Procedures

Introduction

This page summarizes the processes and regulations for PhD in Software, Systems and Computing students, approved by the Programme Committee:

The Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, based on Royal Decree 99/2011 (amended by other Royal Decrees), has established all PhD-related University rules, that may be found on the Doctoral Rules web page. This site summarizes the main general aspects and the specific details of the PhD in Software, Systems and Computing.

Enrolment

Once the student has been admitted, the student must enrol in the PhD Programme each academic year by the dates specified.

Students may enrol on-line (only for full-time students) or at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Informáticos Postgraduate Office (for full-time or part-time students).

The process to enrol online is:

  1. First, you must obtain credentials by opening an UPM email account (if you already have this email account, you may skip to the second step). Your initial password is the university PIN, which consists of the four digits corresponding to the student’s day and month of birth. We recommend changing your PIN after this step.
  2. Next, you must request an appointment.
  3. Finally, you must log in to the Self-Enrolment system and follow the steps to pay the academic tuition ("Tutela Académica") fee and do not select thesis defence ("Tesis Doctoral"). The academic tuition ("Tutela Académica") fee should appear automatically selected in the economic section. If the student has been admitted having to take bridge courses, the subjects necessary to fulfil the required credits must be selected in this step.

For further information, please see the University Self-Enrolment web page.

Any question, issue or incident with the enrolment should be reported to Postgraduate Office.

Doctoral student training and supervision commitment agreement

At the beginning of the studies, before the end of the first year, the student must send the "Doctoral student training and supervision commitment agreement", duly signed by the student, the tutor in the Programme and the thesis supervisors, with all electronic signatures, to the Programme's email. If any of the signatories is not Spanish and does not have an electronic signature, it may be submitted on paper with all handwritten signatures, in duplicate, to the Programme's Administrative Secretary's Office (office 3344).

Student Continuation Policy

This section summarizes the UPM Student Continuation Policy, that is published on the UPM PhD Regulations web page.

For students that started the PhD before the 2023/2024 academic year, the regular period for PhD studies will last 3 years (full-time students) or 5 years (part-time students), spanning the effective studies start date until the thesis deposit.

For students that started the PhD after the 2022/2023 academic year, the regular period for PhD studies will last 4 years (full-time students) or 7 years (part-time students), spanning the effective studies start date until the thesis deposit.

Students mixing part-time and full-time studies will have an intermediate length of studies.

Having finished this period without depositing the thesis, students may be authorized for an extension of this period. Those students who began their studies before the 2023/2024 academic year will be automatically authorised an extension of one year (full-time) or two years (part-time) and, exceptionally, may subsequently apply for an additional extension of one more year. Those who started their studies after the academic year 2022/2023 may apply for a single one-year extension.

Temporary leaves shall not be taken into account for the purposes of computing the period above.

Status

In general, admission and enrolment in the PhD Programme will be full-time. Part-time students may be admitted due to work or personal circumstances if they can justify this and apply prior to enrolment.

After starting PhD studies, students may change their status once. Status changes must be justified and applied in June. If the application is accepted, the change will be effective starting the next academic year. Status changes cannot be requested during or after the last academic year of the regular period.

To apply to begin part-time PhD studies or to apply for a status change, the Status Change Application form (along with documentary proof of the circumstance) must be emailed to the PhD Programme. After examination by the CADSSC and the EID, students will be informed of the decision within 2.5 months.

Extension

If the students have not deposited the thesis before the end of the regular period, an extension may be applied for (providing a justification).

For students that started the PhD before the 2023/2024 academic year, an automatic extension shall be granted, so full-time students will have one more year and part-time students will have two more years to deposit their thesis. If this time is insufficient, students may exceptionally apply for another one-year extension providing a detailed justification.

For students that started the PhD after the 2022/2023 academic year, students may apply for one-year extension.

Extensions applications must be sent using the THESIS application to the PhD Programme no later than 4 months before the deposit deadline.

After the PhD Committee has examined extensions, the Doctoral Area Committee will communicate the decision within 3 months.

Temporary leave

Students may apply for temporary leave from the Programme in the following situations:

  1. Personal leave: due to personal or work circumstances.
  2. Leave for unforeseen circumstances: unforeseen circumstances are caused by illness, pregnancy or any other reason stated by legal regulations.

