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 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.

The defence of the thesis will have to be held in the same Spanish University where the student has enrolled or, in case of joint Doctorate programmes, in any of the participating Universities, according to the rules specifying the collaboration agreements.

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. See the lists of official certificates accepted by the University of Alcalá in the following links:

• English (PDF)
• German (PDF)
• French (PDF)
• Portuguese (PDF)

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). In duly justified cases, and always at the discretion of the Academic Committee, it may be authorised that the research stay is not carried out over a continuous period of time or in the same centre or institution. Likewise, in the case of several stays, at least one of them will have a minimum duration of one month. If several stays are carried out, each one will require its corresponding certificate.
• 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). 

Students who request the European Doctorate mention, can ask the University, through the Publication service, to finance the binding of the volumes.

You can ask for more information in: http:/imprenta.uah.es/