General explanation of the syllabus

 

PROGRAMME ORGANISATION AND TRAINING ACTIVITIES

The training activities of the PhD programme, through its courses and seminars, will be multidisciplinary and flexible so that each student, supervised by their directors, may choose the courses to take from range of training activities from the PhD Programme and the Doctoral School.

The activities will be optional, except for the defence of the activities carried out, which shall be annual, the submission of papers to international scientific conferences and to international journals. 

The Academic Committee of the PhD Programme will coordinate the programme and approve the plan of activities of each academic year.

 

5.1. Thesis supervision

The Regulations for Doctoral Studies at the University of Vigo, passed by the Governing Council on 7 February 2020, establish the rules for the supervision and monitoring of doctoral activities at the University of Vigo. The following are the rules relating to thesis supervision applicable at the time of writing this Report.

PhD Programme Teaching Staff 

All of the members of the Teaching Staff of the PhD Programme must hold a PhD, without prejudice to the potential collaboration in certain specific activities of other persons or professionals by virtue of their relevant scientific or professional qualification in the corresponding field of knowledge. 

It will be feasible to incorporate external teaching and research staff to the PhD Programme. In this case, the Academic Committee of the PhD Programme will accredit this condition and will guarantee the resources needed to these incorporations, and must inform the University in this regard. 

PhD Programme Tutors 

The final admission of a PhD student entails the assignment of a Tutor, appointed by the relevant Academic Committee of the PhD Programme. It will be a tenured lecturer from the university and/or the collaborating entity of the PhD Programme. 

In general, the Tutor will have the following functions: (i) ensure the interaction of the student with the Academic Committee of the PhD Programme, and together with the Director of the thesis; (ii) ensure the adequacy of the training and research activity of the PhD students to the lines of the programme.

In addition to these functions, the recommendations set out in the "Good practice guide for the supervision of PhD theses" (approved by the EIDO Standing Committee at the session of 20/5/2016) are also applicable:

• Advise and inform the doctoral student about the functioning of the programme, and also about any training activities available
• Provide information, advice and consultation on administrative issues related to the programme
• Advise the doctoral student on using satisfactorily and making the most of the available research resources

The Academic Committee of the PhD Programme, after consulting the PhD student, may amend the appointment of the Tutor at any time within the doctorate period, provided that the reasons are justified. 

The task of Tutoring will be recognised as part of the teaching and research commitment of the teaching staff, according to the rules and procedures approved by the University

PhD Thesis Directors 

Within three months after the enrolment, the Academic Committee of the PhD Programme will assign a Thesis Director to each student. The Thesis Director will be the person in charge of the coherence and suitability of the training activities, the impact and innovation in its field, the topic of the thesis and of the guidance in its planning and adequacy, if any, to other projects and activities carried out by the PhD student. 

Thesis Director can be any Spanish or foreign doctor, with proven research experience, regardless of the university, centre or institution where they provide their services. For the purposes of this regulation, proven research experience means compliance with any of the following requirements:

• To accredit at least six years of research activity.
• Having been, in the last six years, researcher or principal investigator of a research project funded through public calls (excluding calls of the university itself)
• To accredit authorship or co-authorship, in the last six years, of at least 3 papers in scientific journals included in the Journal Citation Reports. In those areas where this criterion does not apply, because of their tradition, it will be replaced by a comparable requirement as established by the  CNEAI -"Comisión Nacional Evaluadora de la Actividad Investigadora" (National Committee for the Evaluation of Research Activities), in these scientific fields.
• To accredit the authorship or co-authorship of a patent being exploited.
• To have directed a doctoral thesis in the last five years, with a qualification of "Summa Cum Laude" or "Cum Laude" that would have led to the publication of a paper in one of the journals indexed in the ISI-JCR, or any relevant contribution in its scientific field according to the criteria of the CNEAI.

In the event that a professor of the programme meets the requirements to be Director and Tutor, he/she will assume both functions, if appropriate

In the case that a Director is not a tenured lecture at the university or the collaborating entity, or he/she is not a professor of the programme, the programme will appoint a Tutor who meets the requirements established in the Regulation of Doctoral Studies of the University.

In general terms, the thesis supervisor will have the following duties (as set out in the "Good practice guide for the supervision of doctoral theses"):

• To offer intellectual, educational and administrative support to a doctoral student with a view to the completion of their studies.
• To know the regulations and administrative structures of the University of Vigo
• Ensure that the doctoral student has the relevant administrative information and is aware of the relevant deadlines for the undertaking of their doctoral thesis
• Advise the doctoral student throughout the thesis writing process:
  • Guide the doctoral student in the preparation of the research plan,
  • Advise and guide the PhD student in order to meet the expectations set at the beginning and within the planned timeframe
  • Supervise the doctoral student's work and the fulfilment of it through regular interaction
  • Ensure that the doctoral student's research work is original and meets academic requirements
  • Review the doctoral student's activity document in order to advise them on the complementary training activities necessary for their training
  • Completing any administrative paperwork that the doctoral student may need well before the deadline.

