Duration of studies

The minimum duration of doctoral studies is two years. Doctoral students admitted and registered in a doctoral programme may not begin procedures to deposit and defend their theses until at least the academic year following the year in which they are admitted to the programme. That is, they must be registered for two academic years and receive a favourable assessment twice before they can apply to deposit their thesis.
Notwithstanding the previous point, if a student changes from a doctoral programme governed by previous regulations (a process called adaptation), or if a student changes from a doctoral programm governed by Royal Decree 99/2011, or if a student is registered in the URV under a signed cotutelle agreement, the student may request a reduction in the minimum duration of the doctoral programme so that they can submit their thesis during the same academic year that they were admitted or the one immediately after. Furthermore, they will only be required to obtain a favourable assessment. The request must be submitted in accordance with the established procedure (Reduction of the minimum course duration for doctoral students).

For students who started a doctoral programme up to and including the academic year 2022-23

You can find the information HERE.

For students starting a doctoral programme as from the academic year 2023-2024 (inclusive)

You can find the information HERE.

Doctoral students can apply for the following procedures related to the duration of their studies:

• Change from full-time to part-time status or vice versa.

• Extension of the thesis submission deadline.

• Temporary leave of absence for personal reasons.

• Temporary leave of absence due to: Illness or risk during pregnancy. Birth, risk during breastfeeding, adopting a child, care with a view to adoption, care with a view to fostering, or concentration of working hours reduction for breastfeeding into one period. Gender violence or any other situation envisaged in the current legislation.

• Resuming doctoral studies.

  • For the 2024-25 academic year, on a temporary basis, you must request to resume your studies to rejoin from a temporary leave for personal reasons.
  • For the 2025-26 academic year, this procedure will only apply to students as from the third year onwards who had been authorized to cancel their registration for the immediately preceding academic year.

The following are grounds for permanent withdrawal from the doctoral programme:

• Not completing the registration process during a given academic year.
• Failing to submit a research proposal and the doctoral activities document within the established deadline, or being assessed negatively or as absent after the second exam period. During the annual examination period, new students starting in the academic year 2023-24 (inclusive) must submit a document that describes their research plan, their personal training plan, and the training activities they have taken.
• Exceeding the established maximum duration of studies and any extensions without having submitted a doctoral thesis for deposit.

Permanent withdrawal from the programme implies:

• The doctoral student will no longer continue in the doctoral programme in which they are registered.
• The doctoral student's file will be closed.

Students may subsequently apply for admission and register in another doctoral programme.