Doctoral Program Retention Rules at the University of Granada validated according to Royal Decree 99/2011

The regulatory standards for the official Doctorate teachings and the Doctorate degree by the University of Granada, approved in the extraordinary session of the Governing Council on May 2, 2012, establish in their article 4 the following retention rules for doctoral studies:

These rules are directly extracted from article 3 of RD99/2011:

- The duration of Doctoral studies will be a maximum of three years, full-time, from the admission of the doctoral candidate to the program until the presentation of the doctoral thesis.

- Notwithstanding the above, and with prior authorization from the Academic Commission responsible for the program, Doctoral studies may be undertaken part-time. In this case, such studies may have a maximum duration of five years from admission to the program until the presentation of the doctoral thesis.

- In the case of full-time doctoral studies, if after the mentioned period of three years the thesis deposit application has not been submitted, the Program's Academic Commission may authorize an extension of this period for one more year. Exceptionally, it could be extended for an additional year, under the conditions established in the corresponding Doctoral Program.

- In the case of part-time studies, the extension may be authorized for two more years. Likewise, exceptionally, it could be extended for an additional year. The second extension, in all cases, must be approved by the Doctoral School’s Management Committee.

- In calculating the duration of the studies, periods of illness, pregnancy, or any other cause provided for by the current regulations will not be taken into account.

- The doctoral candidate may request a temporary leave from the Program for a maximum period of one year, extendable by one more year. Such request must be directed and justified before the Academic Commission responsible for the program, which will reason its decision on it and inform the International Graduate School so that, through the competent body, the Doctoral School’s Management Committee, the temporary leave is either accepted or denied.

A director of a research plan may be a doctoral faculty member belonging to the University of Granada who has at least one active six-year research period. Likewise, a co-director may be a doctor who, not being from the university staff, accredits an active six-year research period or equivalent merits.

Co-directors include those doctors from the University of Granada, who belong to another line of research and who have the merits of an active six-year research period. And as co-directors are included those novice doctors who belong to the same or a different line of research but have not directed any doctoral thesis (which they must accredit with a specific declaration), who meet the equivalent to an active six-year period in the last six years and whose contractual relationship with the institution during the thesis period is guaranteed.

• Co-directions of theses are always admissible when they are academically justified, for which an appropriateness report of the co-directors, the necessity and added value of the co-direction, and what could not be maintained from the thesis without it must be accompanied.

• For cases of co-tutelage (for recognition of a double doctorate with another university), due to their exceptionality, a specific agreement is required, case by case, between both institutions with the signatures of the respective rectors, and specific global agreements do not apply (although they open the possibility to study very particular cases).

• For the direction, co-direction, or co-tutelage of theses with other doctors not belonging to the program, although they belong to programs and institutions with which there are specific doctoral agreements, the previous requirements for the direction of theses apply.

• Co-directions cannot be carried out between two researchers from the same line of research. Exceptionally, co-direction would be admitted when the following circumstance concurs: the first one, with a consolidated trajectory (with two or more research periods) and, the second, a young researcher, who has not directed theses and who meets the requirements demanded by the University of Granada and the program for the direction of doctoral theses.

• In any case, both an Appropriateness Report and an academic justification report of the co-direction must be presented.

• The doctoral program considers it necessary to limit the number of thesis projects to be supervised simultaneously per triennium and per researcher. It will be possible to supervise “a reasonable number” of theses, although the following circumstances will be taken into account in this calculation:

1. It is recommended not to exceed the number of five at once (regardless of their level of development).
2. The number of theses supervised will ultimately depend on the number of recently supervised theses that have resulted in scientific output in indexed journals. Theses without output not only do not count and cannot be defended but will also be considered negatively when establishing new calculations.
3. Since there is a monitoring, control, and permanence procedure in the program, doctoral candidates who do not comply with it will cease to belong to the program, and such ongoing work plans will not be counted towards any objectives. In such cases, it will be justified whether such non-compliance is due to the doctoral candidate or to a lack of rigor in the selection and supervision of works.

