Monitoring of the PhD student

Management and supervision

Once the candidate has been admitted to the doctoral programme and registration has been verified, within a period of three months the academic committee responsible for the programme must assign a tutor to each candidate and modify the appointment of the tutor at any time during the period of completion of the doctorate, provided that there are justified reasons.

The tutor must be a doctor, a professor of the doctoral program, with proven research experience. The tutor is responsible for ensuring the interaction of the doctoral student with the corresponding academic committee.

The tutor's functions are:

A. Regularly review, together with the thesis director, the doctoral student's personalized activity document.

B. Endorse, together with the thesis director and before the end of the first year, the research plan prepared by the doctoral student.

C. Sign the documentary commitments, together with the university, the doctoral student and the director.

D. Issue and submit annually to the academic committee the report provided for in article 11.7 of Royal Decree 99/2011, of January 28.

The work of supervising the doctoral candidate will be recognised as part of the teaching and research dedication of the teaching staff in the terms established in the regulations for the evaluation of the activity of the teaching staff of each University.

Within three months of enrolment, the academic committee responsible for the programme must assign each doctoral student a doctoral thesis supervisor. The thesis supervisor, except for justified exceptions deemed appropriate by the Committee, will be the same as the tutor. The Academic Committee, after hearing the doctoral student and the director, may modify the appointment of a doctoral thesis supervisor for a doctoral student at any time during the period of completion of the doctorate, provided that there are justified reasons.

Any doctor, Spanish or foreign, who has proven research experience and a minimum of three years' seniority in the doctoral degree may act as a director, regardless of the university, centre or institution in which he or she provides services. Emeritus professors may co-direct doctoral theses.

The Doctoral School may establish additional requirements, which must be public, to be a thesis director or co-director.

With the prior authorization of the academic committee, the thesis may be co-supervised by other doctors when there are academic reasons, such as the case of thematic interdisciplinarity or programs developed in national or international collaboration. The authorization to intervene as co-director and the corresponding assignment may be revoked by the academic committee at any time during the development of the program, after hearing the doctoral student, the tutor and the co-directors, if there are justified reasons for doing so, such as that the co-supervision does not benefit the development of the thesis.

In the case of co-supervised theses, the maximum number of supervisors will be three, of whom only two may be from the same university or institution. The decisions and reports of the co-supervisors must be adopted and issued unanimously.

The thesis supervisor is ultimately responsible for the coherence and suitability of the training activities, the impact and novelty of the doctoral thesis topic in its field, and for guiding the planning and its adaptation, where appropriate, to other projects and activities in which the doctoral student is enrolled.

Without prejudice to others, the thesis director has the following functions:

a. Regularly review, together with the tutor, the doctoral student's personalized activity document.

b. Endorse, together with the tutor and before the end of the first year, the research plan prepared by the doctoral student.

c. Sign the documentary commitment together with the university, the doctoral student and the tutor.

d. Issue and submit annually to the academic committee the report provided for in article 11.7 of Royal Decree 99/2011, of January 28.

e. If applicable, guarantee the stay and activities required for the inclusion, where applicable, of the mention "International Doctor", in accordance with the provisions of article 15.1.a of Royal Decree 99/2011, of January 28.

Thesis supervision will be recognised as part of the teaching and research dedication of the teaching staff in accordance with the terms established in the regulations for the assessment of the activity of the teaching staff of each university participating in the Programme.

Recording and evaluating activities

Once enrolled in the programme, each doctoral student must complete a personalised activity document for the purposes of the individualised control record referred to in article 2.5 of Royal Decree 99/2011, of 28 January. All activities of interest to the development of the doctoral student must be recorded in it, as regulated by the university, the school or the academic committee itself, and it must be regularly reviewed by the tutor and the thesis director and evaluated by the academic committee responsible for the doctoral programme.

The personalized activity document must be prepared according to the model designed for this purpose by the universities.

In any case, before the end of the first year, the doctoral student must prepare a research plan, in accordance with the model designed for this purpose, endorsed by the tutor and the director, which may be improved and detailed throughout his/her stay in the Program and which must include, at least, the following sections:

1. Identification data of the doctoral candidate and the director or co-directors of the proposed thesis.

2. Title of the thesis proposal.

3. Summary of the proposal.

4. Expected objectives.

5. Work plan with an estimate of time and resources to achieve the proposed objectives and with express mention, where appropriate, of the specific training supplements that must be carried out.

6. Methodology to be used.

7. Bibliography.

The academic committee of the program will annually evaluate the research plan and the document of activities together with the reports that the tutor and the director must issue for this purpose.

The result of the evaluation, whether positive or negative, signed by the president of the committee, will be added to the student's file. A positive evaluation is an essential requirement for continuing in the program.

In the event of a negative evaluation, which must be duly justified, the doctoral candidate must be evaluated again within six months, for which purpose he or she must draw up a new research plan. In the event of a new negative evaluation, the doctoral candidate will be permanently withdrawn from the programme. To this end, the rector will issue the appropriate resolution, at the proposal of the academic committee responsible for the Doctoral programme or the body of the Doctoral School in which the Programme is registered.

Commitment documents

The supervision functions of doctoral students will be established by means of a documentary commitment signed by the vice-rector responsible for doctoral matters, the doctoral student, his/her tutor and his/her director or co-directors. The commitment must be signed as soon as possible after admission and registration and, in any case, within a maximum period of three months from the assignment of a tutor and director.

The commitment document must include the unconditional acceptance by the doctoral candidate and the director of the respective rights and duties provided for in this Programme, the necessary training commitments, as well as a conflict resolution procedure, in accordance with the provisions of the following section.

The commitment document, which will be in accordance with that proposed by the University, will be filed in the student's file.

Conflict resolution procedure

1. In the event of any non-compliance with any of the provisions included in the commitment document or the occurrence of any other disagreement related to the development of the doctoral programme with respect to each doctoral student, either party may bring this to the attention of the doctoral programme coordinator, who will act as mediator with a view to reaching a unanimous agreement that puts an end to the controversy.

2. If mediation has not allowed the conflict to be resolved after two months have elapsed since the doctoral programme coordinator was informed, it will be forwarded to the Doctoral School or General Doctoral Committee, which must issue a resolution within three months, after hearing the parties and the doctoral programme coordinator.

3. An appeal may be lodged against the decision of the General Doctoral Committee before the rector, under the terms provided for in Law 30/1992, of November 26, on the Legal Regime of Public Administrations and the Common Administrative Procedure.