thesis-advisor-supervisor-assignment-procedure

Procedure for assigning dissertation supervisors and doctoral advisers

After the admissions process, the Doctoral Programme Academic Commission - CAPD - will assign a Doctoral Adviser to every student. The doctoral adviser will be a PhD holder affiliated with the doctorate programme who has accredited research experience. The assignment must be accepted by both parties (doctorate student and adviser). If there is no agreement and the PhD student does not have a preference the CAPD will decide which professor will be the adviser in the most productive and effective way for the student.

The dissertation Supervisor is an essential role for overseeing the progress of PhD students. For that reason, the choice of supervisor is made by the CAPD after listening to the student and in accordance with their preferences and depending on the availability of the researcher who might be the supervisor. The CAPD will thus assign a dissertation supervisor and, as may apply, a co-supervisor within a maximum of three months after enrolment (1st year). The supervisor may or may not be the same person as the adviser and they will be any Spanish or foreign PhD holder who has completed six year research projects or has accredited research experience.

For a dissertation supervisor or, as may apply, co-supervisor assignment, it must initially be accepted by all parties (student, supervisor and co-supervisor). If there is not agreement or the student has no preference the CAPD will decide which professor from the programme will be the supervisor, after analysing all the conditions of each situation.

The dissertation may be co-supervised by other PhD holders for academic reasons, for example interdisciplinary themes or programmes with domestic or international collaboration. Accredited research experience is required to co-supervise a doctoral dissertation.

PhD students may request to change their supervisor or co-supervisor during the process of writing their dissertation if there are justified reasons. The request must be presented by the PhD student to the doctorate programme coordinator, who will transfer it to the Academic Commission to make a decision.

All the documentation needed for writing a doctoral dissertation, as well as a best practices guide for doctoral dissertation supervisors, is available to dissertation supervisors on the Mudle platform to provide support.