Government Pavilion, C/ Padre Herrera s/n
PO Box 456
38200, San Cristobal de La Laguna
Santa Cruz de Tenerife - Spain
Tel. Switchboard: (+34) 922 31 90 00
Hours: Mon-Fri, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Tutor.
1. Once admitted to the doctoral program and verified enrollment, each doctoral student will be assigned a tutor by the corresponding academic committee. The tutor must be a doctor and a professor of the doctoral program authorized to supervise doctoral theses according to the requirements established in these regulations. The tutor will be responsible for ensuring the doctoral student's interaction with the academic committee and their supervisor, where applicable.
2. The academic committee, after consulting the doctoral candidate, may modify the appointment of the assigned advisor at any time during the doctoral program, provided there are justified reasons. If it deems it appropriate, it may request reports from the advisor and the thesis supervisor.
3. The tutor's duties will be:
a) Regularly review, together with the thesis director, the document on the doctoral student's activities as defined in article 2.5 of these regulations.
b) Endorse, together with the thesis director and before the end of the first year, the research plan prepared by the doctoral student.
c) Sign the documentary commitment together with the University, the doctoral student and the director.
d) Issue and submit annually to the academic committee the report provided for in article 23.3 of these regulations.
e) Ensure the inclusion of the University of La Laguna in all communications, presentations and publications in which the results of the research carried out by the students under its supervision are disseminated.
The supervision of doctoral students will be recognized as part of the teaching and research dedication of the faculty in the terms established by the corresponding regulations of the University of La Laguna.
Thesis director.
1. Within a period of no more than one month from the doctoral candidate's enrollment, the academic committee responsible for the program will assign a doctoral thesis supervisor, who may or may not be the same as the tutor referred to in the previous article. This appointment may be made to any Spanish or foreign doctor who meets any of the following requirements:
a) Be in possession of at least one section of research merits, in accordance with the provisions of Royal Decree 1086/1989, of August 28, on university teaching staff salaries (BOE No. 216, of September 9), amended by Royal Decrees 1949/1995, of December 1 (BOE No. 16, of January 18, 1996); 74/2000, of January 21 (BOE No. 19, of January 22), and 1325/2002, of December 13 (BOE No. 305, of December 21), or equivalent merits for those who do not have access to the assessment of these sections because they do not belong to university teaching bodies.
b) Be in possession of three sections of research merits, in accordance with the provisions of Decree 140/2002, of October 7 (BOC No. 139, of October 18) and have directed a doctoral thesis, or have co-directed two.
In both cases, regardless of the university, center, or institution where the student works, the research must be part of one of the lines included in the corresponding doctoral program.
2. The academic committee, after hearing the doctoral candidate and, where appropriate, the doctoral advisor, may modify the appointment of the doctoral thesis supervisor at any time during the doctoral program, provided there are justified reasons. A corresponding report from the supervisor will be requested.
3. The thesis may have another supervisor, who must meet the same requirements established for a thesis supervisor in that doctoral program, when there are academic reasons, such as thematic interdisciplinarity or programs developed in national or international collaboration, with prior authorization from the academic committee. This authorization may be revoked later if, in the opinion of the academic committee, co-supervision does not benefit the development of the thesis.
4. Without prejudice to the provisions of the previous section, the functions of co-director may be assumed by a new researcher or a professor or researcher with a minimum of research experience who does not meet the requirements established to be a thesis director. In any case, he or she must have a civil service or contractual relationship with the university or organization that collaborates in the development of the program. There may not be more than one co-director of this profile.