The Academic Committee of the PhD Programme, upon written request of the PhD student after being consulted, may amend the appointment of the Director at any time within the doctorate period, provided that the reasons are justified. 

The thesis may be co-supervised by a maximum of two people when there are academic reasons or when the interdisciplinary nature of the subject or when it is justified by collaboration in national or international programmes. In all events, co-supervision 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, the co-supervision does not benefit the development of the Thesis.

The co-supervisors of the thesis must meet the same requirements as those established for supervisors in the Regulations for Doctoral Studies of the University of Vigo and will have the same competences as the supervisor.

In the case of co-tutorship or industrial doctorate theses, an additional supervisor may be added to the established maximum limit, provided that he/she belongs to the other university (co-tutorship) or to the company/institution (industrial doctorate).

The Academic Committee will draw up a guide to good practice on thesis direction before the ending of the first year of implementation of the PhD Programme. 

In the case of new directors, it will be encouraged the co-direction together with an experienced director. In the event that a new director requests the assistance of a co-director to the Academic Committee of the PhD Programme, the Committee is committed to seeking an experienced researcher who can assume this role. To that end, the PhD Programme will annually indicate those research topics in which an experienced researcher would be willing to accept the co-direction of a thesis together with a new director. In any event, the new directors shall present to the experienced directors the topic(s) of the thesis to be directed. Once they get the approval from the Academic Committee, at least one experienced director must act as counsellor for the first thesis direction, holding regular meetings with the new director and/or the PhD student. This tutoring could  reach co-direction in the event that it will be substantiated in the participation of the experienced director in one or more of the publications. 

On the other hand, the Academic Committee of the PhD Programme, will advise and guide the directors, makingrecommendations after the annual assessment of the Research Plan, as such activity is twofold: assessment of the performance of both the PhD student as well as the thesis director. This will be especially important in the case of theses direction by new directors. 

The work of supervising or co-supervising theses will be recognised as part of the teaching and research dedication of the teaching staff.

List of existing mechanisms that promote and acknowledge the direction of doctoral theses:

• Acknowledgement from the University of Vigo of the thesis direction as part of the teaching and research commitment as provided in the "Normativa de dedicación e de recoñemento en POD de actividades do PDI" (Regulations for commitment and acknoledgement of the activities of the research staff in the plan for teaching organization) . Currently this acknowledgement means a deduction of 10 hours/academic course of the basic teaching activity per each thesis directed and defended in the University of Vigo in the last three academic courses, having into account the number of directors, up to a maximum of 60 hours.
• Acknowledgement from the University of Vigo of the thesis direction in the assessment of scientific production.
• Acknowledgement from the "Xunta de Galicia" (Regional Government of Galicia) through grants to consolidate research groups, as the thesis supervision is one of the required merits for the granting of Reference Group by the regional government. Some of the research groups included in this PhD Programme already have this acknowledgement and other are on track to achieve it, what brings them to foster the thesis direction.
• Acknowledgement from the "Xunta de Galicia" for granting the additional salary elements of curricular excellence.

 

5.2. PhD student's monitoring 

Document of Activities of the PhD Student.

Once enrolled in the Programme, it will be materialized for each PhD student the personalized document of activities for the purpose of the individualized registration. In this document, all of the interest activities for the development of the PhD students will be recorded as established by the unit in charge of the doctoral studies at the university, and it will be assessed yearly by the Academic Committee of the PhD Programme.

This document must follow the format established, it must be registered in the computer application and it must be documentary evidence attesting the completion of the activities by the PhD student. 

The students will have access to the Document of Activities of the PhD Student in order to record and update activities carried out in the context of the programme. Their records will be validated by the relevant academic body after asdessment by the Tutor and Director, after verification by the administration of the authenticity/veracity of the alleged merits, if any.

The Document of Activities of the PhD Students, may be accessed, for the relevant functions in each case, by the PhD Student, the thesis tutor or director, the Academic Committee of the PhD Programme, the unit in charge of the doctoral studies at the university and the administrative staff in charge.

