· Academic Tutor

Once admitted to the PhD program, each doctoral student will be assigned an Academic Tutor by the Academic Committee. The tutor is a PhD professor with accredited research experience, linked to the unit or the School that organizes the program, who will be responsible for ensuring the interaction of the PhD student with the Academic Committee. The tutor may or may not coincide with the thesis supervisor.

· Thesis supervisor

The Academic Committee of each PhD program will assign a thesis supervisor to each student, who may or may not coincide with the tutor. The supervisor is a Spanish or foreign PhD with accredited research experience who accompanies and assists the student in his/her research and in the preparation of the PhD thesis.

PhD professors of the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria with accredited research experience may be thesis supervisors, and, subject to the agreement of the Academic Committee, any other doctor with accredited research experience, regardless of the institution in which he/she provides his/her services.

· Research plan, personal training plan and document of the PhD student’s activities.

Before the end of the first year, counted from the date of enrollment, the PhD student, with the assistance of his or her director and tutor, will prepare the Research Plan and Personal Training Plan documents (for students admitted from the 2024-25 academic year).

The Research Plan (RP) will state the thesis project to be developed, propose the methodology to be followed and the sources to be consulted, the objectives to be achieved, as well as the means and time schedule to achieve them, all according to the format established for each PhD Program.

The Personal Training Plan (PF) of the doctoral student will contain a forecast of the different training activities to be undertaken during the time spent in the PhD program (attendance to courses, seminars, workshops, workshops, seminars, attendance to congresses, mobility actions, etc.). This document may be improved and detailed throughout their stay in the program and must be endorsed by the director and the tutor. The FP will be evaluated by the coordinator of the PhD program and approved by the Academic Committee.

The PhD student must submit an annual Research Plan Monitoring Report and the PhD Student Activity Document (DAD) on the platform provided by the University for this purpose, both endorsed by the approval of the director and tutor of the PhD thesis. In each academic year there will be two calls for submission, the ordinary call and the extraordinary call.

· Presentation of the thesis

The PhD thesis will consist of an original research work elaborated by the candidate in any field of study. The thesis must enable the doctoral candidate to work independently in the field of R+D+i. The PhD thesis will be written and defended in Spanish or in another language of international scientific dissemination if so accepted by the Academic Committee of the doctoral program.

In certain cases, the Academic Committee may authorize the presentation of a thesis for a compendium of publications.

The PhD student who wishes to submit the doctoral thesis for reading and defense will address his request to the Academic Committee of the program, submitting 2 copies of the printed thesis and one copy in electronic format, both in their non-final version.

In addition, the PhD student must include a copy of at least one original published article generated from the results of the thesis project (or a message from the editor indicating acceptance for publication) and the PhD Student Activity Document (DAD).

The thesis will have a minimum of two reports issued by experts in the field, external to the university, who will be able to propose aspects for improvement. These experts will be appointed by the Academic Committee and will have one month to review the copy submitted and issue a report. These experts may be part of the panel that evaluates the thesis.

The Academic Committee will decide whether or not to proceed with the deposit of the Thesis and will request, if necessary, the appropriate modifications after analyzing the aforementioned evaluation reports and verifying that the academic record meets the requirements for the presentation of the thesis.

In those cases in which modifications are requested, the Academic Committee will give a period of up to nine months to the PhD candidate to respond and, if necessary, include the pertinent modifications. Once the modifications have been made, they will be re-evaluated by the Academic Committee and, if they are favorably evaluated, the deposit of the Thesis will be authorized.

In the event that the Academic Committee denies the processing of the thesis, the doctoral student may submit a written statement of allegations to the EDIUFV Steering Committee within a period of one month. The written allegations should be addressed to the Director of the EDIUFV.

· Required publications.

The PhD student must document the dissemination of part of the work done by publishing, or accepting for publication, an original article of the work in scientific journals of impact in the area in question (JCR, SJR, preferably Q1 or Q2) or, failing that, a book chapter in a publisher of impact in the area in question (SPl, preferably Q1 or Q2), dated after the first enrollment in the PhD program. In these publications the PhD student must appear in the order of signature as the main author of the work.

· Defense and reading of the thesis

Once the authorization of the Academic Committee has been obtained, the PhD student will present five copies of the thesis in paper format, duly bound and paginated, plus two supports with copies in electronic format together with the documentation indicated by the school, at the UFV Registry and will request authorization for the defense from the Academic Committee.

The International PhD School will communicate the deposit of the doctoral thesis to the appropriate Departments of the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria and will communicate the public exhibition of the thesis for a period of one month at the UFV International PhD School.

The Steering Committee of the EIDUFV, in view of the proposal of the Academic Committee, will appoint a tribunal under the terms established in the current legislation. The examining board will be made up of three members and two substitutes, all of them Doctors with accredited research experience, Spanish or foreign, linked to Universities or Higher Education Institutions, Research Centers, Hospitals or other Research Institutions. The panel will be formed by a majority of members external to the program and to the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria. A balanced composition between women and men must be guaranteed. The thesis defense ceremony will be called by the president and communicated by the secretary of the tribunal to the EIDUFV secretariat at least twenty days before the date set for its celebration, and will take place in a public session during the academic term. The EIDUFV secretariat will communicate the date of the defense to the Academic Committee.

The thesis defense will take place in a public session at the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria. In the case of inter-university programs or co-supervision agreements, the thesis may be defended at any of the participating universities under the terms agreed upon in the corresponding collaboration agreement. Once the public defense of the thesis has been completed, the examining board will deliberate in a secret session on the grade that in its opinion the thesis deserves. The committee will issue a report and the overall grade awarded to the thesis in terms of “Not suitable”, “Pass”, “Notable” or “Outstanding”.

The committee may propose that the thesis be awarded “cum laude” if a unanimous positive secret ballot is cast in that sense. The Steering Committee of the EIDUFV may grant an Extraordinary PhD Award to those theses that are particularly meritorious and have obtained the maximum qualification, with a proposal for an Extraordinary Award for every ten PhD theses defended or fraction thereof.

Once the doctoral thesis has been approved, the administrative secretariat of the International PhD School of the University will send, in electronic format, a copy of the thesis, as well as all the necessary complementary information to the Ministry of Universities for the purpose of its publication in a national repository, which will be managed by the General Secretariat of Universities. The University will be responsible for archiving the thesis in an institutional repository; the copy held by the EIDUFV will be sent to the Library, and the Archive Service will store a digital copy that will be available in open, electronic format.

Completion of the studies foreseen in these regulations will lead to the awarding of a PhD university degree by the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, in accordance with the regulations for the issuing of degrees.