School, after hearing the Academic Committee of the Program.

Permanent withdrawal will entail renouncing the Activities Document, the Research Plan, and the Personal Training Plan, thereby losing their status as a student of the EDUAH.

The decision to withdraw from the program will be made by the EDUAH Management, after hearing the person concerned. This decision is final and may be challenged directly before the contentious-administrative jurisdiction, without prejudice to the possibility of filing an optional appeal for reconsideration.

Re-enrollment in the same Doctoral Program

In the event of permanent withdrawal and subsequent desire to re-enroll in the same program, the following must be taken into account:

If the permanent withdrawal corresponds to sections a), c), and h) of the Permanent Withdrawal section and the doctoral student's last evaluation was positive or they were never evaluated, they may reapply for admission to the same program after three academic years. This period may be shorter in duly justified cases, if approved by the EDUAH Steering Committee.

However, they may be admitted to another program at the University of Alcalá without waiting for the above period to elapse.

Anyone who has withdrawn for the reason set out in section b) of the Definitive Withdrawal section may reapply for admission to the program in subsequent academic years.