Research Plan

Within six months from the date of enrolment, the PhD Student will develop a Research Plan including the methodology to be used and the objectives to be achieved, as well as the means and scheduling for achieving them. The Plan must be submitted and endorsed with the Report from the Director/s and from the Tutor, and it will approved by the Academic Committee of the PhD Programme, taking into account the guarantees offered by the plan for compliance, within the corresponding period, with the requirements for defending the thesis, established in this report. This plan can be improved and detailed in the annual assessment process relying on the endorsement of the Tutor and the Director. 

The Academic Committee of the PhD Programme will annually assess the Research Plan and the Document of Activities and they will have available the reports that should be issued by the Tutor and Director, in order to conduct the assessment. The positive evaluation will be an essential requirement to continue in the Programme. In the event of a negative evaluation, which shall be duly substantiated, the PhD student should be assessed again within six months, developing a new Research Plan. In the case of a new negative evaluation, the PhD Student will be permanently removed from the Programme. 

Failure to submit the research plan by the deadline will result in the student's enrolment being stopped. This will be converted into a definitive cancellation if the research plan is not submitted by the end of the academic year in which it should have been submitted.

Supervision Commitment

The functions of supervision, tutelage and monitoring of the PhD students will be reflected in a Supervision Commitment. The aforesaid Commitment will be signed by a specific representation appointed by the university, the Tutor and the PhD student within a month from the enrolment date, including the signature of the Director at the time of his/her appointment. This Supervision Commitment will be incorporated to the Document of Activities of the PhD Student at the time of the signature by all the persons involved. 

It will be specified in the Supervision Commitment the academic relation between the PhD students and the University, their rights and duties, including any intellectual and/or industrial property rights resulting from research, as well as the acceptance of the dispute settlement procedure and its duration. It will also be included the duties of the PhD student's Tutor and the Thesis Director. 

The Supervision Commitment must bear the conditions under which the doctoral thesis will be published.

The allocation of the Tutor can be done in two ways:

• If the student already has Thesis Director/s and at least one of them meets the requirements to be Tutor, the Academic Committee will select the Tutor among the Director/s
• Otherwise, the Academic Committee will appoint the Tutor among the professors who meet the conditions to perform this task.
• The Academic Committee may reconsider the allocation of the Tutor at the request of the student or the Tutor itself. 

The allocation of the Director may take place in two different ways: 

• Proactive, by the student. To this end, the PhD Programme will make available to the students a database with the research topics of each research group. Within each research topic, the student can consult the data of the researchers working on that topic as well as the specific subject of research through key words. Thus, the student may meet with the DOC_TIC researcher/s and choose Director/s after agreement. The Academic Committee will ratify that allocation, if applicable. 
• Passive, by the student. Once the students have been admitted in the PhD Programme, and according to their Curriculum Vitae and the subject of research chosen, The Academic Committee will search for the most suitable director/s, whom they will contact sending the CV of the student. After the corresponding study, the researcher may or may not admit the applicant as PhD student, reporting this to the Academic Committee, who will ratify that allocation, if applicable. 
• The Academic Committee may reconsider the allocation of the Director at the request of the student or the Director itself. 

The PhD students will annually submit to the Academic Committee the certificates of those activities carried out during the academic year. The Committee will assess such activities and will recognise them or not as training activities of the PhD Programme together with the corresponding number of credits. 

The PhD students will annually submit the Annual Research Plan, which shall include both the research and training activities to be carried out, as well as courses, conferences and research stays. This document must be signed by their director/s. 

The PhD student, the Tutor and Directors will be summoned to attend an open session where they will account for the compliance to the Annual Research Plan before the Academic Committee, who will be the one who approves it or not, where appropriate. In this session they will participate renowned national and foreign experts who will assess the performance of the PhD Student and the Director/s

It is intended that all PhD Students undertake at least a research stay during their training, as stated in the list of activities to be carried out by the PhD students. These stays will facilitate the achievement of the established requirements for obtaining the "Mención Internacional de Tesis" (Thesis International Mention) and the co-tutelage by foreign directors. 

The PhD Programme will devote a 70% of the available funds to finance stays and it will submit existing public or private calls for this purpose. 

During the first years of the doctoral programme, between 60% and 70% of the funds available in DocTIC were reserved for the financing of stays. Since the 2018/19 academic year, mobility grants for doctoral students have been centralised in the EIDO, which has a budget of approximately €55,000 per academic year.

Additionally, as usual, the research groups involved and AtlantTIC will fund mobility aids, according to their possibilities. It will also turn to the aids for trips and stays from the University of Vigo and the Autonomous Community.

