Monitoring

Research plan - Document of activities (DAD) - Report of Activities of the doctoral student (IAD) - Training activities - Courses - Mobility - Technical reports - Congresses - Journal article - Patent - Presentation - Outreach session - Others - Summary

As it is stated  by Royal Decree 99/2011, January 28 of 2011, one of the novelties of the new doctoral programs is PhD monitoring and supervision through an annual evaluation of the Research plan and the Document of activities of the doctoral student (DAD).

The Academic commission of the doctoral program is responsible for evaluating the doctoral student’s progress depending on the specific and transversal skills related to the doctoral program. The aim of this monitoring is to ensure the quality and progress of the research activity of the PhD student and the correspondent doctoral thesis. To carry out this process, the Academic Committee will evaluate the following documents:

a) Research plan

b) Document of Activities of the Doctoral student (DAD)

c) Report of Activities of the Doctoral student (IAD) containing the thesis supervisor reports, the tutor reports and those reports related to the oral defense annually done by the PhD student explaining the state of the Research plan.

Research plan

During the first year, from the time of enrollment in the doctoral program, the student must draw up a research plan. This plan must include a definition of the subject of the doctoral thesis, the methodology that will be used, and the target objectives, as well as the means and time frame necessary to meet these objectives.

If the research plan receives a negative assessment from the academic committee responsible for the program, the PhD candidate will have to draw up a new plan which will be evaluated again after a further six months. If there is a second negative evaluation, the student will no longer be able to continue on the program.

The Research Plan document should contain:

a)     State of the art of the thesis topic

b)    Working methodology

c)     Thesis objectives

d)    Necessary resources to achieve the objectives and a brief explanation about how they can be acquired

e)     Timeline of the working plan as well as the publications on journals

f)     Eventually, a research stay abroad plan

g)    Bibliography

The Academic Commission will annually evaluate this Research Plan and a report will be included in the doctoral student’s IAD document.

Document of activities (DAD)

Once enrolled in the program, each student will have a personalized Document of Activities (DAD) which is a document training log and will serve as an individualized control record. This document will include all the activities of interest for the progress of the PhD as laid down by the Doctoral Program Academic Committee.

The Document of Activities will be regulated as follows:

1. It will be located in a virtual platform to which the Academic Commission members can access, the PhD supervisor, the tutor, the academic secretary and the PhD student.
2. It is mandatory for the PhD student to keep the DAD document updated. This document is an important tool in the evaluation process of the doctoral student and so it will be periodically evaluated by the supervisor and the Academic Committee.
3. In general, the DAD should include information related to:

a)     Participation in transversal training activities

b)    Courses and seminars attended

c)     Participation in conferences and other research meetings

d)    Organization of R+D+ i activities (congresses, meetings, seminars)

e)     Other oral presentations

f)     Research publications (articles, books, chapters, etc)

g)    Teaching tasks undertaken

h)     Other publications (dossiers, reviews, notes, etc)

i)      Patents

j)      Placements at universities, research centers or companies and organizations

k)     Others

The personalized document of activities will be regularly checked by the tutor and thesis supervisor and be assessed annually by the Doctoral Program Academic Committee. A positive evaluation will be indispensable in order to continue on the Doctoral Program.

Report of Activities of the doctoral student (IAD)

In accordance with Royal Decree 99/2011, 28th of January of 2011, article 11.7 and, in accordance with the General Rules of PhD Organization of the University Ramon Llull, the Academic Commission will annually evaluate the Research Plan, the Document of Activities and the different reports signed by the correspondent tutor and thesis supervisor. A report by the Academic Commission explaining the PhD student progress and validating the permanency of the student in the PhD program will be annually made. This is the Report of Activities of the doctoral student (IAD), an annual report about the progress of the Doctoral Thesis and the most significant results produced until that time.

There will be an annual PhD Day where PhD students will have to formally present the progress of their research to a panel. Each student will have to present the current phase and the progress of his research plan. Furthermore, all the activities recorded in the DAD must be justified.

