Thesis supervision

The ULL develops actions to promote the supervision and co-supervision of theses, and the academic coordination of doctoral programs. One of them establishes the recognition of the work of supervision and coordination in the calculation of the teaching load included in the specific regulations on "Estimation of the teaching assignment in undergraduate and postgraduate degrees" and in the "Management Support Plan" which are detailed in section 6.2 of the report.

Apart from the mechanisms for recognising/computing the work of tutoring/direction referred to above, the University of La Laguna has contemplated systems to encourage the incorporation of new researchers or professors with research results that do not allow them to act as thesis directors, since they have not been validated by recognition of evaluations of research merits. In this sense, the Regulations for Official Doctoral Studies in its article 10, section 4 establishes that: "Without prejudice to the provisions of the previous section, a new researcher or a professor or researcher with a minimum of research experience who does not meet the requirements established to be a thesis director may assume the functions of co-director. In any case, he or she must have a civil service or contractual relationship with the university or organisation that collaborates in the development of the programme. There may not be more than one co-director of this profile."

The aim is for these researchers/professors to acquire the appropriate level to be able to join the programme as directors when they meet the conditions established by the ULL in its Regulations for being able to do so.

Likewise, in the latest amendment to the Regulations for Hiring Assistant Professors, Collaborating Professors, Contracted Professors, Associate Professors and Assistants of the University of La Laguna, the corresponding scales, within the block of research activity, include having directed doctoral theses as an assessment criterion.

The work of supervising the doctoral candidate will be recognised as part of the teaching and research dedication of the teaching staff in accordance with the terms established by the corresponding regulations of the University of La Laguna.

5.1.1 The Doctoral Thesis Project
The thesis project will consist of a report on the work to be carried out, which will include the background, methodology, objectives and bibliography of the topic, and must be submitted, with the approval of the thesis director assigned to it, to the Academic Council of the Doctorate (CAD). This report will have a mandatory minimum length of between 3,000 and 9,000 words. The project may be modified up to one month before the admission of the doctoral thesis for processing, following the same procedure.

5.1.2 Thesis Director Requirements
The requirements established by the Regulations for Official Doctoral Studies at La Laguna in order to act as a doctoral thesis director are established in article 10:

– Thesis supervisors must be PhD holders and have at least one section of research merits recognised in accordance with RD 1086/1989. In the event that they do not have access to the assessment of these sections (associate professors, assistant professors and contracted researchers), they must have equivalent merits (accreditation of 5 relevant contributions according to CNEAI criteria). Alternatively, professors with three research merits recognised in accordance with the provisions of Decree 140/2002, of 7 October (BOC no. 139, of 18 October) and having directed one thesis or co-directed two may also be doctoral thesis supervisors. In any case, both tutors and supervisors must be part of one of the lines that make up this programme.

The supervision of a doctoral thesis may be shared by two researchers. The inclusion of a co-director must be authorized by the Academic Committee of the program and will be subject to academic reasons such as interdisciplinarity in the research topic or joint supervision with researchers from other national or international centers. Without prejudice to the above, a new researcher with a minimum of research experience who does not meet the requirements to be a director may act as co-director. In any case, he or she must have a contractual relationship with the ULL or center that collaborates in the development of the program.

A professor may not supervise or co-supervise more than four doctoral theses simultaneously. This limit may be raised if the supervised theses give rise to more than two publications in journals included in the first two quartiles of the impact index of the specialty according to the "Journal Citation Reports", or in the case that one of the supervised theses is in the form of co-supervision with researchers from other national or international centers. On the other hand, if one of the supervised theses is defended in a period of more than four years, or has not given rise to publications within a period of one year after its defense, the limit will be reduced.

One of the short- and medium-term priority objectives of this programme is to encourage interaction between our PhD students and researchers from leading centres, with the aim of promoting the international thesis modality. The regulations for the internationally recognised PhD degree (Art. 15 of RD 99/2011 and Art. 28 of REODULL) require the participation of international experts in monitoring, preparing reports and evaluation panels.

5.1.3 Rights and responsibilities of PhD students

– The REODULL (art. 20) recognises the following rights and duties of doctoral students: common rights and duties of university students and specific rights and duties of doctoral students established in the University Student Statute approved by RD 1791/2010, of 30 December; rights and duties that, in their capacity as ULL students, are recognised and result from the statutes of the ULL insofar as they are applicable to third cycle students.

In particular, they are subject to the following duties:

• complete the training activities established in the doctoral program,
• submit to the director the work done in the format and deadline that has been previously agreed upon,
• consult with the director before undertaking any additional activity to your training,
• comply with safety regulations at work,
• include the ULL in all communications and publications in which the results of the research carried out are disseminated, and comply with the ethical standards established at the university.

