The Posgraduate Studies Regulation of the Universitat de València (approved by Governing Council 29/11/2011), regarding supervision of theses, the Article 16 provides that:
1. The academic committee responsible of the programme will appoint each doctoral student, in the maximum period of six month since the enrolment, a doctoral thesis director who can be the same or different to the tutor. This director can be any doctor with properly accredited researching experience independent from the university, centre or institute where he/she develops his/her work.
2. A doctoral thesis can be co-supervised by a maximum of three doctors, after being authorised by the CAD, in the case of interdisciplinary topics or programmes developed jointly with other national or international Universities.
3. No doctorate from the Universitat de València may supervise or co-supervise over 10 theses simultaneously.
4. The supervisor/director may waive the direction, writing the opinion expressed by the Doctoral Programme Academic Committee that meet the request and shall appoint another supervisor to continue in the doctoral programme.
5. For good reasons, the academic committee may amend, hearing the doctoral student, the appointment of the director of doctoral thesis at any time of the completion of the thesis.
6. University regulations involving the activities of faculty will establish the credit equivalence of mentoring and supervision of doctoral theses.
Likewise, the Article 20 states that “the Universitat de València may formalise agreements with foreign universities to develop doctoral theses in co-supervision regime. In this case the doctoral students will carry out their thesis work under the control and responsibility of at least one thesis supervisor from each of the universities signatories of the agreement Universities”.
For the purpose of supervising the doctoral thesis, the “Doctoral Thesis submission, assessment and defence Regulation” of the Universitat de València provides in Article 1 point 6 letter c that “[...] when the thesis is completed, it must be presented a list of 6 experts, on the proposal of the thesis supervisor, who may form part of the court to evaluate it, which must specify the research experience of the proposed members to establish the doctoral subcommittees of different areas. The proposal must meet the requirements stablished on the current legislation on gender equality”.
And in the same article, point 8 “8. The Doctoral Programme Academic Committee will collect the doctoral student’s Annual Personalised Document of Activities, the reports of the experts and will decide on the application within a maximum period of one month from the presentation in the General Register of the Universitat de València. The agreement of the commission must notify the doctoral student and the secretary office of the Authority responsible for the Doctoral Programme.”
In addition to the postgraduate studies regulation of the Universitat de València, in this programme, it is required that at least one of the Directors of the doctoral thesis must be Professor of the Departments involved in the Programme in Biomedicine and Pharmacy.
Multiple supervising of doctoral theses will be enhanced through the interaction with external professors participating actively and continuously in the Master’s Degree in Research and Rational Use of Medicines, all renowned specialists in the areas of knowledge involved in the Doctoral Programme in Biomedicine and Pharmacy. Currently, they now make up about 10% of professors participating in the Master’s degree.
The organization of debates and conferences with the participation of professionals and scientific experts in the fields developed in the doctoral programme in Biomedicine and Pharmacy, developed in the Master’s degree mentioned above, and the roundtable on issues of professional news, taking place in the Conference of Pharmacy Students organized yearly by the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Universitat de València, will provide activities for the promotion of multiple supervising of doctoral theses.
The Regulation of the Postgraduate Studies establishes the following monitoring procedure:
Article 15.- Tutors of Doctoral theses
1. Once accepted and enrolled in the doctoral programme, the academic committee will appoint each doctoral student a tutor, who has to be a doctor with accredited researching experience, attached to the unit or School which organizes the programme
Article 16. Direction of doctoral thesis
1. The academic committee responsible of the programme will appoint each doctoral student, in the maximum period of six month since the enrolment, a doctoral thesis director who can be the same or different to the tutor. This assignment may correspond to any doctor with properly accredited researching experience independent from the university, centre or institute where he/she develops his/her work.
Article 17.- Doctoral compromise document
1. After formalising the first year enrolment, the doctoral student, the University, the tutor, and if applicable the director should jointly subscribe the doctoral commitment document, related to, among other questions, procedures of conflict solving which can be applied to aspects concerning to copyright or industrial property and in general to the monitoring functions of the research activity of the doctoral student
Article 18 Activities and Research Plan Report of the doctoral students
1. Once the first enrolment is done, a personalised activities document will be issued for each doctoral student, where all the activities of interest for the development of the doctoral student will be recorded, as well as the development of the thesis, under the purpose of being reviewed by the thesis supervisor and director, and being assessed by the appropriate Academic Committee of the doctoral programme
2. Before the end of the first year the doctoral student will make a research plan supported by the supervisor and the director. This plan has to include the methodology and goals, the mediums and the time planning as well as a positive report by the Ethics Committee in Experimental Research of the University of Valencia if applicable. This plan can be improved throughout their stay in the doctoral programme and must be supported by the supervisor and the director
3. The Ethics Committee will asses research plans which 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 yearly assesses the research plan and the activities document together with the reports issued by the supervisor and the director. The positive evaluation will be a requirement to be able to continue in the programme. In the event of a negative evaluation, which must be supported, the doctoral students must be assessed again within six months. In order to do so they must develop a new research plan. If there is a second negative evaluation, the doctoral student will be permanently withdrawn of the programme. Against these
resolutions, which do not exhaust the administrative procedures, the applicant may lodge an appeal, which will be determined upon a report from the Postgraduates Studies Committees by the Principal or by his/her delegate.
5. For the enrolment of successive years a favourable report by the Academic Committee on the personal activities document and the research plan will be required
6. These documents will have to be inscribed and registered in the Postgraduate Centre’s Third-Cycle Unit.
