Requirements to start this phase:

• Have completed the hours of specific and transversal activities
• Have completed the first draft of the thesis
• Have the director's approval to the draft of the thesis

The evaluation and defence of a doctoral thesis includes the following stages:

1.- Plagiarism detection in the thesis document

Steps to follow:

What	Who	How
Upload the draft of the thesis	Doctoral Student	From Thesis Management, Evaluation Phase / Version 1
Approval of the thesis draft	Director/Tutor	From Thesis Management, Evaluation Phase / Version 1 Thesis
Analysis of the Turnitin report and justification of the % of plagiarism obtained	Doctoral Student	From Thesis Management, Evaluation Phase / Version 1 Thesis
Review of the Turnitin report and justification of the doctoral student	Director/Tutor	From Thesis Management, Evaluation Phase / Version 1 Thesis

Detail:

Before the external evaluation process, the thesis is analyzed in the Turnitin application to evaluate the percentage of coincidence with previously published documents.

The Turnitin report will be accessible to the doctoral student, director and Academic Commission.

The doctoral student will prepare a justification report about the Turnitin results, which will be evaluated by the director and by the Academic Commission, allowing the proposal of external evaluators when it is satisfactory. Otherwise the thesis draft must be reviewed to correct the coincidences or will be rejected when they are not rectifiable.

In cases with corrections in the document accepted by the Academic Commission, the doctoral student may request a second analysis of the same on the Turnitin platform, before sending the thesis for external evaluation.

2.- The external evaluation of the thesis (Quality assurance of the doctoral thesis)

Steps to follow:

What	Who	How
Upload the updated CV of the doctorate	Doctoral candidate	Students Intranet, "Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management), Maintenance / Document Management
Upload the updated summary of the thesis in Spanish	Doctoral candidate	Students Intranet, "Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management), Maintenance / Document Management
Upload the declaration of no conflict of interest signed by doctoral and directors	Doctoral candidate	Students Intranet, "Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management), Maintenance / Document Management
Make the proposal of External Experts (Evaluators) of the thesis	Director / Coordinator	"Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management), Evaluation Phase / Proposal Evaluators CAPD
Identify whether the thesis will held the International Mention and if so indicate who has been the supervisor of the research stay	Director / Coordinator	"Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management), Evaluation Phase / Proposal Evaluators CAPD

Detail:

In order to guarantee its quality, and prior to the presentation of the same, the draft of the thesis must be informed by three external evaluators.

The doctoral candidate has already upload to the software tool "Gestión de Tesis" the draft of the thesis (also known as evaluation version or version 1) in the previous step.

The updated and complete CV of the doctoral student and of the non-UPV directors of the thesis must also be uploaded to the platform. For UPV directors, a complete and updated CV will not be required as long as the information registered in SENIA is up to date.

The director of the thesis, together with the doctorate, can prepare an initial proposal of 6 professors external to UPV, doctors and experts in the subject of the thesis. This initial proposal must be approved by the ACADEMIC COMMISSION OF THE DOCTORAL PROGRAMME, which will make the formal proposal to the School of Doctorate of the UPV, for its study and designation.

In parallel, the proposal of members of the tribunal (court) that will evaluate the defence of the thesis can also be made at this moment (see point 4 for details).

The 6 proposed professors must fulfil this requirements.

Together with the proposal of evaluating experts, the necessary information will be included to justify their affinity as specialist experts with the subject of the doctoral thesis. You can provide a pdf with their CV (complete or summarized), a pdf with a link to an institutional CV if they have one, or include the ORCID identifier. In addition, the declaration of no conflict of interest will be uploaded with the external evaluators and external members of the court, signed by the doctoral student and directors.

At the time of making the proposal, the director or coordinator will also confirm whether the thesis aims for the International Mention (if so, the name of the supervisor of the research stay in the field of observations should be indicated).

The Doctoral School will designate, from the 6 candidates proposed, three external evaluators. In justified cases, external evaluators different from those proposed may be designated.

Once the designation has been approved, and always through the software tool "Gestión de Tesis", the Doctoral School will invite the experts to participate in the evaluation. When accepted, they will have access to a copy of the doctoral dissertation draft, the doctorate's curriculum vitae, the doctoral activity sheet (academic record) and the report model they must complete. In case of rejecting the invitation, the first substitute will be invited.