Personal leave

Students may apply once for one-year of temporary personal leave from the Programme, for any justified personal or professional reason, which can be extended to a second consecutive year. It is not possible to be on personal leave during the first academic year or during the extension.

No activity carried out by the Doctoral student during the temporary leave period may be taken into account as part of their Doctoral training, nor be incorporated into the Doctoral student Activities Document.

All applications must follow the instructions and use the forms available in THESIS and must be submitted through the UPM E-Office.

To apply for temporary personal leave, the Temporary personal leave application form must be sent to the 'Comisión Académica del Doctorado en Software, Sistemas y Computación' (CADSSC) at least 2 months before the scheduled start date of the personal leave (attaching documentary proof of the circumstance).

After evaluation by the CADSSC, the Doctoral Committee of the EID will communicate the resolution they have adopted within an approximate period of 2.5 months.

To renew temporary personal leave, the Renewal of personal leave form must be sent to the 'Comisión Académica del Doctorado en Software, Sistemas y Computación' (CADSSC) (attaching the necessary supporting documentation) at least 2 months before the end of the current personal leave.

After evaluation by the CADSSC, the Doctoral Committee of the EID will communicate the resolution they have adopted within an approximate period of 2.5 months.

If the circumstances justifying the personal leave ends, the student may apply for reinstatement in their studies prior to the date of termination of leave. In this case, the student will not be able to opt for renewal of the personal leave or to request a new leave in the future. For early reinstatement from temporary personal leave, the Early reinstatement of temporary personal Leave form must be sent to the 'Escuela Internacional de Doctorado' (EID) (attaching supporting documentation) at least 1 month in advance of the requested reinstatement date.

After evaluation, the EID will communicate the resolution they have adopted within an approximate period of 5 weeks.

Once the period of temporary personal leave has ended, students must enrol in the current academic year within a maximum period of 15 days (if they are not already enrolled).

Leave for unforeseen cause

At any time during the thesis development period, students may request temporary leave for unforeseen circumstances. The application for leave due to unforeseen circumstances must be documented and submitted within a 30-day period after the start date of the leave. In the event that the temporary leave is authorized, its effective duration will be as set forth in the supporting documentation.

Leave for unforeseen circumstances must be applied for with the Doctoral Committee (doctorado@upm.es) of the EID, using the Leave for unforeseen circumstance application form and attaching necessary documentary evidence. Leave must be accredited by means of the official doctor’s note for temporary leave or, failing this, by means of the official medical certificate. In the event that the supporting documentation does not indicate the end date of leave, it shall indicate the date of the next review and the discharge report must be submitted to the Doctoral Committee of the EID (doctorado@upm.es) within 10 days after it is issued.

After evaluation, the Doctoral Committee of the EID will communicate the resolution they have adopted within a period of approximately 45 days, stating, in the event that the leave is granted, the start and end date of the leave.

In the event that the circumstance causing the leave is extended, the student must apply for renewal, providing pertinent documentation and repeating this same procedure and using the Leave for unforeseen circumstance application form. Renewal must be applied for within a maximum period of 30 days after the end of the previously authorized leave period and within a maximum period of 10 days after the date of the medical discharge report, whichever occurs first.

Permanent termination

PhD students cannot continue their Software, Systems and Computing PhD studies when:

  1. The PhD fees are not paid for each academic year by the dates established by the University, or enrolment has been cancelled due to non-payment of all or part of the academic tuition fee.
  2. The Research Plan for each course is not delivered, or the Plan has been negatively evaluated twice.
  3. The thesis is not deposited before the student's deadline.
  4. The thesis was deposited but not defended within a maximum period of six months after the date of application for deposit.
  5. The student has received a disciplinary report, or the student’s conduct has been sanctioned with expulsion.
  6. An overall failing score is received for defence of the thesis.
  7. The student has requested to not continue studies.
  8. Any other cause established by current regulations.

PhD students who have been expelled for any of the reasons referred to in sections a, b, c, d, g, and h may not be reinstated in the same PhD Programme for five years after definitive withdrawal, but they may request, one time, admission to another PhD Programme at the UPM. PhD students who have been expelled for the reasons set forth in sections e and f may not be reinstated in any of the UPM's PhD Programmes.

Changing PhD Programmes

Students may apply to change PhD Programmes to carry out a new thesis, provided that they have not been permanently withdrawn for a reason that prevents it.

Details on procedures can be found in the UPM's Student Continuation Policy.