• In exceptional cases, when there is sufficient justification, due to non-compliance with commitments to doctoral candidates, with program conditions, or with the University of Granada's good practices guidelines in thesis supervision, individuals may be invited to leave the program or temporarily not authorize thesis supervision.

• To grant an extraordinary extension, the candidate must fit into one of these cases:

1. Include with the request for an extraordinary extension the PDF of the completed Doctoral Thesis document and a copy or evidence of having submitted the article endorsing the Thesis to a journal that meets the program's criteria. Thus, the justification for such an extension is based on awaiting approval for the publication of said scientific article.
2. Justify being the recipient of an FPU scholarship or similar that covers the year of the requested extraordinary extension period.
3. Justify the need for an extra year due to being an active healthcare worker during the COVID pandemic period of 2020 and 2021.

• The Doctoral Program Academic Committee (CAD) will assign a tutor to each doctoral candidate from the moment of their enrollment. To do this, the research line of interest in which the doctoral candidate has been admitted will be identified and determined. As a general criterion, it will be the representative of the research line in the CAD. This assignment will be communicated to the interested party, and during the program's Initial Seminar, there will be a space for initial dialogue and tutoring.

This tutor will schedule and assign an individualized training plan taking into account the needs and particularities of the doctoral candidate and will accompany and supervise them throughout the process until a supervisor is assigned and a work plan (thesis project) is signed and approved by the CAD.

• The CAD of the doctoral program, upon the suggestion of the assigned tutor and the Research Line, and after hearing from the candidate, will assign a thesis supervisor during the first year, who will be responsible for accompanying and supervising the work plan and the completion of the doctoral thesis.

• Once a supervisor or co-supervisors are assigned, they will work with the doctoral candidate to develop their Work Plan, regarding the thesis project and research plan. This must be supervised by the research line and approved by the CAD.

• This research plan or thesis project must be duly completed and signed by the thesis supervisor. It must be submitted within the first six months after joining the program as a research fellow.

• To receive a positive evaluation of the work plan by the CAD, this project must meet the required academic standards and be publicly defended, before it or before the Commission delegated this function.

• Research fellows enrolled under RD99/2011 must defend their Research Plan in a public event, duly advertised in advance among the members of the program's scientific community, before an Evaluation Commission composed of a CAD member, a research line member, and an external Ph.D. researcher not affiliated with the line or program. Under no circumstances can the supervisor be part of the Commission.

• In justified cases (such as being outside of Spain), the Research Plan can be defended online.

• Research plans must incorporate the suggestions and indications made during this public defense. If rejected, they can be modified and resubmitted during the next semester. Failure to do so or failure to pass this second evaluation will result in the candidate being excluded from the program.

• The Evaluation Committees for Research Plans are delegated by the Academic Committee for the Doctorate in Education Sciences (hereafter CAD). One Evaluation Committee will be established for each research line and/or team, as long as it is reflected in the composition of lines and teams of the program. Additionally, an Incidents Committee will be available, whose members are proposed by the CAD. All committees will be renewed each academic year.

• It is the CAD that, upon proposal from each research line, approves in ordinary session the evaluation schedule for research plans each academic year, as well as the composition of the corresponding evaluation committees. The public defense of such research plans will take place during the week prior to April 30th and September 30th of each academic year. Once the schedule is approved, it will be the responsibility of the president of each committee to set the location of the event and make the reservation, which will then be communicated to the program coordinator.

• The Evaluation Committees will consist of: President, Secretary, Vocal, Substitute President, Substitute Secretary, and Substitute Vocal, following the PROTOCOL for the Defense of Research Plans approved by our CAD on 03/04/2014. It will be the president's responsibility to convene the committee members at least 5 days in advance, following the evaluation committee schedule presented and approved by the CAD in Education Sciences. This schedule cannot be modified without prior agreement in an ordinary session of the CAD.

