Resolution of the Board of Governors of 13 july, 2011 and modified by resolution of the Board of Governors dated 20 march, 2013, 19 february 2020 and 21 february, 2024 

Organic Law 6/2001 of 21 December, concerning universities, in its new wording as contained in Organic Law 4/2007 of 12 April, defines the structure of university education as having three cycles: degree courses, master's degree courses and doctorate courses. Doctoral studies, which are in the third cycle, lead to an official qualification of doctor, which is valid throughout Spain.

Royal Decree 99/2011 of 28 January, which regulates official doctorate courses, is based on the fact that the development of the third cycle within the construction of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) must take into account the new conditions of the revised Lisbon Agenda and the construction of the European Research Area (ERA) and its objectives as set out in the 2007 Green Paper, under the terms of which doctorates play a key role as an intersection between the EHEA and the ERA, the two basic pillars of the knowledge-based society.

Royal Decree 99/2011 stipulates that universities can create doctoral schools in accordance with the provisions of the applicable university legislation, in order to organize doctorate courses and activities within their administrative field. Law 14/2011 of 1 June, concerning Science, Technology and Innovation, amending, inter alia, Articles 7 and 8 of the LOU to include doctoral schools among the units at a University and to define them as units that have the primary objective of organizing the doctorates in one or more knowledge areas, or those of an interdisciplinary nature, within their administrative sphere.

According to Article 158.3 of the Regulations of Pompeu Fabra University, the proposal, responsibility and academic coordination of doctoral studies falls to the academic structures or units determined by the University.

As part of the implementation of the aforementioned article 158 of the Statutes, for the purposes of regulating the framework for the creation of the Pompeu Fabra University Doctoral School, and in view of articles 11 and 31 of the Statutes that establish the requirements for the creation of teaching structures,

The Board of Governors agrees:

 

First. The establishment procedure for the Doctoral School

1. The proposal, modification, abolition and naming of the UPF Doctoral School and the programming and implementation of doctoral programmes is the responsibility of the Board of Governors, subject to a favourable report from the Board of Trustees.

2. The procedure for the creation, modification, abolition and change of name will take place in accordance with the provisions of Article 11 and 31 of the Statutes of Pompeu Fabra University, and the procedure established by the Government of Catalonia and Royal Decree 99/2011 of 28 January.

3. The UPF Doctoral School may be created individually by the university, or jointly with others, or in collaboration with one or more universities, public or private, Spanish or foreign, or other organizations, centres, institutions and organizations engaged in R+D activities. This collaboration will be established in an agreement.

4. The agreement creating the Doctoral School will stipulate the doctoral programmes that will initially be offered by Pompeu Fabra University based on the knowledge areas in which the UPF teaching and research staff achieve high quality and international renown.

 

Second. Competences of the Doctoral School

1. The creation of the University Pompeu Fabra Doctoral School involves an academic unit assuming responsibility for the organization of doctoral courses and activities within its administrative sphere. The School may also undertake complementary third cycle academic activities in order to achieve its objectives.

2. The UPF Doctoral School may teach inter-university doctorate programmes. Its organization and operations will be established by the participating universities by means of an agreement.

 

Third. Purpose of the Doctoral School

The Doctoral School must have a sufficient critical mass of doctor lecturers and doctoral students in the University's knowledge areas and must ensure their leadership in their field.

Moreover, the Doctoral School must ensure that after they have completed their training at UPF, and in addition to the competences of each doctorate programme and any others that may be stipulated by the competent bodies, doctoral students are able to conceive, design and carry out high-quality original research projects within their knowledge areas. These projects must be internationally competitive and their results must be disclosed and transferred to society.

 

Fourth. Functions of the Doctoral School

The Doctoral School will have the following functions:

a) To define its own research strategy in the context of the University's research strategy.

b) To propose the programming of doctorate programmes to the competent bodies of the University.

c) To organize courses and activities, as well as the academic, administrative and management processes that lead to the academic qualification of doctor.

d) To plan the range of activities inherent in the training and development of doctoral students carried out by the university's partners and promoting institutions, or with the help of external professionals, teachers and visiting researchers.

e) To organize the application, admission and registration processes in the Doctoral School's doctorate programmes in accordance with the regulations on the doctorate approved by the Board of Governors.

f) To co-ordinate the activities of teaching staff in doctorate programmes and the school's other academic activities.

g) To appoint doctoral thesis boards, subject to the proposal of thesis supervisors.