The dissertation committee will consist of three members including the thesis supervisor. Whenever possible, one of the panel members will be an external lecturer. A report about the oral defense and the correspondent comments of the thesis supervised will be included into the IAD. This report must contain:

a)     Positive or negative evaluation of the Research plan

b)    Positive or negative evaluation of the DAD

c)     Comments on the PhD student progress

d)    Comments and general evaluation of the PhD student work done by the thesis supervisor or the tutor

In exceptional cases where the oral PhD day presentation coincides with research stays abroad, the Academic Commission may authorize include other ways to evaluate the PhD student progress.

Training activities

Throughout the PhD program the student will have to take part in a variety of training activities, which should be authorized by the supervisor/tutor. The organization of these activities will be assessed in the seminar activities, courses, workshops, etc. The different transversal skills will be evaluated via congresses and seminars. In this doctoral program it is mandatory for the PhD student in order to defend the doctoral thesis to fulfill the following requirements:

1. a research stay abroad
2. an international congress
3. a published article in international indexed journals

Courses

Courses about the following topics:

1. Writing scientific papers
2. Presentations
3. Entrepreneurship
4. Outreach.
5. Research quality
6. Career development

The courses of this list are practical and procedural. Courses must be included in the DAD document once the tutor has made a proposal to the Academic Commission including motivation, the course topic and the final assessment of the course. The Academic Commission must validate the inclusion of the course as a training activity in the DAD document.

The courses will be taught by lecturers who may be chosen as thesis supervisors. Students must  complete the necessary bridging courses or the full study load of the training stage lasting the first year plus the first semester of the second one.

Mobility

It is of particular importance in the training of researchers that they spend periods of time at research centers. Students will be encouraged and assisted as far as possible to spend periods at national and international research centers as an aid to writing the doctoral thesis. These stays abroad must be included into the research plan and are a requisite in order to defense the thesis.

The PhD student must write a work plan before the research stay and a work report once the research stay is over. These reports must be validated by the thesis supervisor and should be included into the DAD document.

Technical reports

It consists of writing a technical report about a topic related to the thesis. It should be included in the research plan and IADs. In order to be considered as a training activity, the technical report should be written by the PhD student. Furthermore, it must be validated by the thesis director in order to include it in the DAD document.

Congresses

This is one of the most important training activities. The contribution to a congress, preferably an international one, allows the PhD student to acquire many of the scientific competencies necessary to become a doctor. This activity should be included into the research plan, the IADs and it is a requisite in order to defense the thesis. To be included as a training activity in the DAD document, the congress contribution should be related with the thesis topic and should be validated by the thesis supervisor.

Journal article

Publishing a high factor index journal article and/or peer review journals is one of the most important activities a PhD student should do. It allows the student to develop many of the competencies that a doctor should have. It should be included in the research plan and in the IAD document. To be included as a training activity in the DAD document, the journal article should be mainly written by the PhD student. The contribution should be related with the thesis topic and should be validated by the thesis supervisor. Of course, the article must have been accepted by the journal editor or accepted with “minor revisions”.

Patent

Patent filing is a very important activity especially in the technical areas.  It should be included in the research plan and the IAD document. To be included as a training activity in the DAD document, the PhD student should have done part of the content and writing of the filed patent.  It should be related with the thesis topic and should be validated by the thesis supervisor after receiving the report of patent filing.

Presentation

Scientific presentations addressed to an expert public are one of the traditional elements of the scientific world. It will help students learn how to transmit the knowledge generated to the scientific community. To be included as a training activity in the DAD document, this activity should be related with the thesis topic and should be validated by the thesis supervisor.

Outreach session

Attending outreach sessions is one of the basic abilities of the modern scientists. The PhD student will be able to attend conferences, seminars and other scientific meetings within his or her area of specialization, which will be considered as training activities with the consent of the tutor. Attendance at such meetings allows students to associate with researchers, to learn about new research and become familiar with certain forms of scientific communication (presentation of papers, posters, etc). To be included as a training activity in the DAD document, this activity should be related with the thesis topic and should be validated by the thesis supervisor.

Others

The scientific training may have many complementary aspects. This section pretends to be an open door in order to include different activities into the DAD document depending on the thesis topic and the thesis supervisor. The activity should be described and justified in order to be evaluated and controlled.

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