The Regulation for Postgraduate Studies and its subsequent adaptation to the programme's verification report establish the following procedure for monitoring PhD students:

Article 15. Once admitted and enrolled in the doctoral programme, all PhD students shall be assigned by the corresponding academic committee a thesis advisor, doctor with accredited research experience, linked to the unit or School of Doctoral Studies that organises the programme.

Article 16. The academic committee responsible for the programme shall assign each PhD student, within a maximum period of six months from enrolment, a supervisor for the PhD thesis, who may or may not be coincidental with the advisor. This assignment may fall on any doctor with duly accredited research experience, regardless of the university, centre or institute where they work.

Article 17. Doctoral commitment document:

Subsequent to the formalisation of the first enrolment, the PhD student, the University, the advisor and, if applicable, the supervisor must jointly sign the doctoral commitment, which is related, among other issues, to the procedure for resolving any conflicts that may arise, to aspects relating to intellectual or industrial property and, in general, to the functions of supervision of the research activity of the PhD student.

This document, approved by the Doctoral Sub-Committee on 17 October 2011, defines the respective rights and responsibilities and the reciprocal commitments of the signatory members in order to ensure the achievement of the objectives defined in the Programme during the period of preparation of the PhD thesis.

This document includes:

• Reciprocal commitments in the establishment of mutual collaboration.
• Responsibilities and commitment of the supervisor of the thesis: commitment to regularity, motivation of self-reliant initiatives, original and innovative nature of the project and coherent with the research line.
• Responsibilities and commitment of the PhD student: To inform the supervisor regularly about the progress of the project and its results, and commitment to follow the observations made by the supervisor.
• Confidentiality with the data and information that may be provided to them and commitment to use the information for the corresponding purposes, Intellectual Property Regime, recognising the PhD student the intellectual or industrial property rights that correspond to them in accordance with the current legislation.
• Conflict resolution, in which the Doctoral Programme Coordinator must act as mediator.

Article 18. Research Plan and Activities Document of PhD students:

Before the end of the first year, the PhD student must draw up a research plan, approved by the advisor and the supervisor. This plan must include the methodology, objectives, means and time schedule for preparing their PhD thesis, as well as a favourable report from the Universitat de València's Ethics Committee in Experimental Research, in the cases indicated. This plan may be improved throughout the duration of the Doctoral Programme and must be approved by the advisor and the supervisor.

Research plans that include experimentation on humans or human biological samples, animal experimentation and the use of pathogenic biological agents or genetically modified organisms will be subject to evaluation by the Ethics Committee.

Annually, the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme will evaluate the research plan and the activities document together with the reports issued by the advisor and the supervisor. A positive evaluation will be a requirement to continue in the programme. In the event of a negative evaluation, which must be reasoned, the PhD student must be re-evaluated within six months, for which a new research plan must be drawn up. If there is a second negative evaluation, the PhD student will be definitively withdrawn from the programme. The applicant may lodge an appeal against these resolutions, which do not exhaust administrative procedures, to be determined upon a report from the Postgraduate Studies Committee by the Principal or by their delegate. For enrolment in subsequent years, a favourable report from the Academic Committee on this personal activities document and the research plan will be required. These documents must be registered at the Third Cycle Management Unit of the Postgraduate Centre.

With regard to the Research Plan, the procedure for the annual assessment of the Research Plan and the PhD student's activities document is described below. Before the end of the first year, when the relevant administrative deadlines are established, the PhD student will draw up a Research Plan that must include at least: 1) the methodology to be used, 2) the objectives to be achieved, 3) the material means for its development and 4) the time schedule, indicating the tasks and progress foreseen in each of the months of preparation of the thesis. PhD students will be provided with a template to fill out in the virtual classroom. 

The plan must be submitted to the Academic Committee, after approval by the advisor/supervisor, within the aforementioned period, for assessment, who will use the following evaluation criteria:

• Satisfactory development of the training activities included in the PhD student's record of activities according to section 4 (35%).
• Fulfilment of the schedule of tasks set out in the Research Plan (30%).
• Completion of the dissemination planned for that year in the Research Plan (35%).

In addition, this project proposal, once accepted by the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme, will be submitted for evaluation by the Research Ethics Committee of the Universitat de València, if necessary due to the type of project proposed. The research plan will include the expected stays of PhD students in other national and international training centres, joint supervisions and European mentions.