REGULATIONS FOR OFFICIAL DOCTORAL COURSES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LA LAGUNA:

ULPGC DOCTORAL STUDIES REGULATIONS

Conflict resolution procedure

In the event of any non-compliance with any of the points included in the commitment document or the occurrence of any other disagreement related to the development of the Doctoral Program with respect to each doctoral student, either party may bring it to the attention of the coordinator of the Doctoral Program, who will act as mediator with a view to reaching a unanimous agreement that puts an end to the controversy.

If mediation has not allowed the conflict to be resolved after two months have elapsed since the doctoral program coordinator was informed, it will be forwarded to the Doctoral School, which must issue a resolution within three months, after hearing the parties and the doctoral program coordinator.

An appeal against the decision of the Doctoral School may be lodged before the rector, under the terms provided for in Law 39/2015, of October 1, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations.

Thesis tutoring.

Once admitted to the Doctoral Programme in Education Sciences by the University of La Laguna and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and registration has been verified, each doctoral candidate will be assigned a tutor by the Academic Committee, based on the letter of motivation or endorsement required by the regulations, who must be part of the teaching staff assigned to the Doctoral Programme. He or she will be responsible for ensuring the interaction of the doctoral candidate with the Academic Committee and its director, if applicable.

Regardless of the university, center or institution in which the student provides his/her services, he/she must be included in one of the lines of research included in this Doctoral Program and meet the requirements for directing doctoral theses.

The Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme in Educational Sciences by the ULL and the ULPGC may establish, in all cases, that the tutor be the thesis director, unless the director is not a professor at the participating universities.

The Academic Committee, after hearing the doctoral candidate, may modify the appointment of the assigned tutor at any time during the period of completion of the doctorate, provided there are justified reasons. If it deems it appropriate, it may request reports from the tutor and the thesis director.

The duties of the tutor will be:

Regularly review, together with the thesis director, the doctoral student's activity document, as defined in article 2.7 of the ULL Official Doctoral Studies Regulations.

Co-endorse, together with the thesis director and before the end of the first year, the research plan prepared by the doctoral student.

Sign the documentary commitment together with the University, the doctoral student and the director.

Issue and submit annually to the Academic Committee the report provided for in article 22 of the ULL Official Doctoral Studies Regulations.

Ensure the inclusion of the ULL and the ULPGC in all communications, presentations and publications in which the results of research carried out by the students under their supervision are disseminated.

Thesis direction.

1. Within a period of no more than three months from the doctoral candidate's enrollment, the program's Academic Committee will assign a thesis supervisor. This supervisor will be responsible for ensuring the coherence and appropriateness of the training activities, the impact and novelty of the doctoral thesis topic in their field, and for providing guidance in planning and, where applicable, its adaptation to other projects and activities in which the doctoral candidate is enrolled. This appointment will fall to any Spanish or foreign doctor with proven research experience, which must be verified by the doctoral program's Academic Committee based on its own criteria, which must be at least the following:
2. Thesis supervision criteria. It is the responsibility of each university to establish the requirements and demands for the supervision of theses, as well as for the constitution of evaluation and defence committees, this last aspect being included in the Collaboration Agreement between both proposing universities in its third clause and which is attached to this verification report in the section "Application details" (1. Description of the degree).

Thus, in the case of the ULL, the REGULATIONS OF OFFICIAL DOCTORAL TEACHING OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LA LAGUNA (Approved at the Governing Council meeting on 22-03-2024), establishes in its article 10 the minimum requirements to be a thesis director:

Article 10.2 (…) be a doctor: a) with accredited research experience, according to article 2.9 of these regulations, obtained in the last six years. b) with accredited research experience, according to article 2.9 of these regulations, obtained in a period greater than the last six years, provided that it is duly justified and the academic committee gives its approval. c) with equivalent research merits, according to article 2.10 of these regulations. Those who have a competitive Marie Sklodowska-Curie, Ramón y Cajal, Juan de la Cierva, Viera y Clavijo, María Zambrano, Beatriz Galindo postdoctoral contract, and any other that has been assessed as equivalent by the EDEP, will be considered to meet equivalent merits, without the need for additional verification. Exceptionally, the academic committee of each program may authorize co-supervision by PhDs who have relevant research experience in the scientific field of the thesis, even if they do not meet the requirements for equivalent research merits.

