Procedure used by the academic committee to assign a tutor and thesis supervisor to the PhD student.
The definitive admission of a PhD student to a Doctoral Programme involves the assignment of a Tutor, appointed by the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme. This will be a doctor with accredited research experience, respecting as far as possible the interests expressed by the doctoral student and tutor, who will formalise the acceptance of the rights and duties in their relationship, which will be incorporated into the Supervision Commitment signed between the doctoral student and the University. The tutor will guide and monitor the doctoral student's activities and will ensure the interaction of the doctoral student with the Academic Committee.
Article 20 of the Internal Regulations of the Doctoral School of the University of Valladolid sets out the duties of thesis tutors:
- To assist their doctoral students in their training process, providing information, guidance and resources for learning.
- Facilitate the configuration of the curricular itinerary of their doctoral students.
- Sign the documentary commitment that establishes the functions of supervision of their doctoral students, in the manner established by the University.
- Regularly review the personalised activity document of their doctoral students.
- Periodically report on and endorse the research plan of their doctoral students.
- To attend to the needs of their doctoral students with disabilities, in accordance with the guidelines established by the University.
- All those obligations established in the general legislation, in the regulations of the Autonomous Community and in the Statutes and regulations of the University of Valladolid.
On the other hand, tutors have the following rights (art. 19 of the Internal Regulations of the Doctoral School of the University of Valladolid):
- Full integration in the structure and activities of the Doctoral School, in accordance with the rules defined in these regulations for the doctoral programmes of the same.
- All those rights that are recognised in general legislation, in the regulations of the Autonomous Community and in the Statutes and regulations of the University of Valladolid.
Procedure for the assignment of the tutor
The tutor may be assigned in two ways:
- If the application for admission is endorsed by a lecturer of the Programme to supervise the applicant's Doctoral Thesis and he/she meets the requirements to be a Tutor, the Academic Committee will choose him/her as Tutor.
- Otherwise, the Academic Committee of the Programme will appoint the Tutor from among the lecturers who fulfil the conditions to carry out this task.
The Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme, having heard the PhD student, may modify the appointment of the Tutor at any time during the period of the doctoral programme, provided that there are justified reasons.
The Academic Committee may reconsider the appointment of the tutor at the request of the tutor.
Within a maximum period of six months from enrolment in the PhD Programme, the Academic Committee responsible will assign each PhD student a supervisor or supervisors, who will formalise together with the student the acceptance of the rights and duties in their relationship, which will be incorporated into the Supervision Agreement signed between the student and the University.
The thesis supervisor must be a Spanish or foreign doctor with accredited research experience, who may or may not coincide with the previously assigned tutor.
The thesis may be co-directed when there are academic reasons or when the thematic interdisciplinarity or the programmes developed in national or international collaboration justify it. In any case, co-direction must be previously authorised by the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme. This authorisation may be subsequently revoked if, in the opinion of the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme, the co-direction does not benefit the development of the Thesis.
The participation of researchers from other centres as co-directors of Theses will be encouraged, which will facilitate the carrying out of research stays and the obtaining of the International Mention and will result in a better quality training of the doctoral student. This thesis supervisor must be a doctor with accredited research experience, and in this case will not coincide with the previously assigned tutor.
Co-direction with new supervisors will also be encouraged, in this case by sharing the direction with another supervisor with accredited research experience.
The Director will be responsible for the coherence and suitability of the training activities and the impact and novelty of the subject matter of the doctoral thesis in his/her field. He/she will also guide the planning of other activities related to the PhD student's research training.