Procedure used by the academic committee for the assignment of the student's tutor and thesis supervisor:
Final admission of a PhD student to a doctoral programme involves assigning 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 acceptance of the rights and duties in their relationship, which will be included in the supervision commitment document signed between the doctoral student and the university. The tutor will guide and monitor the doctoral student's activities and will ensure the student's interaction with the academic committee.
Article 20 of the internal regulations of the University of Valladolid Doctoral School sets out the duties of a thesis tutor:
- To assist their doctoral students in their training process, providing information, guidance and learning resources.
- To help set out their doctoral students’ curricular itinerary.
- To sign the documented commitment that establishes the supervisory functions with regard to their doctoral students, in the manner established
- by the university.
- To regularly review the personalised activity document of their doctoral students.
- To periodically report on and endorse the research plan of their doctoral students.
- To attend to the needs of any of their doctoral students who have disabilities, in accordance with the guidelines established by the university.
- Any obligations established in general legislation, in the regulations of the region and in the University of Valladolid statutes and regulations.
Under art. 19 of the internal regulations of the University of Valladolid Doctoral School, tutors have the following rights:
- Full integration into the structure and activities of the Doctoral School, in accordance with the rules defined in these regulations for the school's doctoral programmes.
- Any rights recognised in general legislation, in the regulations of the region and in the University of Valladolid statutes and regulations.
Procedure for appointing the tutor
The tutor may be assigned in two ways:
- If the researcher of the doctoral programme who endorses the thesis proposal 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 required to carry out this task.
The academic committee of the doctoral programme, having heard the doctoral 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 assignment of a tutor at the request of the tutor.
Within a maximum period of three months from their enrolment in the doctoral programme, the academic committee responsible will assign each doctoral student a director or directors of the doctoral thesis, who will formalise, together with the doctoral student, acceptance of the rights and duties inherent to their relationship, and which will be included in the supervision commitment document signed between the doctoral student and the university.
The thesis supervisor must be a Spanish or foreign doctor with accredited research experience, and may or may not coincide with the previously assigned tutor.
The thesis may be co-directed when there are reasons of an academic nature or when the thematic interdisciplinarity or the programmes undertaken in national or international collaboration so justify. In any case, co-direction must be previously authorised by the academic committee of the doctoral programme. This authorisation may be revoked at a later date if, in the opinion of the academic committee of the doctoral programme, co-directing does not benefit the development of the thesis.
As reflected throughout this report, the aim of this doctoral programme is for doctoral students to carry out stays in other training centres (training activity AF04), which will enable them to obtain the international mention, as has been the norm in the doctoral theses carried out in the GIRs (Recognised Research Groups) that make up this doctoral programme. Participation of researchers from other centres as theses co-directors will be encouraged. This will facilitate research stays and help the international mention to be obtained and will result in the doctoral student receiving better quality training. 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 directors will also be encouraged, in this case by sharing directing duties with another director who has accredited research experience.
The director will be responsible for the consistency and suitability of the training activities and for the impact and novelty of the subject matter of the doctoral thesis in their field. They will also guide the planning of other activities related to the PhD student's research training.