For its part, in the REGULATIONS FOR DOCTORAL STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA (approved by BOULPGC on January 27, 2023) in its article 20, it is established that: 

20.5 Doctoral thesis supervisors must be doctors with proven research experience. Supervisors will be deemed to meet this requirement when they have obtained at least one six-year research qualification from the National Commission for the Evaluation of Research Activity. 6. In the case of personnel not evaluable by this system, supervisors must demonstrate equivalent merits that will be evaluated by the Academic Commission of the corresponding Doctoral Program, using as a reference the CNEAI criteria of the last current year.

Generally speaking, it is considered that, to be a thesis director, it will be necessary to be in possession of at least a section of research merits or equivalent merits.

3. The doctoral candidate's preference regarding the line of research and the directors and/or tutors will be respected. The doctoral regulations indicate that a guarantee must be presented by the director(s). The Committee may conduct interviews with the heads of the lines and the doctoral candidates. The Academic Committee, after hearing the doctoral candidate and, where applicable, his/her tutor, may modify the appointment of the director of the doctoral thesis at any time during the period of completion of the doctorate, provided that there are justified reasons. The appropriate report from the director will be requested. In those doctoral candidates who do not show preferences for either lines or directors, the director and/or tutor will be assigned following the list of the assigned teaching staff in order of category and seniority according to the lowest number of theses they are directing at that time.
4. The Academic Committee, after hearing the doctoral candidate and, where applicable, his or her tutor, may modify the appointment of the doctoral thesis supervisor at any time during the period of completion of the doctorate, provided that there are justified reasons. The appropriate report from the supervisor will be requested.
5. The thesis may be co-supervised by other doctors when there are reasons of an academic nature or interdisciplinary theme or when it involves programs developed in national or international collaboration. For the co-supervision of the thesis, prior authorization from the Academic Committee will be necessary. This authorization may be revoked later if, in the opinion of the Academic Committee, the co-supervision does not benefit the development of the thesis.
6. The Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme will ensure an adequate and proportionate distribution of doctoral students between the lines of research that make up the doctoral programme and the directors. To this end, the following limitations are established: In the same academic year, the same thesis director may not appoint more than five new students with full-time dedication, or equivalent to part-time. It is established that a director may not simultaneously direct more than five doctoral theses that are being carried out on a full-time basis, or its equivalent to part-time, in the same academic year. However, the limits indicated in the preceding sections may be modified by the Academic Committee of the programme, provided that exceptional circumstances exist that justify it and this is proven.
7. 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 the terms established by the corresponding regulations of the ULL and the ULPGC.

The thesis may also be co-directed when there are academic reasons or when the thematic interdisciplinarity or the programs developed in national or international collaboration so justify. Likewise, co-supervision actions and joint co-direction of theses between doctors from the two participating universities will be supported, in order to contribute to increasing and making profitable the educational, training and disciplinary opportunities that an interuniversity doctorate such as this can offer to its students. In any case, the co-direction must be previously authorized by the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Program. Also to encourage the direction of doctoral theses, the two universities of this program recognize in their regulations the work of thesis direction as part of the teaching and research dedication of the teaching staff. These procedures to encourage and at the same time promote the supervision of theses by highly qualified professionals, while introducing mechanisms that recognize this work, will serve to guarantee the objectives declared for this Program, which insist on the quality training of professionals specialized in research committed to innovation and equal opportunities in education.

Commitment document.

The supervision functions of doctoral students will be established by means of a documentary commitment, signed by the management of the ULL School of Doctorate and Postgraduate Studies or the ULPGC School of Doctorate, the doctoral student, his or her tutor and his or her director or co-director (and, where applicable, co-directors). The commitment must be signed within a maximum period of three months from the assignment of a tutor or director.

The commitment document, once signed by the parties involved, will be filed in the student's file and must consider aspects relating to intellectual or industrial property rights that may arise within the scope of the doctoral program. The commitment document must conform to the established model.

Code of good practice.

The Code of Good Practice of the ULL School of Doctoral Studies and Postgraduate Studies can be consulted at next link.

The Code of Good Practice of the ULPGC Doctoral School can be consulted at next link.