Legal and/or contractual system that regulated the relation between Doctoral students and the University and a signed commitment among the doctoral student, the University and the Director or tutor.

During the first month, the doctoral student signs a documental commitment with the University, the director and tutor, which sets out the obligations by both sides, and the doctoral student commits himself, in other aspects to: to make an effective use of the resources that the University provides him to carry out the doctoral study, to respect the confidentiality in the research data, to respect the norms and procedures and to develop ethical behaviours in scientific productivity (not plagiarism, etc.) and to use the information, database, etc.,... in accordance with the regulations and procedures developed by the research teams of the University.

Allocation procedure of the tutor/director of the thesis and tutor’s or director’s change of allocation.

The article RD 99/2011 of 11.4 lays out that within the period of 6 months, the academic committee responsible for the programme will allocate to each doctoral student a thesis director, “with certified research experience”. The norms of the UV (Postgraduate Studies Regulation 29/11/2011) and of the University of the University of Sevilla (Doctoral studies regulation 7.2/CG 17/06/11) gather and need these requirements.

The CA analyse the preferences of the doctoral student and the possibilities for each line to acquire new doctoral students. According to this, doctoral students are located in one different line and they are allocated a tutor and a director.

Throughout the first year, the doctoral student and director prepare the Research Plan that the doctoral student will present in the Academic Committee for its assessment at the end of the first year.

If doctoral students or directors considered the modification in the allocation of the Director, they should request it to the Academic Committee through a document in which the reasons for such modification are explained and, in its case, the recommendations or proposals for the director’s resignations. Such application will be considered by the academic committee which may ask for additional information or interview the people involved and subsequently the committee will give an answer giving reasons for its decision. The Academic Committee will have to give an answer within a three-month period after summiting the application.

Procedure used for the monitoring of the register of activities of doctoral studies and data certification.

When students enrol, the university formalises the Doctoral students’ Activities Document (DAD). It is intended that all students of the programme use the same electronic register or at least that data can be exported from one register to another to carry out joint management reports.

The thesis director, in view of the DAD and the summary that doctoral students carry out to present it in the Annual Sessions for Results Presentation (JAPR), will issue an annual report for the Academic Committee which will value thorough the analysis of this document, if the development of the doctoral thesis has been positive or not, if the proposed objectives have been achieved. The Academic Committee will take into account the director’s report and in case of doubt, it will analyse the document of activities, contrasting it with the objectives and results presented in the Doctoral student’s research plan.

Procedure for the annual valuation of the progresses carried out in accordance to the Research Plan and the doctoral students’ register of activities.

The Academic Committee has to take several documents into account in order to proceed to the assessment of the Research plan:

• The assessment report issued by the thesis’s director.
• The report will be elaborated by a foreign teacher.
• The feedback of a “speaker” from the Academic Committee.

The assessment criteria are laid down in accordance with the competences established in the programme and must be taken into account to revise a research project , in the competitive calls.

On the basis of all the analysed aspects, the Academic Committee will produce a report and will adopt the decision of registering with this project the doctoral thesis. If the decision is not favourable, reasons for the decision and indications will be given in order to improve or rethink the project.

Taking into account the Research plan of the doctoral student and taking it as a basis, the doctoral student will produce an annual report of the developments made during the realization of the mentioned plan and will elaborate the work proposal for the following year. These documents will be prepared to be presented in every annual session of the results presentation, following the process described above.

These documents along with the corresponding Director Reports, the evaluating discussant of that work in the session will be received by the Academic Committee for the Doctoral annual evaluation. The Academic Comittee will be able to request documentary evidences of the activities described in the DAD and summarized in the annual progress report.

Taking into account the stage of the doctoral student, the evaluation of the Academic Committee will be primarily formative (with comments that help the doctoral student to enhance the quality of his/her work), formative and of the process (where the presented sections are evaluated, but still oriented to the enhance of the quality) and integrative or of the outcome, at the end of the third year, where the final result aims to be evaluated and the defence of the doctoral thesis aims to obtain the green light.

In all cases, the Academic Committee will determine the positive or negative global sense of the evaluation realized. As the RD99/2011 stablishes, in the event of a negative evaluation, which must be supported, the doctoral student must be assessed again within six months. In order to do so they must develop a new research plan. In the event of a new negative evaluation of the doctoral student, the programme will be ended definitely.

Foresight of stays of the doctoral students in other centres, co-tutoring, and European mentions.

Regarding the doctoral stays in other universities or research centres, this programme has a policy of guaranteeing all the doctoral students the necessary minimum stay in order to achieve the doctoral International Mention. To do so, the doctoral student has to stay al least 3 months in another university. Our programme promotes and supports the mobility applications and the corresponding grant calls. The receiving institution is selected according to the topic of the doctoral thesis, taking advantage of the international relations with other cutting edge research teams within the area of knowledge.

The stay is formalised with a Partnership Agreement stablished between the programme responsible body and the body of the receiving university. Besides, the doctoral student will be provided with a certificate of the stay by the receiving university.

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