Special Mentions

Internacional Mention in the Doctoral Diploma

The doctoral diploma may include the mention of an international doctorate on the obverse, provided that the following circumstances concur:

  1. That during the stage of completion of the thesis the doctoral student had a minimum stay of three months outside of Spain in a prestigious higher education institution or research center, studying or carrying out research work. The stay and activities must be evaluated by the supervisor and authorized by the CAPD, and will be incorporated into the document of activities of the doctoral student. The minimum duration of the computable periods for the stay will be four weeks when the enrollment in this period is full-time or two weeks when it is part-time. In no case may the total stay of three months be broken down into more than five separate periods.
  2. That part of the PhD dissertation (at least the introduction, the summary and the conclusions) be written and presented and defended in public exhibition in one of the usual languages for scientific communication in their field of knowledge, different from any of the languages officials in Spain. This rule will not apply when the stays, reports and experts come from a Spanish-speaking country.
  3. That the PhD dissertation were reported by a minimum of two experts doctors belonging to a non-Spanish higher education institution or research institute that does not coincide with the institution where the stay was carried out.
  4. That at least one expert belonging to a non-Spanish higher education institution or research center, with a doctorate degree, and other than the two experts referred to in section c), is part of the evaluation board of the thesis. The person responsible for the stay mentioned in section a) may not be part of the court. The panel will be made up of a majority of members from outside the universities participating in the program, the co-authors of the publications literally included in the PhD dissertation and the institutions where the stay (s) had been carried out.
  5. That the public defense of the PhD dissertation be carried out at the Spanish university in which the doctoral student is enrolled or, in the case of joint doctoral programs or joint-supervised thesis, at any of the participating universities or under the terms indicated by the collaboration agreements.
  6. That the stay mentioned in section a) constitutes an authentic mobility action for the doctoral student, towards a country different from the one in which he/she has or had had his/her habitual residence and different from the one in whichhe/she had developed their academic training prior to the doctorate. The CAPD must send to the body designated by the doctoral school the supporting documentation of the stay, its authorization to carry it out and the reports of the two external experts, along with the rest of the documentation, so that it can authorize public defense of the PhD dissertation.

THESIS UNDER INTERNATIONAL JOINT SUPERVISION REGIME

The doctoral diploma may include on its obverse the diligence “Thesis under joint supervision”, provided that the following circumstances concur:

  1. That the doctoral thesis is supervised by two or more doctors from two universities, one Spanish and one foreign, who will formalize a co-supervision agreement.
  2. That during the period of training necessary to obtain the doctoral diploma, the PhD student develops a minimum stay of six months in the institution with which the co-supervision agreement is established, doing research work in a single period or in various. The stays and activities will be reflected in the co-supervision agreement.

The laws in force for doctoral topics existing in each country will be respected.

A framework agreement will be signed between the two interested institutions that establishes the general lines of cooperation. For each joint tutelage that is put into operation, a specific agreement based on the principle of reciprocity will be signed during the first two years of doctoral training, which will last for a maximum of three years. By virtue of the specific agreement, each institution will recognize to its researchers the tasks of supervising the thesis, regardless of the place of defense.

The candidates for the preparation of the doctorate in joint supervision will carry out their work under the control and responsibility of a thesis supervisor in each of the interested institutions.

The PhD student will enroll in each of the institutions and will comply with the training requirements of the programs of both institutions. The time for preparing the PhD dissertation will not exceed three years from the signing of the specific agreement and will be divided between the two institutions for alternative periods of stay in each of them.

The minimum length of stay in one of the two institutions will not be less than six months, and the remaining period will be completed in the other. Said stay may be carried out at one time or in several periods.

By virtue of the co-supervision agreement, and on the basis of a single defense of the PhD dissertation, each university undertakes, if so agreed, to issue its own corresponding doctoral diploma, after payment of the issuance fees, and with indication of the existence of co-supervision through the procedure provided in the regulation of each institution.

Regardless of the place of defense of the PhD dissertation, in the event that the issuance of a doctoral diploma by the University of Vigo is agreed, the PhD dissertation must request its admission to be processed by it.

