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The applicant university for the PhD programme in Mathematics and Statistics is the University of Zaragoza (UZ).
The University of Zaragoza was created with the aim of offering quality university education. It began its academic activity in the 1550 academic year and has since obtained the following recognitions:
• Institution number 223 in the INSTITUTION RANKINGS IN MATHEMATICS by the ISI Web of Knowledge.
• Member of the G9 (2000 PhD students, 230 theses/year)
• Participant in more than 40 European Projects (Erasmus, Leonardo da Vinci, etc.) since 2004.
• It has made more than 1,700 agreements with foreign universities, receiving more than 1,200 Erasmus students.
• Seventh out of 11 Spanish universities included in the Shanghai ranking.
The UZ has the Vice-Rectorates for Scientific Policy and for Technological Transfer and Innovation, whose main function is to promote and coordinate the university's research, innovation and knowledge transfer activities, guaranteeing effective management and mechanisms for appropriate dissemination. Aware of the importance of recruiting doctoral students for the development and consolidation of research groups, the university's master plan establishes a set of actions aimed at ensuring the quality of training programmes for new research staff.
Until 2011, the various participating universities carried out this research training in various doctoral programs:
ULL: PhD Programme in Mathematics, interdepartmental PhD programme in which the Department of Economic Analysis of the Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences of the ULL and the three Departments of the Faculty of Mathematics of the ULL participate: Mathematical Analysis, Fundamental Mathematics and Statistics, Operations Research and Computing. It has participated in the last call for the mention of excellence, obtaining a favourable report, but being finally excluded from said mentions, mainly due to not having a large number of PhD students who justified such a mention. The organisation of the interuniversity programme that is proposed would contribute to improving this aspect.
UO: Doctoral Program in Mathematics and Statistics, interdepartmental doctoral program in which the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Statistics, Operational Research and Mathematics Education participate.
UPV/EHU: Doctoral Programme in Mathematics, interdepartmental doctoral programme in which the Department of Mathematics and the University of the Basque Country participate. of Applied Mathematics, Statistics and Operations Research.
UPNA: There are currently two active doctoral programs in which the doctoral thesis can be completed:
UZ: Doctoral Program in Mathematics and its Applications (interdepartmental doctoral program that encompasses all the mathematics departments of the University of Zaragoza). He has previously had the quality mention (Quality Mention ref. MCD-2005-00287). It has participated in the last call for the excellence mention, obtaining a favorable report, but remaining outside the mentions of excellence, fundamentally due to the lack of creation of a plan between various universities, an aspect that would improve significantly with this project of interuniversity program.
The universities of Oviedo, the Basque Country, the Public University of Navarra and Zaragoza, together with the University of La Rioja, have been teaching two master's degrees in recent years:
The Master's Degree in Introduction to Research in Mathematics aims to offer students training aimed at research in Mathematics, which provides them with the necessary tools to initiate a fundamental academic and research line.
The Master's Degree in Mathematical Modelling, Statistics and Computing has a more transversal character. The subject matter covered in it focuses on the mathematical modelling of problems of interest in other areas of science and technology. It is therefore a master's degree oriented towards the transfer of technology (in this case mathematical technology) to companies and technological centres.
For the next course it has been agreed transform these two degrees into a single master's degree, in which the same universities that participate in this interuniversity doctorate participate, which covers the needs of those students who seek academic guidance, both to complete their mathematical preparation and to access our doctoral program, while maintaining adequate training in terms of transversality and orientation towards technology transfer.
The experience gained in the organisation of these Interuniversity Masters and the synergy developed in this joint activity has motivated the union of efforts that has led to the request for an interuniversity doctoral programme.
This proposal proposes an interdisciplinary doctorate whose itineraries in specific areas of specialization allow the training of doctoral students in different areas of knowledge (Fundamental Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Mathematical Transfer, Information Technologies, among others). At present, the scientific production and the training capacity of the researchers of the different groups in the field of Scientific Computing, Mathematics, Mathematical Models and Statistical Techniques advise the creation of a specific doctoral program, with its own identity, that allows the consolidation of research and transfer activity in this field.
Studies responsible for the doctoral program: Mathematics Studies
It is worth noting that the doctoral research lines are housed in the research centre coordinated by the University of Zaragoza, the IUMA, as well as in the various universities that make up the project. In any case, the lines and research groups linked to the programme are always articulated around Mathematics Studies. All the Mathematics research groups involved in the programme have research projects funded, both nationally and internationally, and are recognised by quality agencies. of the university system, accredited professors with recognized research fields, and an extensive list of publications in scientific journals and prestigious conferences that endorse their research career.
The various research centres mentioned have scholarship programmes, visiting professors, resident professors, postdoctoral researchers and guest professors, among others, which encourage collaboration with groups and researchers from other universities and provide added value to doctoral studies.
The teaching of training activities for full-time doctoral students will be carried out at the participating universities and higher education institutions or research centres that collaborate with the programme. The rest of the training activities aimed at the group of full-time doctoral students, as well as the research activity undertaken by them, will normally be carried out in the spaces of the respective universities.
The Doctoral Seminar sessions and methodological workshops aimed specifically at full-time PhD students, but also open to part-time PhD students, will be held in the University buildings. The seminars of the research groups, meetings with the thesis director, annual follow-up evaluations, etc. will also be held. In addition, this group of PhD students will regularly carry out their research activity in these buildings, without prejudice to the temporary stays that, in the development of this activity, they carry out in other higher education institutions or research centres and the trips they make to carry out their research work or in their dissemination.
The training activities during the training period will be carried out on the various campuses, in different languages, using English for the teaching of various contents and subjects. English may also be used in the preparation of research plans, in the writing and defence of doctoral theses, and in the teaching of some training activities (methodological courses, thematic research seminars and complementary training activities oriented towards research). It should be noted that this programme aims to promote the completion of doctoral theses included in the International Doctorate, for which the defence and part of the thesis must be carried out in another language, in addition to various stays in various international research centres.
Program orientation and evolution
The PhD program in Mathematics and Statistics will combine various areas of knowledge with the objectives of:
• Provide advanced training in research in the various branches of Mathematics. • Facilitate the implementation of original research initiatives that contribute to the accumulated knowledge on different subjects. • Promote interdisciplinarity in research, facilitating the interrelation of doctoral students who research in different fields of mathematics, or other branches of science.
The participating universities maintain a continuing interest in advancing the achievement of high levels of quality for their doctoral programs. Therefore, they have implemented successive reforms in accordance with the regulations of official university education at any given time (Royal Decrees 1393/2007, of October 29, and 99/2011, of January 28), always focusing on the following areas: the selection and admission of doctoral students, the design of the training and research itinerary for doctoral students, and the evaluation of their work, which will be applicable to the Doctoral Program in Mathematics and Statistics we are presenting. The experience accumulated by the university community involved in the studies (doctoral students, thesis supervisors, professors, research groups, doctoral academic committees, program coordinators at each university, Vice-Rectorates for Research, etc.) is the result of evaluations carried out within each participating university. This experience is used for the design of this program, which aims to achieve an improvement in the admission process for doctoral students to the program, an improvement in their methodological training, and the definition of procedures and figures for the direction and evaluation of doctoral theses comparable, in their design and operation, to international standards.