Temporary withdrawal

How do I request temporary withdrawal for personal reasons?

If your personal circumstances prevent you from working on the thesis, you can apply to the Academic Committee for temporary withdrawal from the programme for up to one academic year, which may be extended by a further academic year.

Requests should be addressed to the Academic Committee and submitted via the Academic Secretary. You must justify the request and provide supporting documentation. Requests must be submitted before the period of withdrawal begins. Students who wish to withdraw for a full academic year must submit their request before enrolling for that year. Students who wish to extend the period by one further year must submit a new request in the same terms as the first.

Important! During periods of special extension of doctoral studies, temporary withdrawal for personal reasons will not be granted unless serious and exceptional circumstances exist, at the discretion of the Academic Committee.

If you become ill during the period of thesis preparation, you will be automatically granted temporary withdrawal from the programme. You must, however, notify the Academic Committee of the programme, via the Secretary's Office for Students and Teaching Staff. You will need to provide a supporting medical report issued by the Catalan Health Service, the equivalent health authority in another autonomous community of Spain, or the public health insurance provider MUFACE. The period of withdrawal from the programme does not count towards the calculation of the total duration of your doctoral studies, and the deadline for depositing the thesis will be extended.

Students with a predoctoral contract must also certify medical leave as members of the UB staff.

You are also entitled to temporary withdrawal from the programme in the event of risk during pregnancy or during natural breastfeeding, for maternity leave, adoption, guardianship for the purpose of adoption or fostering, paternity and where measures are required for protection against gender-based violence. As above, you must notify the Academic Committee of the doctoral programme of your temporary withdrawal from the programme, through the Secretary's Office for Students and Teaching Staff, and provide the necessary supporting documentation. In these cases, you will be granted the period of leave or withdrawal established in law for your specific circumstances.