PhD IN
BIOTECHNOLOGY, MEDICINE AND BIOSANITARY SCIENCES
REGULATIONS AND PROCEDURES:
- Academic Tutor
Each student admitted to a PhD program will be assigned an Academic Tutor by the Academic Committee. The tutor must be a PhD professor with accredited research experience, linked to the Unit or 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 be the same as the thesis supervisor.
- Thesis Director
The Academic Committee of each PhD program will assign to each PhD student, within a maximum period of six months from enrollment, a PhD thesis supervisor, who may or may not be the same as the tutor. The supervisor will be a professor with accredited research experience who will accompany and assist the PhD student in his/her research and in the preparation of the PhD thesis.
- Research Plan and Document of Activities of the PhD Student
The PhD student must submit an annual Research Plan on the platform provided by the University for this purpose, with the approval of the tutor and director for evaluation by the Academic Committee. In each academic year there will be two calls for submission, the ordinary call for applications in April, and the extraordinary call for applications in September.
The Research Plan will state the thesis to be studied, 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 in the Regulations of the PhD Program.
The PhD student must submit through the platform enabled by the University for this purpose the evidence of the training activities carried out during the course with the approval of the tutor and director for presentation and evaluation by the Academic Committee
- Thesis Submission
The PhD thesis will consist of an original research work on a subject related to the scientific or technical field of the PhD program carried out by the PhD student. The PhD thesis will be written and defended in Spanish or in another language of international scientific diffusion if accepted by the Academic Committee of the PhD program.
In certain cases, the Steering Committee of the EIDUFV, at the proposal of the Academic Committee, may authorize the presentation of a thesis for a compendium of publications.
The requirements, structure and procedure to be fulfilled in this modality, as well as for the application for submission of the thesis, admission, deposit and registration, are detailed in the Regulations of the PhD Program. The reading of the PhD thesis must be requested to the Academic Committee of the program, by submitting three copies of the work, in a non-final version.
This submission must be accompanied by the favorable report of the director for its reading. Once this procedure has been completed, the Academic Committee will appoint an internal and an external evaluator who will issue a report to the UFV within one month. With this documentation, the Academic Committee will decide whether or not to proceed with the deposit of the Thesis, or will request, if necessary, the appropriate modifications. If the latter is done, afterwards, the Academic Committee will re-evaluate the thesis and if it is approved, the thesis deposit will be authorized. If the latter is denied, the PhD student may file a written statement of allegations before the EDIUFV Steering Committee within one month.
The written statement of allegations must be addressed to the Director of the EDIUFV. The thesis is deposited by delivering eight copies to the UFV registry, duly bound and paginated according to the characteristics established in the “Regulations for PhD studies” (art. 22)
- Required Publications
The Academic Committee will take into accountmthat the PhD student documents the dissemination of part of the work through the publication, or acceptance for publication, of an original article of the work in scientific journals of impact in the area in question (JCR, SJR, preferably in Q1 or Q2) or the presentation of a patent, dated after the first enrollment in the PhD program. In these publications the PhD student must appear as first or last author.
- Thesis Defense and Reading
The examining board for the PhD thesis is appointed by the Steering Committee of the EIDUFV, after hearing the thesis supervisor and the academic committee of the PhD program. The examining board is made up of three full members and two alternates who meet the academic conditions required by law; each of the full members is sent a copy of the thesis and a document of the PhD candidate’s activities.
The President of the examining board then convenes the thesis defense ceremony, which the secretary informs the EIDUFV secretariat at least 20 days before the chosen date, and which is a public ceremony during the academic term. The defense of the thesis will take place at the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, although in the case of interuniversity programs or thesis co-supervision agreements, it may be defended at any of the related universities according to what is established in the collaboration agreement.
The examining board, after confidential deliberation, will issue a report and the grade awarded to the thesis, which may be: “Fail”, “Passed”, “Remarkable” or “Outstanding”. In addition, the examining board may propose that the thesis be awarded a “Cum Laude” mention, by means of a personal and secret vote of each member of the examining board. Finally, at the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, the EIDUFV Steering Committee may annually award an Extraordinary Prize to the best PhD Thesis that has been defended in the previous academic year from among those that obtained the highest grade.
Once the thesis has been approved, the EIDUFV secretariat will send the copy of the thesis in its possession and an electronic copy of the thesis to the University Library for consultation. The other copy of the thesis will be filed in the Student Secretary’s Office together with the PhD student’s file.
Successful completion of the studies provided for in these regulations will lead to the award of the title of PhD by the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, in accordance with the provisions of the regulations for the issuance of degrees and the Regulations of this PhD Program.