Pathway to the Doctorate

Supervision of students

Each student will be assigned a thesis Tutor and one or two Supervisors ("director/es"). If any of the thesis supervisors meets the requirements to also act as a Tutor, they will also assume this role.

Tutor

The final admission of a doctoral student into a doctoral program includes the assignment of a Tutor, designated by the corresponding Academic Committee (CAPD). The Tutor will be a faculty member affiliated with the program and permanently linked to the university and/or collaborating entity in the doctoral program.

In general, the Tutor will have the following functions:

(i) Ensure the interaction of the doctoral student with the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Program.
(ii) Ensure that the student’s training and research activities align with the program’s lines.
(iii) Guide the doctoral student in their learning and research activities within the program.

The CAPD, after consulting with the doctoral student, may modify the Tutor appointment at any time during the doctoral program, provided there are justified reasons.

Thesis Supervisor ("Director")

Within a maximum period of three months after enrollment, the CAPD will assign each doctoral student one or two thesis supervisors ("director").

The thesis supervisor will be ultimately responsible for ensuring the coherence and suitability of the training activities, their impact and novelty within the field, the thesis topic, and the guidance on planning and alignment, if applicable, with other projects and activities in which the doctoral student is enrolled.

A thesis supervisor can be any doctoral holder with proven research experience, regardless of the university, research center, or institution where they are employed.

The CAPD, after consulting with the doctoral student, may modify the thesis director appointment at any time during the doctoral program, provided there are justified reasons.

Authorized Profile

An Authorized Profile is a supervisor or Tutor responsible for submitting all evaluation or management reports through the university's information platform. This person will authorize through the platform all supervision commitments, the research plan, the Document of Activities, annual evaluations, extension requests, stay requests, and ultimately, the thesis to be presented.

 

Monitoring of Doctoral Students

Supervision Agreement Document (SAD)

The SAD is the document that outlines the supervision, guidance, and monitoring responsibilities for doctoral students. It specifies the conditions for completing the thesis, the rights and duties of the student, including any intellectual and/or industrial property rights derived from the research, the acceptance of the conflict resolution procedure, and the duties of the supervisor ("director"), the student, and the thesis director ("Tutor").

Research Plan

No later than six months from the enrollment date of the first year, and before the end of the academic year, doctoral students must have an approved research plan. This document must outline the methodology to be used by the student, the objectives to be achieved, the resources required, and the timeline for their completion. The research plan must be approved by the CAPD.

Each doctoral student may modify their research plan as needed.

Document of Activities

Throughout the thesis stage, the doctoral student must maintain a record of all relevant activities completed during this stage.

These activities are recorded within the timeframes set for each academic year, and they will be evaluated and validated by the authorized profile, and annually by the CAPD.

To present their thesis, it is advisable to have all activities duly recorded and marked as completed in the Document of Activities, as the CAPD requires the completion of all mandatory activities within the program.

Annual Monitoring and Evaluation

The doctoral student’s research work will be evaluated annually by the CAPD based on the assessment of the Document of Activities and the development of the Research Plan. Prior to this, the authorized profile must approve or reject the student’s activities, and subsequently generate their report.

In case of a negative evaluation, the student will be re-evaluated in the following academic year. If two consecutive negative evaluations occur, the student will be permanently withdrawn from the Doctoral Program.

 

Resolution of Conflicts

Any issues or disputes related to the individuals involved in the development of the doctoral program should initially be directed to the Academic Committee (CAPD) of the Program.

If a doubt or dispute escalates into a formal conflict, it will be referred to the relevant Doctoral School (EDIUS or EIDO) for resolution. The decision will be communicated to the affected parties, and those with the right to appeal may do so before the university’s Rector.

Duration of Studies

The minimum duration of doctoral studies will be eighteen months or thirty months, depending on the dedication (full-time or part-time), with a maximum duration of four and seven years, respectively.

The maximum duration of doctoral studies will be four years for full-time students and seven years for part-time students. In the case of a disability greater than 33%, these maximum periods will be extended to six and nine years, respectively. The doctoral student may request a 12-month extension.

Temporary Leave

There are two types of temporary leave, which will not be counted towards the minimum and maximum duration of doctoral studies:

• For health reasons, pregnancy, or any other cause foreseen in current labor regulations. The duration of the leave will be determined by the reason for the leave.
• At the request of the doctoral student. The doctoral student may request a single temporary leave from the doctoral program, with justifiable reasons. The maximum duration of this temporary leave will be one year, extendable for an additional year.

During any period of absence, the activities carried out by the doctoral student cannot be included in their Document of Activities.

Permanent Leave

Permanent resignations may be of an administrative or academic/educational nature.

The following are causes for permanent administrative leave:

• Failing to complete the annual enrollment for an academic year. 
• Failing to submit the research plan within the established deadlines. 
• Failing to complete the required complementary training within the established deadlines.

The following are causes for permanent academic leave: 

• Receiving two consecutive negative evaluations in the annual assessment. 
• Final rejection of the research plan. 
• Failing to successfully defend the thesis within the established deadlines.

Language and Format

Each thesis must include, at a minimum, the following sections: Summary, Introduction, Objectives, Methodology, Results and Discussion, Conclusions, and Bibliography.

As a general rule, the thesis will be written in Galician or Spanish. The thesis may also be written and defended in other languages commonly used for scientific communication in its specific field of knowledge. In that case, it must include a summary in Galician of no less than 3,000 words. It may also include other summaries of similar length in other languages. 

The language of the thesis will be approved by the CAPD through the approval of the student's research plan. 

Types of Theses

• Monographic Thesis. The classic format, which does not include publications derived from the research.
• Monographic Thesis with total or partial reproduction of publicacions. Includes full or partial reproductions of published works.
• Thesis by Compendium of Publications. Includes at least three research contributions that have been already published during the thesis period.

Mentions in the Title

• Industrial Mention. An original work addressing an industrial problem or developing an innovative project related to industry. This research should be carried out at a company (public or private sector company, or public administration) in any field of knowledge.
• International Mention. Theses developed in collaboration with prestigious research and innovation centers, with the support of internationally accredited experts.
• Co-Tutorship Thesis Mention. A doctoral thesis carried out under the supervision of at least two directors from two universities — one from USC/UVigo and another one from a foreign university.

Further Details

Further details about the format of the thesis and the defense procedure are available on the respective websites of the Doctoral Schools of the participating universities:   EDIUS (USC)  and   EIDO (UVigo)