Doctoral students monitoring and follow-up

THESIS SUPERVISION

Regarding thesis supervision, students will be subject to the regulations established in the Royal Decree 99/2011, of 28 January, which regulates official doctoral studies.

The Doctoral Studies Regulations, approved by the Governing Council of the Universitat de València ACGUV 206/2017, of 25 July, modified by ACGUV/2018, of 10 July, establishes with regard to the supervision of theses:

Article 3. The Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme

1. The Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme is responsible for the programming, coordination and academic and teaching supervision of the activities of the programme.

4. The Academic Committee of the Programme has the following competences:

a) To propose to the Doctoral School the list of possible PhD students for the supervision of doctoral theses, as well as the research lines offered.

b) To propose the admission to the doctoral programme.

c) To assign to each PhD student the supervisor(s) and advisor(s) of the doctoral thesis, as well as to approve their modification in a reasoned manner.

d) To make public the procedures they consider appropriate in order to guarantee the quality of doctoral theses, both in their preparation and in the assessment process, before they are submitted.

e) Annually evaluate the personalised activities document and the PhD student's research plan.

f) For the purpose of awarding the international mention in the Doctoral Degree, to authorise the stay and activities carried out in another State, either in a higher education institution or in a research institution.

g) All other competences necessary for the proper performance of their duties.

Article 4. Doctoral Thesis Advisors

1. Once admitted and enrolled in the doctoral programme, all PhD students shall be assigned, within a period of three months, an advisor by the corresponding Academic Committee, who shall be a doctor with accredited research experience, linked to the unit or school organising the programme.

2. The advisor shall be responsible for ensuring the interaction of the PhD student with the Academic Committee and, in particular:

a) to ensure that the training and research activity of the PhD student is in line with the programme;

b) to guide the student in the choice of courses, seminars or other non-regulated activities aimed at research training.

Article 5. Supervision of Doctoral Theses

1. The Academic Committee responsible for the programme shall assign each PhD student, within a maximum period of three months from enrolment, a supervisor for the doctoral thesis, who may or may not coincide with the person designated as advisor. This assignment may fall on any doctor with duly accredited research experience, regardless of the university, centre or institution in which they provide their services. A doctoral thesis may be co-supervised by a maximum of three doctors.

No doctor of the Universitat de València may supervise or co-supervise more than 10 doctoral theses at the same time.

3. The supervisor may resign from the student's supervisory duties by means of a reasoned resignation letter presented to the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme, which, if appropriate, will resolve the request and proceed to the appointment of another supervisor so that the student can continue the doctoral programme.

4. The Academic Committee may modify the appointment of the doctoral thesis supervisor at any time during the completion of the thesis, after hearing the PhD students and the supervisor(s), and provided that there are justified reasons.

5. The general regulations of the Universitat de València that regulate the activity of the teaching staff will establish the equivalence in credits of the supervision of doctoral theses.

Likewise, article 9 establishes that the Universitat de València may reach agreements with foreign universities to develop doctoral theses under a joint supervision system. In this case, PhD students will carry out their thesis work under the control and responsibility of at least one thesis supervisor from each of the universities signing the agreement.

www.uv.es/escoladoct/REGLAMENTOS/Reglamento%20de%20Estudios%20de%20Doctorado_cas.pdf

The Universitat de València has a "Doctoral Commitment Document" approved by the Doctoral Subcommittee on 17 October 2011, which 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 doctoral thesis. In summary, this document includes:

- Reciprocal commitments in the establishment of mutual collaboration.

- Responsibilities and commitment of the thesis supervisor: 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 report the supervisor regularly on the progress of the project and its results, and commitment to follow any observations made by the supervisor.

- Confidentiality with the data and information that may be provided 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.

The participation of international experts in the monitoring committee, in the issuing of reports prior to the submission of the doctoral thesis and in the thesis reading boards will preferably be carried out in the case of theses with an international mention. When the thesis does not have an international mention, it is possible to request the Academic Committee to include international experts by means of a reasoned report from the advisor, supervisor and the PhD student of the thesis.

At the Universitat Politècnica de València, the data concerning the supervision of doctoral theses and the application of good practices in the thesis writing process have been integrated into a single document, which is shown below:

https://www.upv.es/entidades/EDOCTORADO/info/Guia_buenas_practicas.pdf

In relation to the activities organised by the Doctoral Programme to promote the supervision and co-supervision of doctoral theses:

For the last four years, a Doctoral Seminar has been held as a meeting point for PhD students and thesis supervisors from both universities (Universitat de València and Universitat Politècnica de València). In these seminars, there are brainstorming sessions between students and teaching staff, and inter-university collaborations are developed, both among students and teaching staff.

Given that this is a regular meeting of great interest which is not adequately reflected in the public information of the Doctoral Programme, the Doctoral School of the Universitat de València is requested to include a specific section on the website of the Programme in which both past and future seminars, as well as other informative or academic activities organised by the Doctoral Programme, are reflected.

There is also an Inter-University Academic Committee for the Doctoral Programme, made up of the coordinators from both universities (Universitat de València and Universitat Politècnica de València), as well as the directors of the four master's degrees taught at the Universitat de València which are directly related to this Doctoral Programme, namely:

- Master’s Degree in Language and Literature Research

- Master’s Degree in Language Consultancy and Literary Culture: Applications in the Valencian Context

- Master's Degree in Creative and Humanistic Translation

- Master’s Degree in Advanced English Studies

This Inter-University Committee, which meets twice a year, makes the transition from master's to doctoral studies even more dynamic.