• The coordinator will send to the secretary of each Evaluation Committee the list of doctoral candidates who will defend their research plan, at least 5 days before the committee meeting. The secretary will send this list of doctoral candidates to the different committee members at least 4 days in advance, so that each member can review the research plan on the doctoral monitoring platform.

• Each Committee will be constituted at the place, date, and time approved in the schedule and previously convened by the committee president.

• Before the end of the first year, the doctoral candidate will develop a Research Plan relevant to the research line where they have been admitted, including at least a title, updated justification of the topic, hypothesis/objectives, methodology to be used, as well as the means and temporal planning to achieve it. This Plan may be improved and detailed throughout their time in the program and must be endorsed by the tutor and supervisor.

• Once the Research Plan is developed, it will be submitted to the Evaluation Committee of the assigned research line in the doctoral admission process. With a minimum period of 10 days in advance, the doctoral candidate must deposit the version approved by the supervisor on the monitoring portal.

• The student will orally defend their Research Plan proposal within a time frame of 15 minutes. The Committee will make suggestions for adjustments to the presented document and will either approve or not approve the proposal. If the approval is not obtained, the student will have a period of 10 days to make the modifications suggested by the committee and submit the document to the committee secretary. The secretary will inform the committee members and submit the final minutes to the coordinator within fifteen days of the evaluation committee meeting. Once the plan is approved by the Committee, the process is completed by the program coordinator.

• A student who, for justified reasons, has not been able to present their research plan in the evaluation committee corresponding to their line in the regular call will request evaluation by the Incidents Committee from the program coordinator. The coordinator will inform the secretary of this committee about the requests received and admitted for evaluation by said committee, within 7 days prior to its meeting. It will be the president of the Incidents Committee who will convene the members, following the same deadlines and procedures as established for line evaluation committees.

• Following article 15.4. of the REGULATIONS FOR OFFICIAL DOCTORAL STUDIES AND THE DOCTORAL DEGREE BY THE UNIVERSITY OF GRANADA (October 30, 2013), annually, the CAD will evaluate each Research Plan and the activity document along with the reports that must be issued by the Supervisor and the Tutor. A positive evaluation will be an essential requirement to continue in the program. In case of a negative evaluation, the doctoral candidate must be re-evaluated within six months, for which they must submit a new Research Plan. In the event of a second negative evaluation, the doctoral candidate will be definitively withdrawn from the program.

• These are detailed on the program's website: Training activities offer (right column). They are subject to changes, which are notified on the website and by email.

• In general, any activity, plan, action, etc. must be approved by the doctoral candidate's tutor and be approved and supervised by the Research Line and the CAD of the program.

• During the initial seminar and in the early tutoring sessions, the tutor will establish a training plan that includes the mandatory and optional training activities that the doctoral candidate must undertake throughout the academic year. This plan must be approved and supervised by the Research Line and the CAD of the program.

• Complementary training activities are established by the CAD once the curriculum and training of each doctoral candidate are known, when specific training deficiencies or weaknesses are identified. They are included in the training plan, proposed by the tutor and Research Line, and with the approval and supervision of the CAD.

• A Documented Supervision Commitment will be signed by the University itself, along with the doctoral candidate, their tutor, and their supervisor, establishing the supervision functions for the tasks that the doctoral candidate must carry out in order to complete their doctoral thesis.

• Complementary training activities must be completed during the first two years of enrollment in the program.

• Training plans are established by school years and must be properly documented in a portfolio system, which complements the Doctoral Activities Document of the online application. This portfolio is presented annually to the Research Line and CAD, with the approval of the tutor/supervisor, and its progress is publicly accounted for during the annual doctoral sessions.

General rules for continuation at the University of Granada: LINK

Aspirants to the doctoral degree in the program must fulfill the following criteria on a yearly basis for continuation:

• Upon admission to the program and within the deadline for submitting their work plan, they must publicly defend it before the research line according to the terms established by it (doctoral sessions, expert committees, etc.).

