The Postgraduate Studies Regulations approved by the Governing Council of the Universitat de València on 29 November 2011 has established the following procedure regarding the supervision and monitoring of doctoral students.

Article 15 - Doctoral thesis tutors

1. Once admitted to and enrolled in a doctoral programme, doctoral students are assigned a thesis tutor by the corresponding academic committee. Thesis tutors are Doctors with accredited research experience, linked to the unit or school of the doctoral programme of the student.

Article 16 - Doctoral thesis supervisors

1. The academic committee responsible for the doctoral programme appoints each doctoral student with a thesis supervisor, within a maximum period of six months from their enrolment. This supervisor may or may not coincide with the thesis tutor. A thesis supervisor can be any doctor with duly accredited research experience, regardless of the university, centre or institute in which he/she/they work.

Article 17 - Doctoral commitment document

1. After completing enrolment for the first year, the doctoral student, the University, the tutor, and, if applicable, the supervisor must jointly sign the doctoral commitment document, concerning, among other issues, the procedure for resolving any conflicts that may arise, aspects relating to intellectual or industrial property and, in general, the supervision of the doctoral student’s research activity.

Article 18 - Doctoral student activity document and research plan

1. Once enrolment for the first year is completed, a personalised activity document will be issued for each doctoral student, recording all the activities of interest for the doctoral student’s professional development, as well as the development of the thesis, for review by the tutor and thesis supervisor and evaluation by the Academic Committee of the corresponding doctoral programme.
2. Before the end of the first year, the doctoral student will prepare a research plan, endorsed by the tutor and supervisor. This plan must include the methodology and goals, the means and the timetable, as well as a favourable report from the Ethics Committee in Experimental Research of the University of Valencia, if applicable. This plan can be refined throughout the duration of the doctoral programme and must be endorsed by the tutor and the supervisor.
3. The Ethics Committee will assess research plans that include experimentation with humans or biological human samples, experimentation with animals, the use of biological pathogenic agents or genetically-modified organisms.
4. The Academic Committee will evaluate the research plan and activities document yearly, together with the reports issued by the tutor and the supervisor. Favourable assessment is a requirement to continue the programme. In the event of an unfavourable assessment, which must be substantiated, the doctoral student must be evaluated again within six months, for which a new research plan must be drawn up. If there is a second unfavourable assessment, the doctoral student will be permanently withdrawn from the programme.
5. A favourable report from the Academic Committee on this personal activity document and the research plan is a requirement for enrolment in subsequent years.
6. These documents must be registered at the Third Cycle Management Unit of the Postgraduate Centre.