 

5.3. Thesis Defence Regulations

The regulations on doctoral theses at the University of Vigo are provided for in Chapter 9 of the Doctoral Studies Regulations (https://secretaria.uvigo.gal/uv/web/normativa/public/show/368). A summary of its content is included below:

Article 34. The Doctoral thesis

The doctoral thesis will consist of an original research work related to the scientific, technical or artistic fields of the doctoral program studied by the doctoral student.

The doctoral thesis will be written, as a general rule, in Galician, Spanish, English or Portuguese, or in the language of common use in the scientific, technical or artistic field in question. However, the doctoral school may authorize its writing in another language, after a favourable report from the DPAC, which will ensure that the panel is in a position to judge it. In the event that it is written in a language other than Galician or Spanish, the thesis must include a summary of at least 3000 words in Galician or Spanish.

The doctoral thesis will include, in general: abstract, introduction, objectives, methodology, results, conclusions and bibliography, as well as the evaluation reports from the thesis director and tutor, and a list of the publications that contribute content to the thesis, including a description of the student's contribution in each of these publications. The doctoral school will publish a good practice guide for directing doctoral theses and a style guide for submitting them.

 

Article 35. Procedure for authorization of thesis defence

After completing the thesis and receiving a favourable report from the person or persons directing it and, where applicable, the tutor, the doctoral student will request authorization from the DPAC to defend it in accordance with the procedure established in each case. To do this, a copy of the thesis and the documentation justifying any mentions that is not already included in the system will be sent to the competent academic area.

The doctoral school will establish the procedure to verify that the documentation is complete, that the thesis format is appropriate and that the originality of the thesis research is guaranteed, for which an anti-plagiarism program may be used.

Once the presentation of the thesis has been authorized by the DPAC for it to be defended, the DPAC will send the following documentation to the doctoral school as soon as possible:

• The authorization report to defend the thesis issued by the DPAC.
• A copy of the thesis with the approval of the director or directors in electronic format (PDF). This copy will comply with current style standards.
• All the required documentation in the event that the international mention, the mention of industrial doctorate, the mention of co-supervision and / or thesis containing publications are requested in accordance with the provisions of these regulations.
• The updated doctoral student's activity document and research plan accompanied by favourable reports from the tutor and the director.
• A proposal approved by the DPAC of the members of the panel that will judge the thesis, made up of doctors / specialists in the subject of the doctoral thesis, with accredited research experience, as established in article 37 of these regulations.

Once all the thesis documentation has been received and the competent unit has reviewed that the file is complete and correct, a public exhibition period of ten working days during the teaching period will be opened. Guaranteed full notification will be given at an institutional level so that any doctor can examine the thesis and direct in writing the considerations he / she deems appropriate to the doctoral school. In order to facilitate the consultation of theses, the university will assess the possibility of enabling an online procedure, provided that there are no limitations arising from article 14.6 of Royal Decree 99/2011.

At the end of the period of public availability, the body designated by the doctoral school will evaluate the thesis taking into account the DPAC report and any allegations received. In addition, the aforementioned body may convene the doctoral student and / or the director or request a reasoned response to the allegations or other information it deems necessary and may consult the DPAC and / or seek collaboration of other external doctors to advise when evaluating the thesis.

After evaluating the thesis, the body designated by the doctoral school will decide to approve or reject continued procedures and assign, where appropriate, the topic area of ​​research, actions that will be recorded in the doctoral student's activity document. This decision will be communicated to the person directing the doctoral thesis, to the student and to the DPAC.

In the event that further procedures are rejected, which will be duly justified, the body designated by the doctoral school will inform the doctoral student of how their doctoral thesis can be suitably corrected before proceeding with a new application for deposit.

In the case of continuity, the body designated by the doctoral school will assess the proposed panel and approve it in the terms established in article 37 of these regulations.

The appointment of the panel and the substitutes will be communicated to the DPAC and the director and also included in the Teseo I.T. application; they will each be sent notification of their appointment. In addition, a copy of the doctoral thesis and the doctoral student's file will be sent to each member of the panel.

The appointment of the panel will imply authorization for public defence of the thesis.

Public defence of the thesis will be carried out within a maximum period of three months from its authorization by the body designated by the doctoral school, unless there are duly justified reasons. If this period is exceeded, authorization procedures for defence of the thesis must be restarted.

 

Article 36. Theses with protection of rights

The commitment document will include the appropriate clauses to guarantee the non-dissemination of the contents in the case of doctoral theses which have confidentiality clauses with companies or contents that may give rise to industrial and intellectual property rights that cannot be disseminated until those contents has been properly protected.

This type of thesis will be executed in two versions: an edited one, in which the contents affected by the duty not to disseminate or the duty to keep secret or confidential will be eliminated, and a complete copy, which will be archived in the university covered by the confidentiality commitment.

