The University of Barcelona (UB) shall be governed, insofar as the prevailing legal regulations permit, by the following procedures:

In order to create and develop academic co-operation between the research teams of one or more European universities and the University of Barcelona, and with the additional aim of facilitating the mobility of doctoral students, a procedure for the joint supervision of doctoral theses is hereby established.

 

The joint supervision of a thesis shall be carried out within the framework of a specific agreement between the two (or more) interested parties, and shall include the specific regulations for each doctoral student and shall be governed by the regulations providing for the joint supervision of a thesis, and the corresponding regulations of the University of Barcelona. By virtue of this agreement, each institution shall recognise the validity of the doctoral thesis defended therein and shall undertake to award the Doctorate Degree.

The prerequisites to the procedure of joint supervision are the following:

• Students in possession of a degree awarded by a foreign university or centre of studies must obtain the necessary recognition before being admitted to the doctoral program as required by the current regulations at the university or centre of studies that has awarded this degree.

• Students who come to the University of Barcelona to study a doctorate under a joint supervision agreement must satisfy the ordinary procedures for admission to a doctoral program and must demonstrate that they have adequate research skills, or the equivalent, as established by the current regulations governing doctoral studies.

• Students from a European university wishing to be accepted under a joint-supervision agreement with the UB shall undertake their doctoral studies in accordance with the regulations of the University that has awarded their degree of origin.

• By virtue of this joint-supervision agreement, the UB and the university party to this agreement shall mutually recognise the doctoral studies undertaken in both universities. Where doctoral programs are jointly organised by two or more European universities, in accordance with the joint-supervision agreement established, the studies undertaken in any of the universities that share the same doctoral program shall be recognised. Recognition of the studies completed will be the concern of the Doctoral Committee of the Governing Council.

• The Doctoral Committee of the Governing Council shall establish the criteria to be applied.  

The joint-supervision procedure must fulfil the following requisites:

1. The conditions affecting the deposit and defence of the doctoral thesis shall be the same as those regulating postgraduate study in the university in which the doctoral thesis is defended.

2. Candidates preparing a jointly supervised doctoral thesis shall undertake their work under the control and supervision of a thesis supervisor in each of the universities, parties to this agreement.

3. A framework agreement can be signed between two universities or more in which their interest in establishing joint-supervision agreements is expressed, but a specific agreement must be signed between the two (or more) interested universities for each of the doctoral students that undertakes a jointly supervised thesis, and this shall be based on the principle of reciprocity. The agreements, which shall comply with the models established by the Doctoral Committee of the Governing Council, must receive the authorisation of this Committee. This shall be the responsibility of the department concerned and adhere to the proposal of the Division’s Doctoral Committee.

4. The universities, signatories to this joint-supervision agreement, shall recognise the validity of the doctoral thesis defended in the framework of this agreement. The agreement, furthermore, shall state the university or universities that shall be responsible for awarding and registering the official doctorate degree or degrees, in which all the participating universities must appear. The various options for awarding the degree are as follows:

   — One university awards a single degree to all the students whether they be their own students or students from abroad.

   — Each university only awards degrees to its own students.

   — Each university awards the degrees to all the students, whether they be their own or from abroad (multiple degree).

5. Doctoral students shall register their thesis proposal in both (or all) of the participating universities. The payment of the fees corresponding to the reading of the thesis, however, shall only be made in the university in which the thesis is to be defended.

6. The time allowed for preparing the thesis shall not exceed that stipulated by the university at which the thesis is to be presented and must be divided between the universities as stipulated in the corresponding agreement, with the remaining period being completed in the other.

7. The student shall register as a postgraduate student and, during the periods spent at the University of Barcelona, shall pay the corresponding fees for the supervision of the thesis and, if necessary, student insurance and the extra-academic services requested.

8. The doctoral thesis shall be defended on just one occasion in the university stated for this purpose in the agreement.

9. The tribunal in front of which the thesis should be defended shall be appointed by mutual agreement of the two (or more) universities. The composition of the tribunal shall comply with the current legislation of the country in which it sits.

10. The payment of the expenses incurred by the faculty members from abroad that sit on the tribunal shall be met by the university in which the doctoral thesis is to be read and defended.

11. If the thesis is written entirely in one of the languages of the universities, signatories to this agreement, then a summary and the conclusions must be presented in the language of the other universities. Should the thesis be written in a language other than the official languages of the universities, signatories to this agreement, a summary and the conclusions should be presented in one of the official languages of each university. The joint supervision agreement shall specify these requirements.

12. The Doctoral Committee of the Governing Council shall monitor and control all jointly supervised doctoral theses.

13. The publication, use, and protection of the research results shall be guaranteed by the two (or more) institutions in which the doctorate student has been accepted to work and in accordance with the specific regulations in each country. In the case of Spain, the conditions affecting the deposit, author’s rights and copyright of the thesis shall be those established by Royal Decree 778/30 April 1998 (State Bulletin, 1 May 1998), and the prevailing legislation at all times, and by the current regulations regarding intellectual property.

The procedures for undertaking a jointly supervised doctoral thesis with European universities is as follows:

• Applications for the joint supervision of a thesis should be made to the department that coordinates the doctoral program in which the thesis proposal is to be accepted and registered.

• The department shall expressly authorize the application for joint supervision and shall present it, together with the proposed agreement, to the Division’s Doctoral Committee for acceptance and then to the Doctoral Committee of the Governing Council for their authorization. Once approved, the specific agreement for joint supervision shall be drawn up, and signed by the rectors of the two or more universities or persons thus designated.

• In order to defend the thesis at the University of Barcelona the corresponding procedures must be completed, in accordance with the established regulations, and the following documentation should be presented:

  — Official certification of the study periods completed in the other or other universities.

  — A summary, and the conclusions, of the doctoral thesis in the language not used in its writing, or in one of the languages of the University of Barcelona, if written in a language other than the official languages of the universities party to the agreement.

• Should the thesis be defended in the other foreign university or universities, the procedures shall be completed in accordance with the prevailing legislation in the country in which the thesis is to be defended. Nevertheless, the doctoral student must request admission to the University of Barcelona department included in the agreement, and also present the official accreditation of the study periods spent in the other or other universities, a summary and the conclusions of the thesis written in one of the official languages of the University of Barcelona. Once the thesis has been defended, the doctoral student must present an official document certifying the reading of the thesis, stating, at least, the date of the reading, the members sitting on the tribunal and the degree awarded.

• The Doctoral Committee of the Governing Council shall determine the criteria for putting these regulations into effect.

Final ruling

In exceptional circumstances, agreements may be officially made to authorise the co-supervision of a doctoral thesis by the University of Barcelona and a university outside Europe, when and where the academic status of that university has been internationally recognised. In such cases the agreement, which shall be adjusted to the established model, will comply with the terms set out in these regulations for co-supervision between the University of Barcelona and a European university, and the validity of the agreement shall be subject to the approval of the Doctoral Committee of the Board of Governors, as granted on the receipt of such information as is deemed necessary from the person or persons in charge of the doctorate and from the thesis supervisor.