The doctoral school will monitor and control the theses carried out under joint supervision, as well as the authorization for the public defense of the PhD dissertations. In the event that the defense of the PhD dissertation is not authorized by one of the two universities, the specific co-tutoring agreement will be void, which does not prevent the PhD dissertation from being processed at the university where it has been authorized.

Once the PhD dissertation is admitted for processing, the judging committee before which it must be defended will be proposed according to what has been agreed in the specific co-tutelage agreement. All the members of the judging committee will be in possession of the title of doctor and will have accredited research experience. The judging committee will be made up of a majority of members from outside the signatory universities and collaborating institutions in the doctoral program. The judging committee will be appointed by the institution where the PhD dissertation will be defended and will have the agreement of the other. This judging committee may have one or more representatives of the two institutions, including thesis supervisors if the agreement so stipulates it.

The specific joint supervision agreement will comply with current legislation on doctorates in both institutions, and will contain agreements on the following aspects:

  • Duration
  • Length of stay in each university, which will not be less than six months in any of them.
  • University where the fees will be paid in each academic year. The doctoral student will enroll in each of the institutions, but a waiver of payment may be established in one of them. In the event that the dispensation corresponds to the University of Vigo, the specific agreement will indicate the budget item in which the fee will be charged.
  • Person in charge of the supervision of the thesis in each of the universities. The requirements to exercise supervision for each supervisor will be those applicable in their institution, which may be recognized in the other by virtue of the co-supervision agreement exclusively for the thesis that is the reason for the specific agreement.
  • Language in which the PhD dissertation will be written. If this is the case, the regulations will be taken into account to obtain the international doctorate mention in the doctoral diploma.
  • Place of defense of the thesis.
  • Agreement on the issuance of the diploma (s).
  • Structure of the judging committee. Although it may have more than three members, three of them must comply with the regulations of the University of Vigo as regards the judging committees.
  • Financing of the expenses of the teaching staff that form part of the judging committee. The maximum established in the University of Vigo will be respected or the budget item in which the excess will be charged will be indicated.
  • Rules for drafting the minutes and documents related to the defense of the PhD dissertation. In the event that the qualification scales do not coincide, it will be specified how the valid qualification will be set in each of the universities. The system of concession or not of the cum laude mention will also be established, so that it is compatible with the norm of the University of Vigo.
  • Administrative aspects on communication of information and documentation that must be transferred between the signatory universities. The provisions of article 43 of the regulations for doctoral studies of the University of Vigo will be followed. The doctoral school will monitor and control the theses carried out under joint supervision and will supervise the drafting of the specific agreements.

INDUSTRIAL DOCTORATE

The mention “Industrial Doctorate” will be awarded provided that the following circumstances concur:

  1. The existence of a labor or commercial contract signed by the doctoral student with a company in the private or public sector or by a public administration. A minimum duration of eighteen months is established during the enrollment period for the duration of this contract.
  2. The doctoral student must participate in an industrial research or experimental development project carried out in the company or in the public administration in which he / she provides the service, and may not be a university. The industrial research or experimental development project in which the doctoral student participates must be directly related to the thesis. This relationship will be accredited by a report evaluated by the university through the doctoral school or the unit responsible for the doctoral program.
  3. .In the case in which the research project is carried out in collaboration between the University of Vigo and the company or the public administration in which the doctoral student provides service, or when the direction of the thesis is carried out by professors of the University de Vigo, a collaboration agreement will be signed between the parties. This agreement will indicate the obligations of both parties, the aspects related to the intellectual and industrial property of the potential results of the thesis, as well as the procedure for selecting the doctoral students, if applicable. This agreement will be processed within the first two years of doctoral training.
  4. The doctoral student will have a tutor appointed by the university and a responsible person designated by the company or public administration, who may be, where appropriate, supervisor of the thesis as long as he / she meets the requirements established by the University of Vigo.
  5. In the case of theses developed within the framework of a public or private call for funding for an industrial doctorate, they must comply with the requirements set out in said call..