The edited copy will be deposited for consultation by the scientific community of doctors. This version must coincide with the content presented publicly and at the public defence of the thesis.

The full version will be given to the members of the panel for evaluation. The members will sign the corresponding confidentiality commitment document for the contents which cannot be made public.

If the panel wishes to ask the doctoral student questions about the protected contents, these inquiries will be made in a private session, before or after the public one.

Once the thesis has been approved, the edited copy will be the one published in the institutional repository. After appropriate protection has been put in place or the confidentiality period has expired, the doctoral student may request, after proof of these circumstances, that it be replaced by the complete copy.

 

Article 37. Evaluation panel

The DPAC, after being informed by the thesis director (and / or if applicable, the tutor) will propose a list of seven members of the panel to evaluate the thesis.

Once the doctoral thesis has been accepted for processing by the DPAC, the body designated by the doctoral school will evaluate the proposed panel submitted by the DPAC. This proposal will be accompanied by an individualized and reasoned report on the suitability of each member proposed to assess the thesis by mentioning the specialty or specialties of their research, publications, research projects and other activities or merits they deem appropriate, as well as the express acceptance of the proposed members to participate in the panel.

The panel in charge of assessing the thesis will be appointed by the body designated by the doctoral school from among the specialists proposed by the DPAC and will be made up of three full members and two substitutes. A chairman and a secretary will be appointed from among the panel members. In the event that no member of the panel belongs to the University of Vigo, the DPAC will designate a professor from the university's doctoral program as the person responsible for receiving the minutes and their subsequent delivery to the corresponding administrative unit.

In the event of a member of the panel standing down for any justified reason, he / she will be replaced by the substitute following the order of the proposed substitutes.

When forming the panel, the following requirements must be respected:

a) All members will be doctors with accredited research experience. Accredited experience will be understood as being eligible to be a thesis director at the time of the application, or in a previous application, by complying with one of the requirements established in these regulations.

b) The teaching staff of the university may form part of doctoral thesis panels even if they are on leave, retired, on special service or commissioned for services, and in this last case they will be considered as belonging to the university at which they are providing their services. Contracted teaching staff may be part of the doctoral thesis panel even if they are in similar situations to those described above for the university teaching staff.

c) The panel will be made up of a majority of members who are external to the university and to the collaborating institutions in the doctoral program. No more than one member from the same institution may be a member of the panel.

d) If a thesis contains literally transcribed publications, the co-authors of the publications will not be considered as external to the University for the purposes of limiting the members to one per institution as indicated in section c).

e) In no event may the director or co-directors of the thesis or, if it is the case, the tutor be part of the panel, except when a thesis is presented within the framework of bilateral co-supervision agreements with foreign universities and has been so planned or when a thesis is presented in joint doctoral programs with foreign universities, by virtue of the corresponding agreements.

f) In the case of an international mention in the doctoral degree, at least one expert with a doctoral degree from a non-Spanish higher education institution or research centre must be part of the panel. The panel will be made up of a majority of members from universities other than those participating in the program, the co-authors of the publications included literally in the thesis and the institutions where the stay (s) will take place. A doctor from a foreign country will be appointed to the full panel and another meeting the same conditions as a substitute, whenever possible. At least one expert belonging to a non-Spanish higher education institution or research centre, with a doctoral degree, will form part of the thesis evaluation panel; this will be a different expert from those referred to in section c).

g) The panel will include a minimum of one member of each sex and the complete list of members and substitutes will include a minimum of two members of each sex.

h) Those who fall within any of the causes of abstention established in article 23 of Law 40/2015 of 1 October may not be part of the proposed panel.

 

Article 38. Act of public defence of the thesis

Once the public defence of the thesis has been authorized, the doctoral student must pay the fees for the doctoral degree examination in the corresponding administrative unit.

After paying these fees, the body designated by the doctoral school will send the secretary of the panel the documents to complete regarding the act of defending the doctoral thesis:

- Act of constitution of the panel.

- Minutes of the session.

- Official envelopes containing the confidential reports on the thesis for the purposes of the mention of cum laude where applicable.

Once the date and venue for the act of defence have been agreed, the secretary will communicate to the doctoral school with at least ten days’ notice the day, place and time of the act. The school, in turn, will inform the DPAC, the student and the thesis director, and will also organize the relevant publicity. The president of the panel will call the student and the panel members for the act of defence of the doctoral thesis.