5. The academic committee of the doctoral programme will ensure an adequate and proportionate distribution of doctoral students among the lines of research that make up the doctoral programme and the directors. To this end, the following limitations are established:
a) In the same academic year, the same thesis director may not be appointed to more than three new students with full-time dedication, or equivalent.
b) It is established that a director may not simultaneously direct more than four doctoral theses that are being carried out on a full-time basis, or its equivalent on a part-time basis. Likewise, the same team of director and co-director may not direct more than four theses simultaneously.
c) The limit indicated in the preceding section may be raised to eight in the case of directors whose previously directed theses have each given rise to at least two publications in scientific journals with international censors. In any case, from the fifth doctoral thesis onwards, a co-director must be required, without prejudice to the provisions regarding limitations in the preceding section.
d) Theses completed under the joint supervision modality will not be counted for the purposes indicated in this section.
e) For each thesis for which there is no evidence of receipt of at least one publication by the corresponding publishing entity within a period of no more than one year after its defence, the limits indicated for thesis supervision in this section will be reduced by one.
6. The work of supervising doctoral students and directing their theses will be recognised as part of the teaching and research dedication of the teaching staff in accordance with the terms established by the corresponding regulations of the University of La Laguna.
7. For any supervisor whose doctoral students defend their theses within a period of more than four years, the limit established in article 10.5.b of these regulations will be reduced by one for each thesis defended within a period of more than that indicated. The same will apply, in equivalent time terms, to theses that are being carried out on a part-time basis. For these purposes, voluntary withdrawals by doctoral students or their disengagement as a result of negative evaluations of their research plans will not be taken into account.
8. The thesis supervisor is obliged to include the University of La Laguna in all presentations, communications and publications in which the results of the research carried out by his doctoral students are disseminated. Likewise, the department to which he is attached must be stated in the case of being a professor at the University of La Laguna, unless the corresponding editorial regulations make this impossible, without prejudice to mentioning his affiliation with other research entities. Failure to comply with this obligation will mean that he cannot be appointed as a supervisor for new doctoral students. The supervisor may justify the origin of the non-compliance before the academic committee of the doctoral programme, which will decide on the application of the provisions set out in this section.
Thesis Supervision
Once the doctoral student has enrolled, the tutor, together with the supervisor, will establish their personalized activity document for the purposes of the individualized control record referred to in Article 2.5 of these regulations. All activities of interest to the doctoral student's development will be recorded in it, as regulated by the university, the Doctoral School, the body responsible for the doctoral program, or the academic committee itself. It will be regularly reviewed by the tutor and the thesis supervisor and evaluated by the academic committee responsible for the doctoral program, as referred to in Article 14 of the Doctoral Teaching Regulations (Official Gazette of the Canary Islands No. 17, of January 25, 2013).
Promotion by the ULL of doctoral thesis supervision tasks
In order to promote thesis supervision or co-supervision, the ULL has planned a reduction in teaching duties. Along these lines, the Governing Council of the University of La Laguna, in its session of May 14, 2010, approved a Model for Estimating Teaching Charges for the areas of the new undergraduate and postgraduate programs.
Specifically, the reduction for thesis supervision/co-supervision is as follows: Up to a maximum of 3 credits per professor may be credited for doctoral theses approved in the last academic year. This compensation will be distributed according to the number of thesis supervisors.
In the case of theses with an extraordinary award, the reduction will be made in the academic year following the award and will be 1 credit. The co-supervisors will share the reduction, and the reduction may not exceed 3 credits per professor.
a) Defense without International Mention: 1.5 credits per thesis.
b) Defense with International Mention: 2 credits per thesis.
Extraordinary award: 1 credit per thesis.
Forecast of stays in other centers
In general, no plan has been established for stays at other centers for PhD students.
In specific cases, when the thesis requires it, the doctoral student may be able to reside at a national or foreign institution. However, there is no common, general mobility plan for all students.
Student mobility is a program-specific activity that may be optional, pending funding, unless the thesis is for an internationally recognized thesis, in which case it would be mandatory.
ULL's Guide to Good Practices for Supervising Doctoral Theses
A Guide to Good Practices for the supervision of doctoral theses at the University of La Laguna is currently being developed. However, the Department of Astrophysics, in collaboration with the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, has extensive and fruitful experience in the supervision of doctoral theses. Information on this subject can be found at the link.