PhD thesis supervisor

No later than three months after enrolment, PhD candidates shall be appointed a thesis supervisor by the CADSSC to advise preparation of their PhD thesis. Thesis supervisors must be Programme faculty members holding a PhD and with proven research experience. Non-faculty members shall also be eligible, provided that they comply with the PhD in Software, Systems and Computing and standard UPM PhD Programme criteria. A student's tutor and PhD thesis supervisor need not necessarily be the same person.

New students are advised to contact Programme faculty and UPM research groups associated with the Programme in order to scope out the topic that they intend to research. Students must notify the programme administrative officer when, as a result of such contact, a faculty member agrees to supervise their thesis.

No later than three months after the start of the academic year, all students must have selected a research topic so that the CADSSC can assign thesis supervisors. Otherwise, the CADSSC shall assign a thesis supervisor ex officio to the student.

New researchers as thesis supervisors

In general, for new researchers to join the PhD Programme as thesis supervisors, the following criteria will be considered:

  • The researcher must have accredited research experience, either through active recognized research merits or equivalent scientific production. A research merit is considered active if it has been obtained within the past six years, or when there are at least five research merits.
  • In the case of applications from researchers from another institution, doctors will be allowed to join if, even while not meeting the requirements of the previous point, they demonstrate a long history of research and innovation in the industrial or professional field.

Doctors interested in joining as researchers in a Doctoral Programme must file the Application for registration as a researcher in the Doctoral Programme using the THESIS application. Researchers who do not belong to the UPM and do not have access to this application must request access beforehand by sending the Application to access THESIS to be included as a researcher in the PhD Programme. When accessing the “My Requests” section of THESIS to apply to register in the PhD Programme (10E2 Doctorado en Software, Sistemas y Computación), the following documents must be provided:

  1. An application form, complete with a summary of research information.
  2. An updated curriculum vitae showing scientific production, supervised Doctoral theses and projects or contracts management. In addition, the applicant's ORCID record must be up-to-date and include the referenced information.
  3. Proof of award of the last research merit, if applicable.
  4. Authorization to participate in the PhD Programme issued by the responsible authority of the applicant's body of origin (only in the event that the applicant does not belong to the UPM or to the collaborating entities of the PhD).

The CADSSC will assess the application and issue a report within a maximum period of two months, and then forward the application to the Doctoral Area Committee of the EID of the UPM. The Doctoral Area Committee may request all additional reports that it may require and shall decide on the application in no more than two months.

In addition, a researcher who is not supervising any student's thesis may request to leave the PhD Programme using the Form to leave the PhD Programme.

PhD thesis co-supervision

On academic grounds, a PhD thesis may be co-supervised by a second thesis supervisor holding a PhD degree and with proven research experience, when any of the following occurs:

  1. The thesis topic is interdisciplinary o inter-sectoral, requiring the contribution of both supervisors in different knowledge areas. The student should justify the contribution of both supervisors.
  2. Joint supervision is requested, or supervisors are from different institutions. The student should justify the institution of each supervisor and provide the corresponding inter-institutional or international collaboration framework.
  3. The thesis seeks an industrial doctor distinction.
  4. The thesis would provide a new supervisor (with no previous experience in thesis supervision) with training in thesis supervision. This training will be led by an experienced supervisor that must have supervised more than two theses. The student should justify the experience of the first supervisor.

Co-supervision should preferably be applied for during the first year or, in general, no later than the end of the second year. Exceptionally, co-supervision may be requested in the third year, providing a very clear justification based on joint productivity (papers, projects, or patents). Co-supervision cannot be applied for if the student is in the extension period.

One thesis cannot have more than two supervisors, although other professionals could collaborate with the students.

The thesis may not be deposited within in the 6 months immediately following co-supervision approval.

The PhD candidate must apply to the CADSSC for co-supervision using THESIS, providing justification of both supervisor contributions to the thesis, and both supervisors must validate this (if the new supervisor does not belong to this PhD, the new researcher should apply to be a PhD member beforehand, as explained in the previous section).

The CADSSC will assess the application and issue a report within a maximum period of two months, and then forward the application to the Doctoral Area Committee of the EID of the UPM. The Doctoral Area Committee may request any additional reports that it may require and shall decide on the application within no more than two months.

The aforesaid authorization may be withdrawn at a later date if the Doctoral Area Committee resolves that co-supervision is of no benefit to thesis development.