The Commitment Document will include the unconditional acceptance by the doctoral student and director of the respective rights and duties provided for in the REODULL, and will consider the aspects relating to intellectual property rights and the conflict resolution procedure, in accordance with the provisions of its article 22.

– In the context of the Doctoral School that is being launched at the ULL, a guide of good practices for the supervision of doctoral theses is being drawn up. Until its final edition, this doctoral programme adheres to the “European Charter for Research and Code of Conduct for Recruitment of Research”, assuming the principles of intellectual freedom, ethical praxis, professional responsibility, transparent and effective financial management of funds, joint responsibility of institutions in the appropriate dissemination of results and the effort in continuous training and the role of established researchers in the dynamisation of younger researchers. In addition, responsibility is assumed for ensuring that research projects comply with the methodological, ethical and legal requirements applicable to research.

– Likewise, the ULL will guarantee the principles and rights regarding pluralism, ideological and religious freedom, non-discrimination based on ethnicity, nationality or sex, and equal opportunities with special attention to disabled people (section

3.2.6 of this report), as well as the confidentiality in the custody and treatment of personal data of doctoral students in their possession.

5.1.4 The Doctoral School and the Academic Commission

The supervision, monitoring and evaluation of doctoral programmes are the responsibility of the Doctoral School, through the Postgraduate Studies Committee, and the Academic Committee of the Programme. In accordance with arts. 14-16 of the REODULL, the Academic Committee of the programme shall be composed of a maximum of seven professors and/or researchers participating in it, including the academic coordinator, who shall act as its president. This position must be held by a relevant researcher and be supported by the possession of at least two periods of recognised research activity in accordance with the provisions of Royal Decree 1086/1989, of 28 August, on the remuneration of teaching staff. At least one member of each line of research that forms part of the doctoral programme shall be included in it, respecting the above limit. In the event that there are more than seven lines of research, at the end of each term the academic committee will be renewed, with professors and/or researchers from those lines that did not have representatives in the previous term being included as members. The members of the academic committee must meet the same requirements established for being a thesis director. In addition, representatives of entities external to the doctoral program that collaborate in its development may be incorporated as members of the academic committee, in a number not exceeding three. If necessary, a rotating system of designation of representatives by external entities will be established.

Membership of the academic committee will last for three academic years from the date of appointment, provided that the conditions for membership are maintained. Members of the research lines may replace the members appointed by them when any of the reasons contemplated in the regulations governing membership of collegiate bodies arise. Membership of the academic committee may be extended once if the members of the research line to which the member is assigned so deem it necessary.

The following functions will be performed by the academic committee:

a) Propose the admission of students,
b) Establish the training supplements that, where appropriate, admitted students must take based on their access profile,
c) Assign a tutor and director to each new student,
d) Evaluate the research plan and the activity document of each student in the program within the established deadlines,
e) Select the doctors who must issue the reports on the doctoral theses that aspire to the title of Doctor with "International Mention",
f) Analyze the doctoral theses that are presented to begin their defense process and issue the corresponding report,
g) Formulate the proposal for the appointment of the doctors who will form part of the thesis committee,
h) Verify each academic year that the members of the doctoral program meet the requirements established to be assigned as thesis directors.

Criteria for appointing faculty as thesis directors and co-directors

Any doctor linked to the doctoral programme may supervise theses, meaning that he or she teaches in the faculties of Fine Arts, Philology or Geography and History, with accredited research experience and who has a record, within the doctoral programme, as a professor responsible for supervising doctoral theses. Research experience will be deemed to be accredited, within the Doctoral Programme in Arts and Humanities, when he or she has had a six-year research period or has obtained, in the last six years, 3 Research Sections (in accordance with Decree 140/2002) having supervised a doctoral thesis or co-supervised two doctoral theses.

The same criteria, in terms of research experience, apply to the co-supervision of theses by any other ULL doctor.

External co-direction of theses by other national or foreign researchers belonging to public research organisations may exist when their connection with ULL research groups is accredited, when reasons of interdisciplinarity of the work or consolidation of research networks justify it.

These co-directors must also have proven research experience in the field of research corresponding to the thesis, in accordance with the criteria indicated in the Doctoral Program in Arts and Humanities.

Assignment of tutors in the event that the thesis direction falls to doctors not belonging to the ULL

In exceptional cases, the CAD may authorize other doctors who are not linked to the program to supervise the thesis. In this case, the CAD will assign a tutor from among the doctors linked to the program, depending on the line of research to which the thesis is assigned. Both the doctor and the tutor must have accredited research experience according to the criteria of the Doctoral Program in Arts and Humanities.

Criteria for selecting European teaching staff to assess theses that aspire to the European Mention

Theses that are eligible for the European Mention of the degree must be reviewed by a minimum of two doctors, experts in the line of research in which the thesis is registered. These experts must belong to two different institutions and must have proven research experience comparable to the criteria of the Doctoral Programme in Arts and Humanities.