Examining Committee

Proposal of the Examining Committee

The proposal of the CAPD will be formed by eight specialists

A programme support staff should be provided with the proposal proposal with the updated information of these individuals, to be transferred to Xescampus. In addition, all proposed members must sign the T70 document (Galician, Spanish, English), in agreement to be part of the examining committee and include their responsibility for complying with the requirements to be a member of the committee as established in article 26 of the Regulations of Doctoral Studies of the USC.

A letter from the CAPD suggesting the head committee may be included as additional documentation for the EDIUS.

Supervisor(s), tutor or anyone who incurs in the causes of abstention established in Article 23 of Law 40/2015 of 1 October may not be members of the committee. Co-authors may not be part of the committee proposal.

The committee proposal may not include more than three members from the same institution. In the case of theses that opt for an International Mention, the proposal of the committee, approved by the CAPD, must include two experts (one holder and one substitute) belonging to a non-Spanish higher education institution or research institute, and who have not signed the certificate of stay.

In the case of theses carried out under joint supervision, the provisions of the agreement signed for this purpose shall apply.

Designation of the Examining Committee

As stated in Article 42, of the eight proposed members, the Executive Committee of the EDIUS, following the authorization of the thesis defence, shall designate three holders and three substitutes, one per holder, and notify the situation to all interested parties.

There shall be no more than two people or assimilated employees from the same institution designated as holders and substitutes; hence, the committee which will be present during the defence may not consist of more than one member of the same institution. In the case of inter-university programs, no more than one person from the USC or from universities or institutions collaborating in the program may be part of the committee.

Act of defence

The doctoral thesis will be evaluated in the act of defence that will take place in a public session, and will consist of the presentation and defense by the doctoral student of his/her research work in front of the members of the examining committee.

The academic act of defense of the thesis will begin by taking the floor with the president of the examining committee, who will present the doctoral student and the rest of the members of the committee, and will establish how the defence will be developed, as well as the time available for the doctoral student to present his/her thesis work. Next, he/she will give the floor to the PhD student to present his/her thesis.

Thesis minutes and grading

For all defence modalities, the examining committee will have at his disposal a single electronic file of the minutes and the access to the online form for the cum laude honour and Extraordinary PhD Award will be sent from the EDIUS.

The degree granted unanimously by the examination committee may be: not pass, pass, remarkable or outstanding.

The committee may grant a cum laude honour if the overall evaluation is Outstanding, voted confidentially and unanimously.

The University will enable, through a form, the necessary tools for the final concession of said honour ensuring that the counting of the votes is carried out in a session different from the defence of the thesis.

The minutes will be sent electronically signed by the secretary of the committee to doutoramento [at] usc.es (doutoramento[at]usc[dot]es) within 24 hours.

If the documentation cannot be signed electronically, it can be signed physically and sent to SXA by certified mail or courier, to the address:

Expenses associated with the examining committee

The members of the doctoral thesis examining committees, and that act in face-to-face mode, will be entitled to compensation only for the concepts of allowances and travel expenses, and will be classified in the first category of those indicated in Annex I.

Expenditure for members of examining committees will be authorized in the following cases:

• Totally face-to-face defence: expenses related to the travel of the members of the committee who act in person in Santiago or Lugo may be authorized.
   
• Blended defense: Only expenses related to the travel of the members of the court who act in person in Santiago or Lugo may be authorized.
   
• Virtual defense: no processing of expenses for allowances and travel

The cost of compensation may not exceed:

• Doctoral Thesis without International Mention: 600 € for the entire examining committee
   
• Doctoral Thesis with International Mention: 1.100 € for the entire committee (including the international member).

The payment and financing request procedure remains unchanged

• Regulation of Reimbursement for service-related expenses