The defence of the thesis will take place in a public session during the teaching period of the academic calendar and at the Spanish university where the doctoral student was enrolled or, in the case of joint doctoral programs, in the terms indicated in the collaboration agreements. Any other option will require the express authorization of the body designated by the doctoral school, and compliance with these regulations and the processes established for evaluation will be ensured at all times.

In duly justified cases, the management of the doctoral school may authorize the thesis to be defended non-face-to-face or semi-face-to-face. The doctoral school will establish the procedure to follow in these cases.

If no member of the panel appears at the defence and public presentation of the thesis, the substitutes will be incorporated as long as they meet the requirements for a majority of members that are external to the university and to the collaborating institutions in the doctoral program. If this is not possible, the president of the panel will suspend the act and communicate this fact to the doctoral school. The body designated by the doctoral school may authorize the defence within the following twenty-four hours. If this is not feasible, the president will reconvene the act of defence of the doctoral thesis in the terms established in these regulations. If this is not feasible, or after three months, the procedure laid down for the appointment of the panel will be repeated.

The members of the panel will express their opinion on the thesis and may present as many questions and objections as they deem appropriate, to which the doctoral student must answer. Likewise, the doctors present at the event may ask questions and objections, and the doctoral student will respond to everything at the time and in the manner indicated by the president of the panel.

 

Article 39. Grading of the doctoral thesis

Once the doctoral student's defence of the thesis has been completed, the panel will issue a report on it and the overall grade awarded to the thesis according to the following scale: unfit, approved, notable and outstanding. The panel secretary will draw up the act of conferral of the title of doctor, which will include information relative to how the act of defence and qualification developed. If the student requests to opt for an international mention for the doctoral degree, the panel secretary will include in the transcript the certification of compliance with the required requirements. The president of the court will communicate the qualification in a public session.

The panel may award the thesis a cum laude mention if the overall grade is outstanding and the secret ballot is unanimously in favour. The panel secretary will inform the panel members of the scope of this mention, especially the members from foreign countries. The doctoral school will regulate the procedure for awarding this mention at a different session from the one for defending the doctoral thesis.

The panel secretary, or the teacher whom he / she delegates, will be responsible for the documentation corresponding to the defence of the doctoral thesis, and will send it duly completed to the administrative unit responsible for doctoral studies at the university within a maximum of five working days from presentation and defence of the thesis in order for it to be filed and documented.

 

Article 40. Doctoral thesis archive

Once the doctoral thesis has been approved, the university, through the unit responsible for the university archive, will file it in electronic format in an institutional repository open to the public and send a copy and all additional information that may be necessary in electronic format to the ministry that is appropriate in such matters for the pertinent purposes.

In the circumstances set out in Article 36, the doctoral school shall enable procedures to ensure compliance.

The publication in this repository will comply with the anti-plagiarism regulations of the publishing houses that have published articles by doctoral students.

In order to guarantee the possible publication or industrial protection of the results of the thesis, the student will be able to request, with due justification, postponement for one year of the publication in the institutional repository. Exceptionally, and also with due justification, the student will be able to request an extension of another year of the postponement.

 

Article 41. Theses that include research articles

The doctoral thesis may contain a set of works that the doctoral student has published, or that have received final acceptance for publication. The text of the thesis that coincides with the published works will follow the same archiving rules as the works themselves, so only the post-print of the articles can be submitted, which can be the version sent by the author before publication, the version published by publisher, or any other specified by the copyright and self-archiving policy of the magazine / publisher.

At the time of submitting the thesis to the body designated by the doctoral school, the doctoral student will present the following additional documentation:

1. Report from the person or persons directing the thesis with the approval of the DPAC specifying the suitability of the inclusion of the research articles, the list of publications, the contribution of the doctoral student, in the event that there are more co-authors, and the quality indicators of submitted publications.

2. Authorization of the journal / publisher for the use of the publication in the doctoral thesis. If there is no such authorization, written acceptance will be presented by the co-authors accepting that the doctoral student presents the work as part of the thesis.

Regardless of the number of articles included, the thesis will contain at least:

 An introduction, which will specifically contain a reasoned justification of the unity and thematic and methodological coherence of the thesis; the goals to be achieved; a general discussion that provides the different works with coherence and unity; the conclusions and a common bibliography.

 If a chapter or part of a chapter is a literal copy of a publication (already published or accepted), the names and affiliation of all co-authors, their order, as well as the full reference of the publication the publisher and the ISSN or ISBN, will be clearly stated in the chapter introduction. For articles that have final acceptance for publication but have not yet been published at the time of thesis submission, their identification code (the DOI in digital publications) will be added. It will also include the authorization of the journal / publisher for the content to be replicated in the thesis.