PhD thesis supervisor replacement

Any PhD candidate who wishes to replace their PhD thesis supervisor must apply to the CADSSC using the Thesis supervisor replacement application form. Thesis supervisors may be replaced at any time up until the PhD thesis is deposited.

The UPM PhD Committee may request any additional reports that it requires and shall decide on the application within two months.

Joint supervision procedure for Doctoral theses

One of the objectives of the UPM is to promote and develop scientific cooperation with other international institutions. This may be encouraged through the joint international supervision of PhD theses. Such joint supervision favors PhD candidate mobility and contributes to strengthening ties between UPM groups and groups from other universities with regard to cooperation.

The joint supervision of each Doctoral thesis shall be carried out under the framework of cooperation between the UPM and another university, according to a joint supervision agreement between both universities.

The application for joint supervision must be submitted to the CADSSC, signed by the student and the supervisor, with attached documents supporting the collaboration. When it was approved, it will be sent to the UPM PhD International School.

The Doctoral Programme admission requirements shall be as required at each university. The Doctoral candidate shall enrol at both universities, although he or she shall only be liable for tuition fees at one of the institutions and shall be exempt at the other. The agreement shall state which university charges, and which waives, the tuition fees.

The Doctoral candidate shall perform his or her research activities at both the universities that have entered into the joint supervision agreement and shall spend one or more periods totalling at least six months at each. The stays and activities shall be specified in the agreement signed by the two parties.

The Doctoral thesis shall be defended at one of the two universities. This point shall be agreed upon by the participating universities and specified in the agreement.

The Doctoral thesis examination board shall be appointed by mutual agreement between the two universities, and its composition shall, whenever possible, comply with the regulatory criteria of both institutions. The board should include at most one Doctoral degree holder from each signatory university.

Pursuant to the agreement, each institution shall recognize the validity of the Doctoral thesis. The thesis shall be graded according to the grading system established in the country in which the thesis is defended. Furthermore, the examination board shall also enter the grade awarded under the system applicable in the other university's country. The Spanish PhD degree will include the distinction "Thesis under joint supervision".

Both institutions shall file and disseminate the thesis according to their own specific procedures.

The complete joint supervision procedure, agreement and forms are available at UPM's website.

Mobility

The PhD Programme encourages student mobility by promoting sojourns at other national or international research institutions of higher education or centres of excellence where students may opt to complete part of their research for their thesis.

In order to carry out a sojourns, it is essential to previously submit the mobility application to the PhD Programme Committee through THESIS, with the authorisation of the thesis supervisors. The application for a sojourn must be made sufficiently in advance of the trip (at least one month before), to ensure that the CADSSC has enough time to authorise it.

Please note that the minimum total duration of sojourns in higher education institutions or prestigious research centres outside Spain, in order to be eligible for the International PhD Mention, is three months.

Sojourns undertaken must be recorded in the Doctoral student Activity Document.

For sojourns outside the European Union, an international mobility insurance is required.

Internships at companies

Legislation allows students to conduct internships at companies; however, PhD students do not require this kind of training and there are no credits to be recognized. If this collaboration could prove useful, these are the possibilities:

  • If the activity at the company is not related to the thesis, the company and the student may reach an agreement independent from the University. In any case, the student must obtain written approval from his or her tutor and supervisor and from the CADSSC.
  • If the activity at the company is a research activity directly related to the student’s thesis, the student must ask the CADSSC to be included in the student’s Activities Document. An Educational Cooperation Agreement must be established, managed by the UPM's COIE. Internships must be paid, the student must be included in the Régimen General de la Seguridad Social (Spanish Social Security System) and mobility insurance must be provided. The agreement must specify that the internship is to complete the student’s education. The internship timetable must be compatible with the student’s activities at the University.
  • If the company desires a longer collaboration with the University, the company may establish a Cátedra or Aula Agreement (managed by COIE) or an Industrial PhD (managed by PhD Vice-Rectorate) with the UPM.

The duration of the internship, the required timetable and the relationship with the thesis must be established in the internship agreement. The agreement should also establish the distribution of ownership over the results derived from thesis work that may be protected by patents, software registers or other intellectual and industrial property, and they will be determined according to the nature of the works, the percentage of the student's funding by the company and the University, the contracts previously signed and the participation of researchers from both parties in the results.

