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

Until the academic year 2023-2024

a) During the compulsory study period to achieve the Doctoral degree, the Doctoral student must have completed a three-month stay outside Spain, in an Institution of Higher Education or a prestigious research Centre, completing studies or carrying out research studies. The period outside Spain and  the activities involved need to be endorsed by the Director and authorized by the Academic Commission (Comisión Académica) and will be included in the Doctorate activities document (documento de actividades del doctorando).

b) A part of the Doctoral thesis, at least the summary and the conclusio, must have been written and presented in one of the usual languages for scientific communication in its field of knowledge. It will have to be different from any of the Spanish official languages. This rule will not apply when the reports on the time spent outside Spain and the experts are from a Spanish-speaking country.

c) The thesis must have been evaluated by a minimum of two expert Doctors who belong to a non-Spanish Higher Education or research Institution.

d) At least one expert belonging to any non-Spanish Higher Education Institution or research centre, holding a Doctor’s degree, and different from the responsiable person for the period spent outside Spain mentioned in paragraph a), must have been part of the thesis examining Board.

From the academic year 2024-2025:

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.

For all academic years

When depositing the doctoral thesis, the doctoral student must accredit a level of B” in the language in which the thesis is to be defended should this be other than his or her mother language (Agreement of the Managing Board of the UAH Doctoral School, 13 May 2015). Compliance with this requirement will be mandatory for all students gaining admission from academic year 2015-2016 and onwards. The official certificates accepted by the University of Alcalá can be consulted in the link to the CRUE for language level accreditation certificates.

Documents to be submitted

When submitting the thesis, you will also have to submit the following documents:

• certificate of the research stay, which will include the period of time during which the stay was 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 will have a minimum duration of one month.
• The final report on the stay, validated by the Thesis Director and approved by the Academic Committee of the PhD Programme. In the case of several stays, a report must be included in each one of them.
• Two original reports from the two expert Doctors (paragraph c) (Until the academic year 2023-2024)