 If the aforementioned authorization from the journal / publisher is not available, the doctoral student will provide a version that can be published in the repository without the articles that do not have said authorization. It is recommended that in this case they be listed as annexes.

In the case of theses that contain literally transcribed publications, the co-authors of the publications will not be considered as being external to the university for the purposes of limiting the composition of panels to one member per institution as indicated in section c) of article 37.

The university will recognize a thesis as a compendium of publications when in addition to fulfilling all the provisions of this article, the thesis includes a minimum of three research articles, published or with final acceptance for publication. The articles should be published in journals indexed in the list within the corresponding scope of the Journal Citation Reports (SCI and / or SSCI). In areas where this criterion is not applied, it may be replaced by the bases given by the National Commission for the Evaluation of Research Activity (Comisión Nacional Avaliadora da Actividade Investigadora: CNEAI) for these areas.

 

Article 42. Mention of international doctorate

The doctoral degree may include the mention of an international doctorate on the front, provided that the following circumstances apply:

a) While working on the thesis the doctoral student spent a minimum of three months in a prestigious higher education institution or research centre outside Spain, studying or carrying out research work. The stay and activities must be endorsed by the director and authorized by the DPAC and will be included in the doctoral student's activity document. The minimum duration of the admissible periods for the stay will be four weeks when the enrolment in this period is full-time or two weeks when it is part-time. In no case may the total stay of three months be broken down into more than five separate periods.

b) Part of the thesis (at least the introduction, summary and conclusions) is written and presented and defended in a public presentation in one of the usual languages for scientific communication in its field of knowledge, other than any of the official languages in Spain. This rule will not apply when the reports, and experts come from and the visits were to a Spanish-speaking country.

c) The thesis has been reviewed by a minimum of two doctoral experts belonging to a non-Spanish higher education institution or research institute that does not coincide with the institution in which the stay was carried out.

d) At least one expert belonging to a non-Spanish higher education institution or research centre, with the qualification of doctor, and different from the two experts referred to in section c), is part of the evaluation panel for the thesis. The person responsible for the stay mentioned in section a) may not be part of the panel. The panel will be made up of a majority of members who are not: from the universities participating in the program; the co-authors of publications included literally in the thesis; and the institutions where any stays are undertaken.

e) The defence of the thesis is carried out in the Spanish university in which the doctoral student was enrolled or, in the case of joint doctoral programs or co-supervised theses, in any of the participating universities or as indicated in the terms indicated in the collaboration agreements.

f) The stay mentioned in section a) constitutes a real mobility activity for the doctoral student, to a country that is not the one in which he / she has or had his / her habitual residence and not the one in which his / her pre-doctoral academic training took place.

The DPAC must send to the body designated by the doctoral school the documentation accrediting the stay, its authorization to undertake it and the reports of the two external experts, together with all the other documentation, so that it can authorize the defence of the doctoral thesis.

 

Article 43. Theses under international co-supervision

The doctoral degree may include on the front the addition of international co-supervision for the thesis, provided that the following circumstances apply:

a) That the doctoral thesis is supervised by two or more doctors from two universities, one Spanish and one foreign, who will enter into a co-supervision agreement.

b) That during the period of training necessary to obtain the qualification of doctor, the doctoral student has undertaken a minimum stay of six months in the institution with which the co-supervision agreement is established, doing research work in a single period or in several. The stays and activities will be reflected in the co-supervision agreement.

The current legislation existing for doctoral matters in each country will be respected.

A framework agreement will be signed between the two interested institutions establishing the general lines of cooperation. For each co-supervision that is put into operation, in the first two years of doctoral training, a specific agreement will be signed based on the principle of reciprocity that will have a maximum duration of three years. Under the specific agreement, each institution will recognize its researchers for the tasks of directing the thesis regardless of the place of its defence.

Candidates preparing a doctorate under co-supervision will carry out their work under the control and responsibility of a thesis director in each of the institutions concerned.

The doctoral student will enrol in each of the institutions and will comply with the training requirements of the programs at both institutions.

The thesis preparation time will not exceed three years from the signing of the specific agreement and will be divided between the two institutions for alternative periods of stay at each one. The minimum length of stay at one institution shall not be less than six months, and the remaining period shall be completed at the other. This stay may be carried out in one or several periods.

By virtue of the co-supervision agreement, and on the basis of a single defence of the doctoral thesis, each university undertakes, if so agreed, to issue its own corresponding doctoral degree, after payment of the issuance fees, and with indication of the existence of co-supervision through the procedure provided for in the regulations of each institution.

Regardless of the place of defence of the thesis, in the event that the issuance of a doctoral degree is agreed upon by the University of Vigo, application for the thesis to be admitted at the university must be made.