h) To establish additional requirements for thesis supervisors where necessary.

i) To adopt a code of practice to be signed by all members of the School.

j) To supervise the mechanisms for assessment and monitoring of the doctoral students stipulated by law.

k) To inform departments on the needs and characteristics of teaching staff required in doctorate programmes.

l) To inform the competent authorities of the University regarding needs for Administrative and Service Staff and their training needs.

m) To foster activities promoting doctorate programmes, including information on career opportunities, especially in the field of research and industry, and to participate therein, and to promote collaboration agreements with other institutions.

n) To participate in the assessment, accreditation and certification activities of the centre and the academic and administration staff and affiliated services.

o) To track the employability of doctors by means of the university's mechanisms.

p) To administer its budget.

q) Any others assigned to it by university legislation or UPF regulations or the decisions of its governing bodies.

r) To undertake the homologation and validation of official foreign postgraduate degrees and studies

Fifth. Structure of the Doctoral School

1. The structure of the Doctoral School consists of its director and the Steering Committee.

2. The Doctoral School consists of the doctoral programmes approved by the governing bodies within the university planning, each of which has a coordinator and an academic committee.

Modified by agreement of the board of governors of 21 february 2024

Sixth. The director of the Doctoral School

1. The director is appointed by the Rector for a period of three years, renewable for two further periods of the same duration, from among prestigious researchers at the university or promoting institutions. This prestige must be supported by proof of possession of at least three periods of research activity as recognized by the provisions of the applicable legislation. In the event that the researcher holds a post to which the aforementioned evaluation criterion is not applicable, he/she must provide proof of merits equivalent to those mentioned, which will be established by the Research Committee.

The post of Director of the Doctoral School is equivalent to the director of a department.

2. The duties of the Director of the Doctoral School are:

a) The day-to-day management and running of the School, and its representation.

b) Convening and chairing the School's Steering Committee and executing and enforcing its agreements

c) Ensuring that the School's strategic objectives are met.

d) Producing the School's annual plan of activities and its annual report, to be approved by the Steering Committee.

e) Coordinating the activities undertaken by doctorate teaching staff and coordinators of doctoral programmes, tutors and thesis supervisors.

f) Reporting the needs of academic and administrative and services staff.

g) The functional management of the administration and service staff attached to the School.

h) Any others attributed to it by general legislation or UPF regulations or the Regulations of the School.

 

Seventh. The Steering Committee

1. The Steering Committee is composed of the director of the School, who chairs it; the coordinators of the doctoral programmes; two representatives of UPF Group research or external research bodies that are part of the School, and a representative of the doctoral students, chosen by and from among the student delegates of the UPF doctoral programmes.

2. The Steering Committee will be responsible for the organization and management of the Doctoral School and the competences set out in this agreement, and those assigned to it by the School regulations.

Modified by agreement of the board of governors of 21 february 2024

Eighth. The Advisory Council

Deleted by agreement of the board of governors of 21 february 2024

Ninth. The doctoral programme coordinator

1. Each Doctoral Programme has a programme coordinator appointed by the rector, on the proposal of the director of the department in the doctoral programmes' knowledge area, from among leading researchers with relevant experience of at least two doctoral theses and the certified possession at least two periods of research recognized by the applicable legislation. In the event that the researcher holds a post to which the aforementioned evaluation criterion is not applicable, he/she must provide proof of merits equivalent to those mentioned, which will be established by the Research Committee.

The post of coordinator will be equivalent to that of department sub-director.

2. The duties of the doctoral programme coordinator are as follows:

a) To ensure academic coordination of the doctoral programme.

b) To propose amendments to the doctoral programme.

c) To propose the number of places.

d) To propose specific admission criteria.

e) To propose the allocation of teaching in a doctoral programme to the appropriate departmental body.

f) To collaborate in the production of a doctoral programme verification report, and the programme's evaluation and accreditation reports.

g) To propose collaboration agreements with another institutions.

h) To collaborate with university services in the dissemination of the programme, academic management processes, attracting external funding and similar tasks.

i)  Any others attributed to it by general legislation or UPF regulations or the Regulations of the School.

 

Tenth. The doctoral programme academic committee

1. Each Doctoral Programme has an academic committee responsible for the definition, updating, quality and coordination of the doctoral programme and the progress and training of each doctoral student, as well as the other tasks set forth in this article.

2. The academic committee of each doctoral programme is appointed by the rector and consists of UPF doctors. Other members may include researchers at public research organizations, other Spanish and international R+D+i organizations and institutions involved in the research in the doctoral programme.