• Successfully complete and document the complementary training activities required within the assigned terms (contents and formats) during the first year. Only activities taught by Ph.D. holders and organized, approved, and supervised by university institutions and higher institutes of scientific research will count, with a passing grade.

* Adequately fulfill the annual training activities assigned, both mandatory program activities and those specific to their research line, and those agreed upon in their work plan. These must be documented in a portfolio and endorsed by those directing and supervising the work.

• Annually report on their research progress in the public defense of their work during the doctoral sessions. Those students from other countries or on academic stays who can prove their absence from Spain may defend their work via video conference, subject to approval by the Academic Committee.

• Complete the following training and progress itinerary in publishing and defending research reports related to their doctoral thesis: during the first year, conduct a scientific review or present and defend a paper at conferences or seminars. During the second year, present and defend a paper at an international conference with peer review or publish an article. Subsequently, until the defense of the doctoral thesis, publish an article in an indexed journal with impact factor (see detailed description below).

• Subject their Research Plan (within six months from enrollment) and their final doctoral thesis manuscript to public scrutiny by the doctors of the research line, the program, and the scientific community in general, and before specific Evaluation Committees, following the common procedures of the University of Granada and the research line in which the work is enrolled.

• Since the doctoral program is of a presential nature, all first-year students who do not reside at any of the program's sites must undertake a supervised academic stay, MANDATORY, of at least three months at the UGR during the first academic year.

Given that there is a procedure for monitoring, control, and continuity in the program, doctoral candidates who do not comply with it will cease to belong to the program, will not be able to renew their enrollment in the program, and their work plans in progress will no longer be counted. In such cases, it will be justified whether such non-compliance is due to the doctoral candidate or to a lack of rigor in the selection and direction of work.

It is a condition for presenting and defending a doctoral thesis to have an article derived from it “published” or “accepted for publication with explicit mention of the number and date of publication” in an impact journal. These articles must be generated and published during the period of the doctoral thesis (in any of its phases).

The accepted journals must therefore meet one of the following requirements to be evaluated in the Education Sciences program B22.56.1 (RD.99/2011):

• Being indexed in the Social Science Citation Index, Science Citation Index, or Arts and Humanities Citation Index with an impact factor in JCR.

• Being indexed in Scopus and with an impact factor in SCImago Journal Rank (SJR)

For theses in the form of article compilations, the criteria of the University of Granada apply. At least three of the articles must fall within the top TWO categories. It is essential to understand that it is not just a sum of articles; they must be integrated into a comprehensive vision, perfectly articulated and with a clear cross-cutting reading.

It is a condition for presenting and defending a doctoral thesis to have an article derived from it “published” or “accepted for publication with explicit mention of the number and date of publication” in an impact journal. These articles must be generated and published during the period of the doctoral thesis, and not published before the approval of the Research Plan. The accepted journals must therefore meet one of the following requirements to be evaluated in the Education Sciences program B22.56.1 (RD.99/2011):

Being indexed in the Social Science Citation Index, Science Citation Index, or Arts and Humanities Citation Index with an impact factor in JCR. Being indexed in Scopus and with an impact factor in SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) in quartile Q1 or Q2.

For theses in the form of article compilations, the criteria of the University of Granada apply. At least three of the articles must fall within these categories. It is essential to understand that it is not just a sum of articles; they must be integrated into a comprehensive vision, perfectly articulated, and with a clear cross-cutting reading. It must be clearly identified that the content of each of these three articles corresponds to at least one of the objectives stated in the research plan approved by the Doctoral Program.

• The Doctoral Program's CAD in its regular sessions will approve, if applicable, and inform the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Law Doctoral School Committee of those requests (Doctoral Theses, mobilities, modifications of research and investigation projects, incorporation of faculty, and others) that are also informed by their corresponding line coordinators to which the student or professor making the request belongs.