The doctoral school will monitor and control the theses carried out under co-supervision, as well as the authorization for defence of the thesis. In the event that the defence of the thesis is not authorized by one of the two universities, the specific co-supervision agreement will be without effect, which does not prevent the thesis from being processed at the university where it was authorized.

Once the thesis has been accepted for processing, the panel before which it must be defended will be proposed in accordance with what is provided for in the specific co-supervision agreement. All members of the panel will be in possession of a doctoral degree and will have accredited research experience. The panel shall consist of a majority of members from outside the universities signing the agreement and collaborating institutions in the doctoral program. The panel will be appointed by the institution at which the doctoral thesis is to be read and will have the consent of the other. This panel may have a representative of the two institutions, including the thesis directors if the agreement so provides.

The specific co-supervision agreement will comply with the current legislation on doctorates in both institutions, and will contain agreement on the following aspects:

a) Duration.

b) Stay time at each university, which will not be less than six months at either of them.

c) University where the fees will be paid in each academic year. The doctoral student will be enrolled in each of the institutions, but a payment waiver may be established in one of them. In the event that the waiver corresponds to the University of Vigo, the specific agreement will indicate the budget item under which the fee will be charged.

d) Person in charge of the direction of the thesis in each of the universities. The requirements to fulfil the role of director will be those applicable at each institution, and they will be recognized by the other institution by virtue of the co-supervision agreement exclusively for the thesis covered by that specific agreement.

e) Language in which the thesis will be written. The regulations for obtaining the mention of international doctorate on the doctoral degree will be taken into account in this case.

f) Place for defence of the thesis.

g) Agreement on the issuance of the qualification(s).

h) Panel structure. Although it may have more than three members, three of them must comply with the regulations of the University of Vigo regarding such panels.

i) Financing of teaching staff expenses for those taking part of the panel. The maximums established at the University of Vigo will be respected or the budget item under which the excess is to be charged will be indicated.

j) Rules for drafting the minutes and documents relating to the defence of theses. In the event that the qualification scales do not coincide, it will be specified how the valid qualification will be established in each university. The system of granting or not the cum laude mention will also be established, so that it is compatible with University of Vigo norms.

k) Administrative aspects concerning communication of information and documentation that must be transferred between the signatory universities. The provisions of Article 43 of the Regulations must be complied with.

The doctoral school will monitor and control the theses carried out under co-supervision and will supervise the drafting of the specific agreements.

 

Article 44. Industrial Doctorate

The Industrial Doctorate mention will be awarded provided the following circumstances apply:

a) The existence of an employment or commercial contract signed by the doctoral student with a private or public sector company or a public administration. A minimum duration of eighteen months is established during the enrolment period for this contract.

b) The doctoral student must participate in an industrial research or experimental development project undertaken in the company or public administration in which he / she provides the service, which may not be a university. The industrial research or experimental development project in which the doctoral student participates must be directly related to the thesis. This relationship will be accredited by a report evaluated by the university through the doctoral school or unit responsible for the doctoral program.

c) In the event that the research project is carried out in collaboration between the University of Vigo and the company or public administration in which the doctoral student provides service, or when the thesis direction is by professors from the University of Vigo, a collaboration agreement between the parties will be signed. This agreement will indicate the obligations of both parties, the aspects related to the intellectual and industrial property of the potential results of the thesis, as well as the selection procedure for doctoral students, if applicable. This agreement will be entered into in the first two years of doctoral training.

d) The doctoral student will have a tutor appointed by the university and a person appointed by the company or public administration as responsible for the doctoral student. That person may, where applicable, be the director of the thesis provided they meet the requirements indicated in article 10.

e) In the case of theses developed within the framework of a public or private call for funding for an industrial doctorate, they must comply with the requirements set out in the call for funding.

 

 DocTIC REQUIREMENTS FOR THE THESIS DEFENCE

For the purpose of defending the thesis in the PhD Programme, the students must have the authorization of the Academic Committee, who will verify the compliance with the following requirements: 

 1. Having the Research Plan approved.

 2. Obtaining annual positive evaluation for the Research Plan. 

 3. Getting the nod of the Director and Tutor. 

 4. Verification of the compliance with the compulsory training activities 3 and 4. 

 5. The thesis must have resulted in at least one article accepted for publication in a journal indexed in the JCR. If this last requirement is not met, the Academic Committee may establish, exceptionally, and after a reasoned and justified request from the student and the supervisor, alternative criteria for the reading of the thesis. These criteria must ensure that the results of the Doctoral Thesis are original and have the required quality to be publicly defended.