Universidad de Zaragoza

Programme overview

The Mención «Doctorado internacional» is an add-on to the PhD degree that the Escuela de Doctorado de la Universidad de Zaragoza may grant when specific international research and evaluation conditions are met. It recognises that the doctoral candidate has carried out substantive research activity abroad and that independent external expertise from non‑Spanish institutions has participated in the evaluation.

What you'll study

This is not a taught curriculum but a set of research and evaluation requirements linked to the doctoral project. The core elements required are:

• One or more research stays outside Spain totaling at least three months; if multiple stays are made, at least one must be at least one month long.
• Stays must take place in higher education institutions or research centres where research is a principal activity; they cannot be hosted in the candidate’s country of origin, residence or employment.
• Activities and the stay must be endorsed by the thesis supervisor/director and authorised by the programme’s Academic Committee.
• Part of the doctoral thesis — at minimum the abstract and conclusions — must be written and defended in a language commonly used for scientific communication in the field that is different from any of Spain’s official languages, except when the stays, reports and external experts come from a Spanish‑speaking country. If the whole thesis is presented in English or another non‑Spanish official language, it must include an abstract and conclusions in Spanish.
• At least two external expert reviewers must belong to two different non‑Spanish higher education or research institutions; they must be independent of the host researcher(s) who supervised the candidate during the stay. These experts may be part of the thesis tribunal.
• At least one external tribunal member with a doctoral degree from a non‑Spanish institution (distinct from the stay supervisors) must participate in the evaluation; the Academic Committee must justify that the person’s institution has research as a main activity.

Entry requirements

Requirements relate to actions during the doctoral training period rather than pre‑admission criteria. Before undertaking a stay intended to support the international mention, the candidate must submit a formal request for authorisation following the established administrative procedure. At thesis submission the candidate must provide the specific documentary evidence indicated by the School of Doctorate (including stay reports and certificates) so the Academic Committee can process the mention.

Career prospects

The mention itself is a formal acknowledgement of international research mobility and external evaluation. It can strengthen an academic CV for research and teaching positions, postdoctoral applications, international collaborations and competitive funding bids by evidencing supervised stays, external expert scrutiny and multilingual communication of research results.

Scholarships & funding angle (general)

The School of Doctorate lists specific aid schemes and calls related to doctoral studies and stays (for example, calls for Iberoamerican and Equatoguinean doctoral students) and other grants or contracts. Candidates pursuing the international mention should consult the School’s funding pages and the doctoral programme’s Academic Committee for relevant mobility scholarships and application procedures.