Composition of the examination boards and public defence of the thesis

• The call for the defence will be made within a maximum period of six months from the end of the period established for the deposit of the thesis, when this period has elapsed without objections and in a public session in the premises of the University of Seville on a working/teaching day.
• The event will consist of the presentation and defence by the PhD student of the prepared research work before the members of the examination board. The secretary of the examination board shall draw up a record of the defence.
• When, all the full and alternate members having been summoned, it is not possible to replace those who do not attend the defence, the examination board may be made up of four members, provided that at least three are external to the University of Seville or the organisations that are represented in the EIDUS Steering Committee, that collaborate with the programme or that, in the case of joint programmes, participate in the PhD programme. In this case, at the end of the defence, the secretary of the examination board shall send, together with the minutes, the justification for the absence of the members who did not take part in the event.

The composition of the examination board and the defence of the PhD thesis will be carried out in accordance with the Regulations on PhD Studies (Agreement 6.1/CG 237-19).

More:  Arts. 84 to 88 of the Regulations on PhD Studies

Assessment of the PhD thesis

• Once the defence and discussion of the thesis have been completed, the examining board will determine, behind closed doors, the overall grade awarded to the PhD thesis according to the following scale: Fail, Pass, Merit and Outstanding.
• Each member of the examining board will issue a written report on the assessment of the thesis. They will also vote by secret ballot on the suitability of awarding the thesis a mention of “cum laude”. This vote shall be placed in an envelope without any external sign of identification, which shall be sealed and handed to the examination board secretary. The secretary shall place all the votes received in a second envelope, which, once closed, shall be signed by the members of the examination board. The votes collected shall be kept by the secretary until they are forwarded to the EIDUS.
• The secretary shall draw up the thesis assessment minutes, which shall include information on the development of the defence and the grade, as well as, where applicable, on compliance with the reading requirements for obtaining an international PhD degree, and any other circumstances provided for in these regulations.
• The documentation comprising the reading minutes and the secret votes on the awarding of the thesis with the “cum laude” mention must be sent to the EIDUS Technical Secretary’s Office by the secretary of the examining board, using means that guarantee the confidentiality and custody of the documentation. Said documentation shall be received by the EIDUS administrative staff.

More:  Arts. 89 and 90 of the Regulations on PhD Studies

What documents make up the minutes of the reading of the PhD thesis?

The documents that make up the minutes and assessment of the PhD thesis are as follows:

• T07 - Acta de constitución de tribunal evaluador | Word
• T07B - Acta de constitución de tribunal evaluador mediante videoconferencia | Word
• T08A - Acta de recepción de informes sobre valoración de tesis doctoral | Word
• T08B - Informe sobre valoración de tesis doctoral | Word
• T09 - Voto secreto sobre la idoneidad de la tesis para obtener la mención "cum laude" | Word
• T10 - Acta de evaluación de tesis doctoral | Word
• T10B - Acta de evaluación de tesis doctoral en cotutela  (tesis defendidas en el extranjero) (ES)| Word
  
   

More information

• Proposal for the composition of PhD thesis examination boards
• PhD thesis examination board forms
• Art. 14 of Royal Decree 99/2011, of 28 January, which regulates official PhD studies.