Regulatory framework

The submission and defence of a doctoral thesis is regulated by Royal Decrees RD 1393/2007 and 99/2011 and by the University of Barcelona regulations, which should be read carefully.

Doctoral thesis

• The original research project carried out by the doctoral student must lead to the preparation of a doctoral thesis, which can be submitted as a Report or as a Collection of Published Articles, in accordance with the regulations established by the University of Barcelona.
• The title of the Thesis initially chosen can be changed if it does not fit for the research carried out. In this case, an application must be submitted to the Register Office and must be finally presented to the Department of Organic Chemistry secretary for the approval of the Academic Committee of the Program.
• As a general rule, the Report must include an Abstract and General Introduction, the Research Objectives, the Methodology, the Results, Final Conclusions and the Bibliography.
• A thesis may be submitted as a Collection of Published Articles provided that the following requirements are fulfilled:
  • Have published at least three experimental or theoretical research articles in which the doctoral student is among the authors. The doctoral student must appear as the first or co-first author in two of the abovementioned articles,
  • The three articles must belong to the first or second quartile in one of the thematic areas defined by the Journal Citation Report (JCR).
  • For communications without any experimental part, it is necessary to describe the experimental part in the Thesis .
  • Furthermore, it is possible to add reviews in which the doctoral studentis author. Such articles will be not considered in the three minimum articles indicated in the first condition.
• A thesis that is submitted as a Collection of Published Articles must include a General Introduction, in which the subject matter is discussed, the objectives are stated and a General Bibliography is given; an Overall Summary in which the results are described and critically assessed, and Final Conclusions that cover the entire body of work. A complete copy of each of the published articles presented in the thesis should be inserted between the general introduction and the overall summary. The names and affiliations of all co-authors should be indicated clearly, as well as the complete reference of the journal in which each paper was published.
• A doctoral thesis can be written in any of the official languages of the doctoral programme: Catalan, Spanish or English. The Government of Catalonia awards grants for theses written in Catalan.



IMPORTANT NOTE: Provisionally, all students who have written their theses in English must also submit a summary in Spanish or Catalan, whose length must be at least 10% of the total length of the thesis.

• Regardless of whether a thesis is presented as a Report or as a Collection of Published Articles, it must meet the following formal requirements:
• It must be suitably bound.
• The cover design can be chosen freely, but it must contain the following information only: the name of the doctoral student, the thesis title and the University of Barcelona logo. If the thesis has been prepared under joint supervision or at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the cover may also include the corresponding institutional logo.
• The spine of the thesis must only show the name of the doctoral student, Doctoral Thesis and the year of the thesis defence, according to the regulations of the Faculty of Chemistry.
• The back cover design can be chosen freely, but it must not contain any information of contents.
• The first page must indicate that the thesis was prepared in the Doctoral Programme in Organic Chemistry at the University of Barcelona and should also include, at least, the thesis title, the name of the doctoral student and his/her signature, the name and affiliation of the thesis supervisor(s) and of the tutor, when applicable.

Submission of the doctoral thesis

Once a research project has reached a suitable stage of development, doctoral students, with the permission of their thesis supervisor(s), may ask for a meeting with the Advisory Committee to present and defend the work they have carried out and request approval to submit the thesis. Furthermore, they will present an advanced draft of the Thesis in order that the Advisory Committee can confirm its suitability. If the Advisory Committee agrees that the thesis submission process can begin, the doctoral student must complete the application and submit the following documents to the Registrar’s Office:

• Application form completed electronically.
• Written authorization from the thesis supervisor(s), confirmed by the thesis tutor, if applicable.
• A bound copy of the thesis signed by the doctoral student that meets the formal criteria described above.
• A paper copy and an electronic copy of the doctoral student’s curriculum vitae that clearly states their personal details, educational background, scientific publications, conference presentations, periods spent at other research centres, grants obtained and any other scientific merits.
• Academic transcript that includes the date of acceptance of the thesis project and the annual assessments by the Advisory Committees.
• The thesis in PDF format.
• A completed file with information for the TESEO database, using the standard template.
• A proposal, completed electronically, of five specialists who could form part of the Examination Panel that will assess the thesis. The proposal should describe the specialists’ research experience. Contact details and a curriculum vitae should be attached if the proposed examiners are not affiliated to Spanish research centres or universities.
• The Examination Panel will have three members. Only one member can be affiliated to the University of Barcelona. The thesis supervisor(s) and the thesis tutor cannot form part of the Examination Panel, and members of the Advisory Committee should not be included.
• No member of the Examination Panel can have common publications derived from the Thesis with the candidate.
• The documents required to request the International Doctorate certification.

The following documents must also be submitted when the thesis is a Collection of Published Articles:

• A document by the thesis supervisor that lists the impact factor and ranking of the journals in which the articles were published.
• If any of the publications were written with a co-author, the thesis supervisor must provide a report that describes in detail the doctoral student’s participation in each article, and states whether any of the co-authors of any of the articles submitted as part of the doctoral thesis have implicitly or explicitly used these studies to prepare a doctoral thesis of their own or are planning to do so in the future.

Applications shall be examined and a decision made in accordance with the University of Barcelona regulations, within the timetable established by the doctoral programme’s Academic Committee and the Faculty’s Doctoral Studies Committee. The doctoral student and his/her thesis supervisor(s) shall be informed of the decision and of the appointment of the Examination Panel that will assess the thesis.

Submission of a doctoral thesis subject to intellectual property protection or knowledge and technology transfer processes

If the doctoral student and the thesis supervisor(s) consider that part of the thesis needs to be protected, due to the nature of the research that has been carried out, confidentiality should be requested and the following additional documents must be submitted to the Registrar’s Office at the University of Barcelona:

• Reports by the thesis supervisor(s) and tutor, if applicable, on the intellectual property protection or knowledge transfer procedure that affects the thesis.
• The original or a certified photocopy of documents proving that the thesis is subject to intellectual property protection or knowledge and technology transfer processes.
• An encrypted copy of the thesis, signed by the doctoral student and by the thesis supervisor(s). The encrypted copy must give an idea of the research project that has been carried out. Therefore, only the sections that must be hidden to ensure intellectual property protection and knowledge transfer should be encrypted.

Defence of the doctoral thesis

Once the submission of the thesis has been authorized, the doctoral student must contact the Faculty Secretary to start the procedures for the public thesis defence. The thesis defence must take place on University of Barcelona premises, in accordance with the University of Barcelona regulations, and must be held within three months of the date of the thesis submission.

The doctoral student must inform the Faculty Secretary, the Secretary’s Office of the Department of Organic Chemistry and the Academic Committee of the place, date and time of the thesis defence.

Final procedures

Once the thesis has been defended satisfactorily, the doctoral student may apply for the issue of the doctoral degree certificate from the Faculty Secretary, after payment of the corresponding fees. It is the doctoral student’s responsibility to inform any other relevant bodies of the completion of the completion and successful defence of the thesis.

Thesis History

• Thesis 2013-2014
• Thesis 2014-2015
• Thesis 2015-2016
• Thesis 2016-2017
• Thesis 2017-2018