• When it comes to a Doctoral Thesis from the programs regulated by RD1393/2007 and RD99/2011, it will be the CAD that approves it, if applicable, and informs the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Law Doctoral School Committee. For this, the thesis must be officially deposited the week before the CAD meeting, and the documents must be correctly digitized and sent by the International Postgraduate School to the digital portal at least two days before the CAD. The CAD secretary will communicate to the commission members where they can consult them well in advance. Along with the relevant documentation, the director will send the plagiarism program report to the line coordinator to be presented to the CAD when reporting on the thesis.

• Requests for the incorporation of faculty into the program must be addressed to the International Postgraduate School and comply with the conditions set out in art.5 of the REGULATORY NORMS OF OFFICIAL DOCTORATE TEACHING AND THE DOCTORAL DEGREE BY THE UNIVERSITY OF GRANADA (October 30, 2013). Requests for the incorporation of external collaborating professors will be submitted by the line coordinator to which the thesis for which their incorporation as director or co-director is requested will be assigned. External collaborating professors performing supervisory duties are required to be informed of the rules and procedures and to comply with them and ensure compliance by their doctoral candidates.

• The line coordinator will ensure compliance with the provisions of this protocol.

• All administrative procedures will be processed at the International Doctoral School. Documentation will be submitted through the requests tab of the identified access tracking portal, personally in it, in the computer applications enabled ( doctoral enrollment application) or by email to epdoctorado@ugr.es.

• Any document that does not follow this standardized procedure is considered not received or processed. It is the responsibility of the doctoral candidate and their supervisor/tutor to bear the consequences of this error.

• CAD members and program coordination do not collect, process, or take responsibility for any procedure, process, or document that does not reach them through official channels (from the International Doctoral School) via the Documenta application or Doctorate Portal of the identified access.

• The Doctoral School of Humanities and Social Sciences and Law meets once a month, and all matters must be processed therein. For this purpose, any document, report, or procedure must be submitted to the International Doctoral School and duly endorsed by the program's CAD with sufficient advance before the Commission meets.

• The program's CAD will meet once a month, eight natural days before the Doctoral School Commission, to manage the entire program.

• Check the meeting schedule of the Doctoral School Committee of Humanities and Social Sciences and Law of the UGR.

• All documentation and procedures to be addressed in CAD sessions must be reviewed and endorsed in advance by the respective research lines. To this end, the International Doctoral School must provide the program and the CAD with an electronic copy of the documentation it has previously registered. In practice, this means that all procedures and documentation must be submitted to the International Doctoral School at least one week before the CAD meeting.

• It is recommended to have a good understanding of administrative procedures and deadlines to avoid surprises.

• The program's CAD must review and approve all documents, procedures, and circumstances of the thesis to issue the relevant reports or signatures, which are essential for submission to the Doctoral School Commission for final approval.

It is important to remember the normal operating deadlines here and that from the final approval and communication from the Doctoral School, at least fifteen days must pass. It is recommended to have everything duly finished and submitted with the certainty that it is in time and form to be defended on the expected dates.

• Documentation must be properly completed (complete, documented, justified, endorsed by the research line, and signed by the doctoral candidate and their supervisor) to be reviewed and processed by the CAD. If not, it will be returned and not processed, with the responsibility falling on the doctoral candidate and their supervisor.

• Documents for the reading and defense of the doctoral thesis. See the following web link: http://escuelaposgrado.ugr.es/doctorado/tramites_administrativos_alumnos_doctorado/impresos

• To obtain a positive evaluation of the thesis by the CAD, it must be publicly defended, before it or before the Commission delegated this function.

• Remember that it is an essential requirement to publish an article, or have it accepted, in an impact journal (properly justified), and this takes time (several months). It is not recommended to leave it until the last minute.