In the event that an expert requests the thesis document in physical format, the request will be transferred to the thesis directors or the doctoral candidate so they can submit it.

Within a maximum period of 30 days, external evaluators must submit the corresponding report. Once the evaluation reports have been issued, it can be consulted through the Software tool "Gestión de Tesis" by the doctorate student, directors, tutors and Academic Committee. If this period is not fulfilled, at the request of the CAPD, the Doctorate School may substitute the expert for the corresponding substitute.

3.- Upload of the final version after the external evaluation

3.1.- In the case that some of the external evaluators (experts) suggest changes in the thesis: justification of modifications made and upload of the definitive version

Steps to follow:

What	Who	How
Upload the file with the final version of the thesis	Doctoral candidate	Students Intranet, "Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management), Evaluation Phase / Report changes in TD
Upload of the report confirming modifications made after the report of external evaluators in PDF format (optional)	Doctoral candidate	Students Intranet, "Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management), Evaluation Phase / Report changes in TD
Justification of the report confirming modifications made after the report of external evaluators in PDF format	Doctoral candidate	Students Intranet, "Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management), Evaluation Phase / Report changes in TD
Authorization/rejection of the Director to the changes in the thesis	Director	"Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management), Evaluation Phase / Authorization/rejection of the DTOR prior to the request of the deposit
Authorization/rejection of the CAPD to the changes in the thesis	Coordinator	"Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management), Evaluation Phase / Authorization/rejection of the CAPD prior to the request of the deposit

Detail:

Once the three external experts' reports have been received, the doctoral candidate can modify his draft according to the content of these reports.

The final version of the thesis should fulfil the UPV requirements about format and content.

Once the changes are completed, the doctoral student must upload the final version (version 2) of the thesis through the software tool "Gestión de Tesis", confirming the changes introduced and the motivation for them. In case of not making changes recommended by the external experts the student should also justify it.

Once the doctoral candidate has completed this step, the thesis director will be able to approve the changes, thus giving the approval to the definitive version of the thesis.

The CAPD will then check the changes presented and give approval to the final version of the thesis.

3.2.- When no expert suggests changes in the thesis: upload the final version

Steps to follow:

What	Who	How
Upload the file with the final version of the thesis	Doctoral candidate	Students Intranet, "Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management), Maintenance / Document Management
Authorization/rejection of the Director to the changes in the thesis	Director	"Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management), Evaluation Phase / Authorization/rejection of the DTOR prior to the request of the deposit
Authorization/rejection of the CAPD to the changes in the thesis	Coordinator	"Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management), Evaluation Phase / Authorization/rejection of the CAPD prior to the request of the deposit

Detail:

Once the three external experts’ reports have been received with no suggestions for changes, the doctoral student will load the final version of the thesis (version 2).

The final version of the thesis should fulfil the UPV requirements about format and content.

Once the doctoral candidate has completed this step, the thesis director will be able to approve the changes, thus giving the approval to the definitive version of the thesis.

The CAPD will then check the changes presented and give approval to the final version of the thesis.

4.- Request for the deposit of the thesis

Steps to follow:

What	Who	How
To fill in the deposit application, including the abstracts in Spanish, Valencian and English	Doctoral candidate	Students Intranet, "Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management), Evaluation phase / Request for public display by doctoral student
In case of thesis by compendium of articles, upload the PDF file with the authorization of the coauthors	Doctoral candidate	Students Intranet, "Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management), Evaluation phase / Request for public display by doctoral student
In case of requesting an embargo of 12 months or more, upload the PDF file with the justification	Doctoral candidate	Students Intranet, "Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management), Evaluation phase / Request for public display by doctoral student
Upload the PDF file with the thesis index	Doctoral candidate	Students Intranet, "Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management), Evaluation phase / Request for public display by doctoral student
Payment of the deposit fee	Doctoral candidate	Students Intranet, "Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management), Evaluation phase / Request for public display by doctoral student
Acceptance of the deposit	Escuela de Doctorado	"Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management)

Detail:

The student may request the deposit of the thesis as soon as the CAPD gives the authorization to the changes in the thesis.