MONITORING OF THE PHD STUDENT

The regulations applicable to each student will be those of the university (UVEG or UPV) in which they have enrolled.

A) UVEG REGULATIONS

The Doctoral Studies Regulations, approved by the Governing Council of the Universitat de València ACGUV 206/2017, of 25 July, modified by ACGUV/2018, of 10 July, establishes the following procedure in the different articles specified:

www.uv.es/escoladoct/REGLAMENTOS/Reglamento%20de%20Estudios%20de%20Doctorado_cas.pdf

Article 4. Doctoral Thesis Advisors

Article 5. Supervision of Doctoral Theses

Article 6. Doctoral Commitment Document

After formalising 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 PhD student’s research activity.

Article 7. PhD students' Activities Document and Research Plan

1. Once enrolled for the first time, a personalised activity document shall be drawn up for each doctoral student, which must record all the activities of interest for the development of the PhD student, as well as the development of the doctoral thesis, for review by the advisor and the thesis supervisor and evaluation by the Academic Committee of the corresponding Doctoral Programme.

2. 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 of the doctoral 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.

3. Research plans involving 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.

4. 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, which shall be resolved by the Principal or their delegate following a report from the Doctoral School.

5. A favourable report on this personalised activities document and the research plan by the Academic Committee will be required for enrolment in subsequent years.

6. These documents must be submitted at the Doctoral School.

B) UPV REGULATIONS

The regulations of the Universitat Politècnica de València in relation to the supervision of doctoral theses can be found at the following link:

https://www.upv.es/entidades/EDOCTORADO/info/Guia_buenas_practicas.pdf

At the Universitat Politècnica de València, the regulations regarding doctoral studies, approved by the Governing Council on 15 December 2011, specify: the mechanism is as follows:

The academic committee of each doctoral programme will be in charge of monitoring and assessing the PhD student, in accordance with the provisions of article 11 of Royal Decree 99/2011, of 28 January, as well as coordinating and supervising the programme, with the support of the Doctoral School. Its functions are:

a) To assign advisors to PhD students admitted to the Doctoral Programme.

b) To assign thesis supervisors to PhD students.

c) To ensure that both advisors and supervisors assigned have accredited research experience.

d) To annually evaluate the research plan and the activities document of the PhD student, together with the reports issued by the thesis advisor and supervisor.

e) To propose the external thesis examiners.

f) To propose the members of the thesis examining boards. g) To draw up an annual programme management report in accordance with the University's Internal Quality Assurance System for its doctoral degrees and programmes.

h) To coordinate the management of applications for public or private grants to the programme, its students and lecturers/researchers, aimed at promoting the funding of fellowships/contracts, mobility, internationalisation or excellence.

i) To coordinate the establishment of programme-specific agreements with other institutions and organisations.

j) To perform any other functions that may be assigned to it by the Doctoral School.

Monitoring and follow-up of the PhD student

1. Students admitted to a doctoral programme shall enrol annually at the Doctoral School under the concept of academic supervision of the PhD student.

2. In the case of inter-university programmes, the agreement shall determine how the enrolment must be carried out.

3. Admission to a doctoral programme will require the assignment of an advisor to the PhD student, who must meet the conditions established in article 11.3 of Royal Decree 99/2011 of 28 January. The advisor will be responsible for ensuring the proper interaction between the PhD student and the academic committee of the programme, until a supervisor is assigned to the student. If the supervisor does not work at the Universitat Politècnica de València, the advisor will assume their role throughout the student's training period.

4. At the time of admission to the doctoral programme, each PhD student will be assigned a thesis supervisor by the corresponding academic committee. In case a thesis supervisor is not assigned at the time of admission, the Academic Committee must appoint a thesis supervisor within a maximum period of three months after enrolment. If the supervisor works at the Universitat Politècnica de València, they will also assume the role of advisor.

5. Both the advisor and the thesis supervisor will be PhDs with accredited research experience, which will be guaranteed by the Academic Committee of the Programme.

6. Before the end of the first year, the PhD student must draw up a “research plan” that must include at least the methodology to be used and the objectives to be achieved, as well as the means and time schedule to develop the thesis. This plan may be improved and detailed throughout their enrolment in the programme and must be approved by the advisor and the supervisor.

7. The PhD student will be required to obtain a positive annual evaluation of their research plan by the Academic Committee in order to be able to continue on the programme.

8. The advisor and thesis supervisor will regularly review the student's personalised activities document, generated at the time of enrolment, as established in point 5 of article 11 of RD 99/2011, in which an individualised record will be kept of the research plan and activities carried out by the student. The activities document of all students will be annually evaluated by the Academic Committee of the Programme.

9. The monitoring of PhD students by the advisor, the supervisor and the Academic Committee will be established in a documentary commitment, issued by the Universitat, signed by the coordinator of the Doctoral Programme, on behalf of the Universitat, the PhD student, their advisor and supervisor.

This document shall be signed within a maximum period of six months from the admission of the PhD student to the programme.

10. When the programme coordinator, or a member of the Academic Committee, happens to also be the advisor or thesis supervisor of the PhD student whose plan is to be assessed, the academic committee will carry out the assessment with their abstention.

11. The Doctoral School will establish the aforementioned evaluation and monitoring mechanisms and the procedures foreseen in cases of conflict.

Thesis supervisors and lecturers of postgraduate programmes may contact the OPAL services for consultation on issues related to labour insertion and employability, entrepreneurship and job opportunities.

Supervision and monitoring of PhD students