3.  Each academic committee will consist of the doctoral programme coordinator, who will chair it, the co-ordinators of the university master's degrees in the departments and other doctors up to a maximum of eight, proposed by the director of the department based on the knowledge area of the doctoral programme or that of the institutions referred to in the previous section. There must be at least one representative from the UPF university research institutes according to the research lines of doctoral programme among those appointed on the proposal of the department. The secretary will be the youngest of the doctors in the committee, unless it has designated another secretary from among its members.

4. The tasks of the doctorate programme academic committees are as follows:

a) To define, update and ensure the quality and coordination of the doctoral programme.

b) To organize, design and coordinate each doctoral programme.

c) To establish the supervision system for doctoral students and the tutorial programme.

d) To provide the necessary support for the production of the personalised document of activities for the doctoral student.

e) To establish the additional requirements and criteria for admission of students to a specific doctoral programme.

f) To appoint or change a tutor for each doctoral student.

g) To appoint or change the thesis supervisor.

h) To authorize or revoke joint supervision of a thesis.

i)  To authorize or revoke co-tutoring of a thesis.

j)  To authorize external stages by doctoral students.

k) To authorize the submission of theses by each doctoral student.

l)  To authorize part-time doctoral studies.

m) To authorize extensions of deadlines for submission of the thesis.

n) To decide on a doctoral student's temporary leave.

o) To determine the exceptional cases in which some aspects of the thesis will not be publicized.

p) To evaluate the doctoral student's document of activities and the reports by the thesis supervisor and tutor every year.

q) To evaluate the doctoral student's research plan and the reports by the thesis supervisor and tutor every year.

r) Any others attributed to it by general legislation or UPF regulations or the Regulations of the School.

 

Eleventh. Doctoral School Teaching staff

1. The Doctoral School must have a sufficient number of doctor lecturers. They must be doctor lecturers from UPF departments or research institutions that are part of the Doctoral School who meet the requirements to supervise doctoral theses or to be tutors, in accordance with the UPF doctorate regulations. The task of tutoring doctoral students and supervision of the doctoral thesis is recognized as part of the teaching staff's teaching and research work.

2. The teaching staff on a doctoral programme must hold a doctorate, without prejudice to the possible collaboration in certain specific activities of other individuals or professionals by virtue of their relevant qualifications in the area of knowledge concerned.

3. The thesis tutor must be a doctor with accredited research experience related to the Doctoral School. The tasks of the thesis tutor are as follows:

a) To be responsible for the appropriate nature of the training and research activities at the beginning of the programme and the Doctoral School.

b) To ensure the doctoral student's interaction with the programme's academic committee.

c) To review the doctoral student's document of activities.

d) To endorse the doctoral student's research plan.

e) Any other rules that may be established by the Doctoral School or the regulations in force.

4. The thesis supervisor will be appointed from among the Spanish and foreign doctors with proven research experience, regardless of the university, centre or institution where they work. The doctor who has acted as tutor for the thesis may be designated thesis supervisor. The thesis supervisor has the following duties:

a) To be responsible for guiding the overall research work by the doctoral student.

b) To be responsible for the consistency and appropriateness of the training activities, impact and originality in the subject field of the doctoral thesis and guidance on its planning and adaptation, where appropriate, to the other projects and activities in which the doctoral student is enrolled.

c) To review the doctoral student's document of activities.

d) To endorse the doctoral student's research plan.

e) To endorse the doctoral student's external stage.

f) Any other rules that may be established by the Doctoral School or the regulations in force.

 

Twelfth. The regulations of the Doctoral School

The UPF Doctoral School must have regulations, approved by the Board of Governors, which establish the principles of the School, the rights and obligations of doctoral students under the University Student Statute, the roles of thesis tutors and supervisors and the organization and operations of the School's bodies and doctoral programmes.

 

First additional provision. Suppression of Postgraduate Official Programme (POP) committees

The constitution of the Doctoral School's bodies will lead to the abolition of the Doctoral Programme Committees established by the Agreement of the Board of Governors of 29 March 2006, amended by the agreement of 2 May 2007. In their respective regulations, the Department will establish the organisation of the university master's degree, and the coordination, where appropriate, with the University's university research institutes.

 

Second additional provision. Material and human resources

The Doctoral School must have the material and human resources necessary to carry out its functions.

 

Final provision. This agreement shall enter into force on the day after its approval.