Thesis title

PhD students must define the PhD thesis title before the end of the first academic year, prior to the Anual Report. To define the PhD thesis title or to modify an existing one, it should be requested at THESIS application and it should be approved by the thesis supervisors.

Doctoral student Activity Document

Doctoral students must record all the training and research activities they carry out during their studies. In this way, the Doctoral student Activity Document (DAD) will contain an individualised record of these activities.

At least the following activities related with the PhD studies are considered as training and research activities and should therefore be included in the DAD:

  • Publications in scientific journals
  • Publications in scientific conferences
  • Participation in scientific conferences (both as an assistant and as a speaker)
  • Completion of the Doctoral Training Activities, as well as their recognition
  • Participation in PhD Seminars
  • Attendance and participation in other courses and seminars/li>
  • Research sojourns
  • Awards or acknowledgements received
  • Scholarships, grants and funding received for Doctoral studies
  • ...

All activities included in the DAD must be justifiable and documented, if required by the Doctoral Programme.

The DAD must be kept up to date during the PhD studies and must be submitted each year in the Annual Report signed by the student, the tutor and the directors, together with the Research Plan and the Training Plan, and will be evaluated by the CADSSC.

Annual Report

At the end of each academic year, and once the thesis title has been established, the PhD student will prepare an Annual Report, which is essential in order to be able to continue studies in the Programme. The Annual Report is made up of three parts:

  • Research Plan
  • Training Plan
  • Doctoral student Activity Document

The Research Plan must detail the progress of the development of the Doctoral thesis and the most significant results that have been produced so far and will include, at least, the work carried out during the last year, the methodology to be used and the objectives to be achieved, together with the means and the time schedule to achieve them. The Research Plan will be improved, updated and detailed in subsequent years.

The personal Training Plan will summarise the training actions carried out in previous years and a forecast of the different training actions to be developed during the next academic year.

The Doctoral student Activity Document is an exhaustive and detailed list of the training and research activities carried out by the student. At the same time as the Annual Report is submitted to THESIS, PhD students must email the updated Doctoral student Activity Document to the PhD Programme (doctorado.ssc@fi.upm.es).

It is the responsibility of Doctoral students and thesis supervisors to complete the Annual Report on time, which is made up of the Research and Training Plans (which are made and submitted through the THESIS system) and the Doctoral student Activity Document (which is sent complete and signed by the Doctoral student, tutor and thesis supervisors by e-mail).

All doctoral students who have been enrolled in an academic year must submit the Annual Report for that academic year in due time and form, regardless of their administrative circumstances during the submission period.

Each year, the CADSSC will evaluate the Annual Report of each Doctoral student (Research Plan, Training Plan, Doctoral student Activity Document), together with the reports to be issued by the thesis supervisors. If the Annual Report has not been submitted, the PhD student will be automatically withdrawn from the Programme. A positive evaluation will be a prerequisite for continuing on the Programme. In the event of a negative evaluation, which must be duly justified, the PhD student must be re-evaluated within a period of six months, for which purpose a new Annual Report must be prepared. In the event of failure to submit it or in the event of a new negative evaluation, the PhD student will be automatically withdrawn from the Programme.

International Doctorate Distinction

The "International Doctorate" distinction may be added to the back of the PhD degree certificate, provided all the following circumstances apply:

  1. During the required PhD research period, the PhD student has completed one or more sojourns of at least three months (more than 92 days) studying or conducting research at a prestigious institution of higher education or a research centre outside Spain; in case of several stays, at least one of them will have a minimum duration of one month. The mobility (visit and activities) must be requested and endorsed by the thesis supervisor and authorised by the CADSSC prior to the start of the stay. Once completed and validated by the host institution, it will be included in the Doctoral student Activity Document. The PhD student must have an original certificate issued by the higher education institution or research centre where the stay was carried out. This certificate must state the start and end dates of the sojourn, as well as the director of the research group in which the student has collaborated. Once the certification of each sojourn has been obtained, it must be submitted to THESIS.
  2. Part of the PhD thesis, at least the summary and conclusions, must be written and defended in any of the common languages for scientific communication in the respective field of knowledge other than the official languages of Spain. This rule shall not apply where the stays, reports and experts come from a Spanish-speaking country.
  3. The thesis must have been reported by a minimum of two PhD experts belonging to a non-Spanish higher education institution or research institute (thesis report by experts). These experts may not be the same as the researchers who received the PhD student and carried out tutoring or supervision tasks at the host institution. No later than the application for the Assessment prior to PhD thesis submission, thesis supervisors must initiate the application procedure for the external expert reports.
  4. At least one member of the thesis examining board holding a PhD and not responsible for the visits mentioned in section 1 should be from a non-Spanish higher education institution or research centre.