The deposit will be made through the software tool "Gestión de Tesis". The candidate must complete five tabs with personal information, information about the thesis, key words and summaries and files to attach.

Once completed, the student must request the deposit of the thesis, which will give him access to pay the administrative corresponding fee.

Once the payment is done, the Doctorate School will review the deposit and accept it or reject it (in case there is any deficiency to be corrected).

From the following day of the Doctorate School’s acceptance of the deposit, a period of 10 days of public exposition of the thesis begins. During this period the information provided by the doctoral student is published through the website of the Doctorate School and a communication is sent to the university community of UPV, so that doctors who consider it may present allegations.

5.- Proposal of the members of the tribunal (if not done before)

Pasos a seguir:

What	Who	How
Make the proposal of External Experts (Evaluators) of the thesis	Director / Coordinator	"Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management), Defence phase / Proposal of tribunal

Detail:

The thesis director, together with the doctoral student, may prepare an initial proposal of members of the defence tribunal of the thesis. As in the case of external evaluators, the initial proposal must be approved by the CAPD, which will make the formal proposal to the UPV Doctoral School for its study and designation. The proposal can be made in parallel to the proposal of external evaluators.

Along with the proposal, the necessary information will be attached to justify their affinity as specialist experts with the subject of the doctoral thesis. You can provide a pdf with your CV (complete or summarized), a pdf with a link to an institutional resume if you have one, or include your ORCID identifier.

The Doctorate School will designate, from the proposed candidates, the tribunal and its substitute.

The proposal should meet the following requirements:

• Three members, all of them doctors and with a recognized research experience, will compose the tribunal. Only one of them can be member of UPV (or institution collaborating with the doctoral programme). The rest should fulfil these requirements.
• Just one of the external expert evaluators (who have acted in the previous step) may be member of the tribunal.
• The proposal should specify the role of the President and the Secretary of the tribunal. The member acting as President should have directed at least one doctoral thesis.
• The Director of the Thesis may not be part of the tribunal

Evaluation reports by external experts shall be available to members of the tribunal from the time of their appointment.

Once the designation has been approved, and once the deposit of the thesis has been accepted, the Doctorate School will invite the members to participate. If accepted, a copy of the final version of the doctoral thesis,the reports of the external experts plus the report of the doctoral students about the changes made after the external evaluation will be provided. In case of rejecting the invitation, the substitute will be invited.

In the event that a member of the tribunal requests the thesis document in physical format, the request will be transferred to the thesis directors or the doctoral candidate so they can submit it.

Instructions for the management of tribunals.

6.- Defense of the Doctoral Thesis

Steps to follow:

What	Who	How
Call of the defence	President of the Tribunal	"Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management)
Upload of the defence certificate (evaluation)	Tribunal members	"Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management)
Validation of the defence certificate	Doctoral School	"Gestión de Tesis" (Thesis Management)

Detail:

After the period of public exposition of the thesis, and once the three members of the tribunal have accepted, the president will be able to summon the defence, giving a date, time and place for it, always with at least 10 days before the act of defense. The director of the thesis and the Academic Commission of the doctoral program may support the president whit the logistic of the call (reservation of rooms, equipment, ...). The Doctorate School will contact the members of the tribunal to take care of the management of their visit to UPV.

The doctoral thesis will be evaluated in an act of defence which will take place in a public session. The defence will consist in the exposition and defence by the doctorate candidate of the thesis in front of the members of the tribunal.

After the defence of the thesis, the tribunal will give a grade according to this scale: Fail, pass, good and excellent (No apto, aprobado, notable y sobresaliente). The tribunal can also give the special recognition "Cum Laude" in case the grade is 'excellent', with the agreement of all their members in secret voting.

In addition, the court will evaluate the transversal competences acquired by the doctoral student in a scale from 0 to 10. The tribunal will also assess the proposal or not proposal of the thesis for the Extraordinary doctoral thesis awards.

Once the defence is concluded the Secretary of the tribunal will deliver the corresponding documentation to the Doctoral School to be validated.

After the validation by the Doctoral School, the new doctor will receive an email with instructions to proceed with the request of the degree of doctor.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT MENTIONS AND REFERENCES IN THE DEGREE

International Doctorate Mention and thesis under a international Co-Tutelle Agreement

Industrial Doctorate