Universidad
Politécnica de Madrid

5. Evaluation prior to the defence of the PhD thesis

a. Report issued by the Director of the PhD thesis

Once the work is concluded and before the definitive PhD thesis is written, the PhD student will communicate it to the Academic Commission of the PhD program and attaching a report from the director or directors of the PhD thesis.

b. Pre-defence of the PhD thesis or equivalent formality

Within a period of 90 from the presentation of the report mentioned in the previous section, the PhD student will carry out a pre-defence before a commission of experts, chosen by the Academic Commission of the PhD program, in the presence of the thesis director or directors. The pre-defence may be substituted by an equivalent mechanism that guarantees the quality of the PhD thesis: committee of external experts, quality indices, etc.
In any event, the PhD student must present, be it a public defence or in writing, a summary of his or her PhD thesis with reference to the state of the question, scientific methodology, original contributions, bibliography and conclusions.

c. Report on the pre-defence or equivalent formality

The commission of experts in charge of judging the pre-defence or the committee in charge of evaluating the written summary will issue a report whose conclusions will be incorporated into the student’s records.
For a PhD thesis to be defended, it must have its results published in a journal with a previous evaluation. The Academic Commission of the PhD program will be able to establish the requirements to guarantee the quality of the publication. The publication may be substituted by another type of result (licences, patents, etc.), depending on the area of knowledge whenever the Academic Commission of the PhD program of the department authorises it.
In the case of a negative report, duly justified and reasoned, the PhD student must modify or redo the work and carry out the pre-defence or equivalent formality again. If the report contains suggestions for improvement, the academic commission of the PhD program will decide if its incorporation into the final document is obligatory or remains within the criteria of the of the PhD student or that of the director or directors of the PhD thesis.

d. Definitive authorization of the Academic Commission of the PhD program

Only the Academic Commission of the PhD program may authorise the formalities of the PhD thesis when this report is positive and the compulsory changes have been introduced.
The decision on the authorisation or not to the procedures for the defence of the thesis and the corresponding justification, where relevant, must be communicated to the director or directors of the PhD thesis and to the PhD student within a maximum period of 14 days from the time of receiving the report.