The application for the International Mention must be made at THESIS at the time of the application for the Assessment prior to PhD thesis submission.

Theses must be defended at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

The Universidad Politécnica de Madrid shall provide a document stating that the PhD thesis has been awarded the "International Doctor" distinction. Moreover, "International Doctor" shall be added to the back side of the PhD degree certificate.

Industrial Doctor Distinction

The "Industrial Doctor" distinction may be added to the back side of the PhD degree certificate, provided all the following circumstances apply:

  1. That the thesis has developed a research project of industrial, commercial, social or cultural interest of an entity, public or private company or public administration (hereinafter, Entity), which may not be a university. The direct relationship between the thesis and the work carried out by the student in the entity must be formalized in a scientific-technical report that must be approved by the UPM.
  2. That an agreement has been signed between the entity and the UPM for the academic development of the thesis, which will establish, as a minimum, the obligations of the parties and the rights of industrial property that may be generated.
  3. That the student has been hired by the entity where the research project is carried out for at least 3 years in the case of full-time studies and 5 if it is part-time, being necessary that a substantial part of the thesis be developed in the entity.

In order to obtain this "Industrial Doctorate" mention, the following additional procedures will be necessary:

  1. During the first year of the student's studies in the Programme, an application must be made to the CADSSC for the Industrial Doctorate through THESIS.
  2. The PhD student must notify the person responsible at the institution, who may also be the thesis supervisor, but under no circumstances may this person be a member of the examining board. This person will be responsible for communication between the CADSSC and the institution. Subsequently, this person may be replaced by another, if circumstances require it (change of responsibility, retirement, change of location, etc.).
  3. There must be a framework agreement and a specific agreement between the University and the Entity, to be provided by the UPM Vice-Rector's Office responsible for Doctoral Studies.
  4. The first Research Plan should clearly specify that it is an industrial thesis. This Research Plan must be approved by the CADSSC in order to obtain the "Industrial Doctor" distinction.
  5. At the end of the research period and once the application for the Assessment prior to PhD thesis submission has been made (and always before the application for Deposit), the PhD student must apply for the "Industrial Doctorate" Mention at THESIS to the CADSSC, attaching:
    • A report demonstrating the relationship between the thesis and the industrial research or experimental development project of the company.
    • A copy of the employment contract with the company. This contract must cover the entire thesis development period (at least 3 years for full-time students, and at least 5 years for part-time students).

Once the documentation has been reviewed by the CADSSC, if it is correct and complete, the application will be sent to the EID Steering Committee, which will notify the PhD student of the decision taken.

Theses must be defended at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

Joint supervision distinction

In order to promote and facilitate internationalization, the PhD degree may include the distinction "Thesis under joint supervision", provided that the following circumstances apply:

  1. That the thesis is supervised by doctors from two universities, one of which must be the UPM and the other foreign, having formalized a joint supervision agreement.
  2. That, for the thesis work, the student obtains two degrees, one for each of the higher education institutions responsible for the development of the thesis.
  3. That, during the training period necessary to obtain the PhD degree, the student has completed a minimum stay of six months in each of the institutions with which the joint supervision agreement is established, carrying out research work, either in a single period or several. The stays and activities will be reflected in the joint supervision agreement.
  4. Theses under joint supervision may also include the International Doctorate distinction in the PhD degree if stays are carried out in institutions other than those of the formalized agreement.

Extraordinary PhD awards

Awards shall be granted to worthy applicants who have defended a thesis in the previous academic year that was graded "cum laude".

Applications must be addressed to the director of the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Informáticos and submitted to the UPM general registry by the closing date established by the EID.

The School shall then formulate reasoned proposals for granting awards, subject to a report from the academic committees of the PhD Programmes conducted by the candidates for extraordinary PhD awards. These proposals must be forwarded, along with the applications submitted by applicants, to the EID by the date established by the aforesaid committee.

Finally, the EID shall grant the extraordinary PhD awards, all of which shall be of equal rank.

Calculating deadlines

The periods established in these regulations shall be calculated as calendar days, not including the period from 1 to 31 August or holidays.