The International Doctoral School of the University of Granada, and consequently the doctoral program, has adopted a Code of Good Practices for the Supervision of Doctoral Theses. This document outlines commitments, clarifies expectations, and defines the responsibilities of the parties directly involved in the research, namely, the doctoral students, supervisors, tutors, and the doctoral program, in supervising the thesis and monitoring the doctoral candidates. This document is available on the program's website and serves as a complement to regulations, procedures, and/or protocols already published elsewhere by the University of Granada.

The code of good practices adopted by the School, which all members must subscribe to, especially for the supervision of doctoral theses, is available at: http://escuelaposgrado.ugr.es/doctorado/consejo_asesor_doctorado/codigodebuenaspracticasparaladirecciondetesis

Regarding the doctoral program, the protocol for thesis supervision is as follows:

• The candidate for admission to the program submits their application and all arguments that may strengthen their request for admission.

• This application is forwarded to the research line in which they wish to work.

• The Research Team of the Research Line, in accordance with its selection and admission protocols, evaluates the proposal and accepts or rejects the work proposal. This must be defended by the candidate or, failing that, by their thesis director.

• For the acceptance and assignment of the thesis director, the following will be taken into account: 1) the regulation on doctoral thesis supervision at the University of Granada; 2) the criteria of good practices in thesis supervision; 3) guidelines from the International Doctoral School - if any - on promoting thesis supervision or the number of theses to supervise; and 4) - very particularly - the potential of the research teams, groups, and lines. Inbreeding and monopolization of supervisions will be avoided.

• Following the goals of openness, internationalization, and quality committed by the program, the possibility of cotutelles (international) and co-supervisions (when academically justified) will be promoted and encouraged.

• Once accepted, a work plan/thesis project is developed, which, as proof of co-responsibility commitment, is signed by the thesis director(s) and the doctoral candidate.

• Once accepted, a training plan or training contract is developed, which, as proof of co-responsibility commitment, is signed by the tutor and the doctoral candidate.

• The work plan must be approved by the Research Line - initially - and the Academic Committee of the program - subsequently - and - finally by the Advisory Board of the doctoral program of the International Doctoral School (or the corresponding Doctoral School once institutionalized and in operation).

• The training plan is subject to constant review by the Thesis Director, in accordance with the program's good practices in thesis supervision, and undergoes a monitoring procedure. Progress must be periodically reported to the Academic Committee, during the Doctoral Sessions, and must be duly accredited with the tasks, activities, and competencies acquired under the tutor's supervision.

• Actions such as mobility, stays in institutions, research groups, and projects that contribute to doctoral training and -fundamentally- to the quality of ongoing theses will be promoted and supported. The program's collaboration network and those of research groups, lines, and teams will be used for this purpose.

• A series of training activities must be completed to successfully complete the thesis, including the requirement of at least one scientific publication in an indexed journal, valid for obtaining a CNEAI six-year period in the knowledge area.

• The thesis project must be defended before the research line and assessed by the same. In addition to meeting the normal requirements demanded by the University of Granada, it must cover the training plan and guarantee the achievement of the specific competencies to obtain the doctoral degree specified in the program.

• Once all these stages have been completed, the Academic Committee of the program will issue a positive report so that the thesis can proceed to reading and defense.

• To issue this opinion, the Academic Committee may request a report from one or more external or international experts. Obviously, in cases of doctorates with international mention, this is an essential requirement.

• The Academic Committee will appoint those responsible for evaluating the doctoral thesis work and verify that these evaluations have been carried out.

• Once the thesis work has been defended, the director of the thesis commits to monitoring the graduated student, both in their job placement and in the publications, contracts, and research projects resulting from the thesis.

Furthermore, the Academic Committee of the program will establish a procedure for globally monitoring the set of theses in the program: topics, degree of alignment with the objectives and research projects of the lines to which they belong, supervision, degree of internationalization, results obtained (grade, mentions, awards, derivative publications), etc. In this evaluation, the participation and collaboration of national and international experts from outside the program will be requested.