Royal Decree 99/2011, of 28 January, which regulates official doctoral studies, includes among its goals the internationalisation and mobility essential to this type of studies.

In recognition of the achievement of this goal, provision is made for inclusion of the words "International Doctor" on the front of the doctoral degree.

Requirements

a) During the period of training required to obtain the title of Doctor, the doctoral candidate has undertaken one or more stays of at least three months' duration outside Spain in one or more prestigious higher education institutions or research centres with the aim of complementing and reinforcing his/her research training. In the case of several stays, at least one of them will have a minimum duration of one month. Stays and activities must be endorsed by the Director and authorised by the Academic Committee and, once they have been carried out and validated by the host institution, they will be included in the doctoral student's activities document.

b) A Part of the doctoral thesis, at least the summary and conclusions, must have been written and defended in one of the usual languages for scientific communication in the field of study, other than any of the official languages in Spain. This rule shall not apply when the stays, reports and experts come from a Spanish-speaking country.

c) At least two of the external doctoral experts in the subject, who must report on the thesis, with the possibility of proposing aspects for improvement, prior to its deposit, must belong to a non-Spanish higher education institution or research institute. These experts may not coincide with the researchers who received the doctoral student and carried out tutoring or supervision tasks at the host institution.

d) At least one expert person 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 paragraph a), must have formed part of the thesis evaluation panel.

e) Accreditation of a B2 level in the language in which the thesis will be defended, as long as it is different from the student's mother tongue. The University of Alcalá accepts the official certificates issued by the CRUE.

Documents to be submitted

In addition to the general documents, the International Mention requires the following specific documentation to be provided:

a) Final report of each stay validated by the Thesis Director and approved by the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme (for stays after 1/1/2023 or previous stays that have such a report) or the Endorsement and authorisation of the stay by the Academic Committee (for stays prior to 1/1/2023 if they do not have a Final Report of the stay).

b) Certificate of the research stay, which will include the time period during which the stay has been carried out (section a). If several stays are carried out, each of them will require its corresponding certificate. In the case of several stays, at least one of them shall have a minimum duration of one month.

c) Accreditation of a B2 level in the language in which the thesis will be defended, as long as it is different from their mother tongue. In the CRUE link for language level accreditation certificates, you can consult the certificates of language level accreditation.