The training activities carried out by the doctoral student are recorded in the activities document referred to in Article 23.1 of the Official Doctoral Studies Regulations of the University of La Laguna.

Doctoral students admitted to a doctoral program will enroll annually under the academic supervision program. In the case of joint programs, the agreement will determine how this enrollment will be carried out.

Individuals enrolled in a doctoral program will be subject to the legal and, where applicable, contractual regime resulting from the specific legislation applicable to them.

Rights and duties of doctoral students.-

1. A doctoral student is considered to be someone who, upon accreditation of the requirements established in Royal Decree 99/2011, of January 28, has been admitted to a doctoral program and has enrolled in it.

2. PhD students have the following rights:

a) The common rights of university students and the specific rights of doctoral students established in the University Student Statute, approved by Royal Decree 1791/2010, of December 30.

b) The rights that, in their capacity as students of the University of La Laguna, are recognized and result from the Statutes of the University of La Laguna, insofar as they are applicable to postgraduate students.

3. PhD students have the following duties:

a) Those established in general terms in article 13 of the University Student Statute and in the Statutes of the University of La Laguna, insofar as they are applicable to doctoral students.

b) Those specifically resulting from the contractual legal regime to which, where applicable, they may be subject.

4. In particular, doctoral candidates, as third-cycle students, are subject to the following specific duties:

a) Complete the training activities and research seminars established in the doctoral program.

b) Submit the completed work to the director in the format and with the frequency previously agreed upon and submit the thesis manuscript to the director a reasonable time in advance of the agreed deposit date for final review.

c) Consult with your supervisor before undertaking any additional activity at the university, in order to jointly assess the possible impact on your dedication to your doctoral thesis.

d) Comply with the safety requirements at work or any other specific requirements that exist in the place where you carry out your research.

e) Comply with the ethical standards established by the university.

f) Take, where applicable, the specific training supplements included in the program report and established by the academic committee at the time of admission to the doctoral program.

g) Include the University of La Laguna in all communications, presentations and publications in which results related to the research developed in their doctoral training are disseminated.

Commitment document.-

1. The supervision duties for doctoral students will be established through a written commitment signed by the vice-rector responsible for postgraduate studies, the doctoral student, their tutor, and their supervisor or co-supervisors. The commitment must be signed as soon as possible after admission and registration and, in any case, within a maximum of three months of the appointment of the tutor and supervisor.

2. The commitment document must include the unconditional acceptance by the doctoral student and the supervisor of the respective rights and obligations set forth in these regulations. It shall also include a conflict resolution procedure, in accordance with the provisions of the following article, and shall address aspects relating to intellectual or industrial property rights that may arise within the scope of the doctoral program.

3. The commitment document, once signed by the parties involved, will be filed in the student's file.

4. The commitment document must conform to the established model.

The commitment document template is available in the section of the ULL institutional website dedicated to its doctoral studies.

Conflict resolution procedure.-

1. In the event of a potential breach of any of the provisions included in the commitment document or of any other disagreement related to the development of the doctoral program with respect to each doctoral student, either party may bring this to the attention of the doctoral program coordinator, who will act as mediator with a view to reaching a unanimous agreement that puts an end to the dispute.

2. If mediation has not resolved the dispute within two months of being informed by the doctoral program coordinator, the matter will be forwarded to the Postgraduate Studies Committee, which must issue a resolution within three months, after hearing from the parties and the doctoral program coordinator.

3. An appeal may be lodged against the decision of the Postgraduate Studies Committee before the rector, under the terms provided for in Law 30/1992, of November 26, on the Legal Regime of Public Administrations and the Common Administrative Procedure.

Once admitted to the doctoral programme and registration verified, each doctoral student will be assigned a tutor by the corresponding academic committee, who must be a doctor and professor of the doctoral programme authorised to supervise doctoral theses according to the requirements established in these regulations, and who will be responsible for ensuring the interaction of the doctoral student with the academic committee and its director, if applicable.

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.

The tutor's duties will be:

a) Regularly review, together with the thesis director, the doctoral student's activity document defined in article 2.5 of the Official Doctoral Teaching Regulations of the University of La Laguna.

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 the Official Doctoral Studies Regulations of the University of La Laguna.

e) Ensure the inclusion of the University of La Laguna in all communications, presentations and publications in which the results of research carried out by the students under their supervision are disseminated.

From the thesis director.

1. Within one month of 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 program will ensure an appropriate and proportionate distribution of doctoral students among the research lines comprising the doctoral program and among the supervisors. For these purposes, 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.
complete, 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 increased to eight in the case of supervisors whose previously supervised theses have each resulted in at least two publications in scientific journals with international reviewers. In any case, starting with the fifth doctoral thesis, a co-supervisor is mandatory, without prejudice to the limitations indicated 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 that does not have proof of receipt of at least one publication by the corresponding publishing entity within a period of no more than one year after its defense, the limits indicated for thesis supervision in this section will be reduced by one.

6. The work of supervising doctoral students and directing theses will be recognized as part of the teaching and research dedication of the faculty in accordance with the terms established by the corresponding regulations of the University of La Laguna.

7. Supervisors whose doctoral students defend their theses over a period of more than four years will have the limit established in Article 10.5.b of the Regulations for Official Doctoral Studies at the University of La Laguna reduced by one for each thesis defended over a period longer than the stated limit. The same will apply, in equivalent timeframes, to theses being completed part-time. For these purposes, voluntary withdrawals by doctoral students or disengagements resulting from 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 conducted by their doctoral students are disseminated. Furthermore, the thesis supervisor must state the department to which they are attached if they are a professor at the University of La Laguna, unless the corresponding editorial standards prohibit this, without prejudice to mentioning their affiliation with other research entities. Failure to comply with this obligation will result in their inability to be appointed as supervisor of new doctoral students. The supervisor may justify the cause of the non-compliance before the academic committee of the doctoral program, which will decide on the application of the provisions of this section.

The ULL develops initiatives to promote thesis supervision and co-supervision, and the academic coordination of doctoral programs. One of these initiatives establishes recognition of supervision and coordination in the calculation of the teaching load, as set out in the specific regulations on "Estimating Teaching Workloads in Undergraduate and Postgraduate Degrees" and in the "Management Support Plan," detailed in section 6.2 of the report.

Aside from the mechanisms for recognizing/counting mentoring/supervision duties mentioned above, the University of La Laguna has established systems to encourage the incorporation of early-career researchers or professors with research results that do not qualify them as thesis supervisors, as these results have not been validated by research merit assessments. In this regard, the Official Doctoral Studies Regulations, in Article 10, Section 4, establishes that: "Without prejudice to the provisions of the previous section, a early-career researcher or a professor or researcher with a minimum level of research experience who does not meet the requirements established for a thesis supervisor may assume the duties of co-supervisor. In all cases, they must have a civil service or contractual relationship with the university or organization collaborating in the development of the program. There may not be more than one co-supervisor of this profile."

The goal is for these researchers/professors to acquire the appropriate level of qualifications to be able to join the program as directors when they meet the requirements established by the ULL in its Regulations.

Also, in the latest amendment of the Regulations for the Hiring of Assistant Professors, Collaborating Professors, Contract Professors, Associate Professors, and Assistant Professors at the University of La Laguna It is included in the corresponding scales, within the research activity block, as an assessment criterion having directed doctoral theses.