PHD program in Information Technologies and their Application in Management, Architecture and Geophysics

Doctoral studies essentially consist of a formative process following the "learning by doing" methodology, in which the doctoral student acquires research skills by carrying out a research project under the supervision of a doctor with accredited research experience: the thesis director. At the same time, the doctoral student acquires the necessary competencies to become a future doctor through various training activities, mainly within the framework of doctoral weeks, as well as through the development of research-specific activities such as writing articles, participating in conferences, etc., and through interaction with other researchers that foster the learning of basic competencies of a future doctor.

THESIS SUPERVISION

The Academic Commission of the Doctoral Program (CAPD) is the collegiate body responsible for the definition, updating, quality and coordination of the program, as well as the supervision of the progress of the research and training of each student in the program, as well as the authorization of the completion of the studies, among others. The program coordination chairs the CAPD of the Doctoral Program and its members are: a representative of each school involved in the program, that is, the International Faculty of Commerce and Digital Economy La Salle, the La Salle School of Architecture, the La Salle School of Engineering and the Ebro Observatory, plus the educational and linguistic policies and research policies departments of La Salle-URL and the director of the Ebro Observatory, or his representative.

Each area of ''knowledge has several tutors and directors affiliated with the research lines of the research groups recognized by the Ramon Llull University, who possess accredited research experience, as stated in the General Rules for the Organization of Doctoral Studies at Ramon Llull University. As indicated in the regulations, if deemed necessary, the thesis may be co-directed by a maximum of three doctors, in a reasoned manner, with the approval of the CAPD.

DURATION

THESIS SUPERVISION AND MONITORING

Before the end of the first year, counting from the date of enrollment in the doctoral program, the doctoral student will prepare a document, Research and Training Plan, which will include a research plan and a personal training plan:

1. The research plan will include, at minimum, the methodology to be used and the objectives to be achieved, as well as the means and temporal planning to achieve them. The research plan may also contain the data management plan for the doctoral thesis and the mechanisms envisaged in relation to the ethical aspects of the research to be carried out.
2. The training plan will contain a forecast of the different training activities to be carried out during the doctoral studies.

This document will need to be reviewed and updated throughout their time in the Doctoral Program and must be endorsed by the tutor and the thesis director.

In addition, the doctoral student must register all academic and research activities developed within the framework of their doctoral thesis in the Doctoral Student Activities Document (DAD), where they will record their participation in conferences, seminars and workshops, as well as the results of their research in the form of publications (papers, articles, technical reports, patents, etc.).

The program offers 6 training seminars on the following topics: writing scientific articles, presentations, dissemination, research quality criteria, entrepreneurship and professional development, which are taught in pairs and on a rotating basis, within the framework of the two doctoral weeks of each academic year: January doctoral week and July doctoral week, in the morning schedule from Monday to Friday (both included) from 9:30 to 11:30 and from 12:00 to 14:00, respectively.

Additionally, students can complement this training with specific training in the field of knowledge of their doctoral thesis, as well as those derived from:

• Mobility experiences, including stays at other higher education institutions or research centers, as well as attendance at international conferences or workshops.
• Writing journal articles and technical reports, conference presentations or patent applications, to share and discuss the research work developed with the corresponding scientific community.
• Outreach activities to communicate research results to society.

The progress of the doctoral student will be evaluated annually by the academic committee, based on their updated DAD and the Evaluation Report of the Doctoral Student's Activities (IAD) which includes the report issued by the director and the student's tutor, together with the recommendations of the experts who participate in the committee that proposes or monitors the student's research and training plan.  A positive evaluation is an essential requirement to continue in the doctoral program. In the event of a negative evaluation, which must be duly motivated,  the doctoral student must be re-evaluated within six months, and to this end must prepare a new Research and Training Plan. In the event of a new negative evaluation, the doctoral student will be declared permanently withdrawn from the program with immediate effect.

MOBILITY

Among the training activities, mobility should be highlighted as one of the main facilitators for young researchers to develop their communication skills and is also an opportunity for doctoral students to approach researchers outside La Salle Campus Barcelona or the Observatori de l'Ebre.

Mobility includes stays at other higher education institutions or research centers, as well as attendance at international conferences, encouraging program students to present their research work before the scientific community in their field of knowledge as part of their training process. The program provides limited funds for mobility or conference attendance, depending on discounts or scholarships applied to the tuition fee. Each student can request support once in the program. In case additional funding is needed, it can be obtained through public grants or funds from projects linked to the research work, with the support of the thesis director and tutor.

To apply for the International Mention of the doctoral degree, the doctoral student must have completed a stay of at least three months in one or more prestigious higher education institutions or research centers outside Spain during the preparation of the thesis. This stay can be fragmented as long as it is for duly justified reasons and the total time is equal to or greater than three months. In the case of multiple stays, at least one of them must have a minimum duration of one month. In any case, the stays must be endorsed by the thesis director and authorized by the CAPD.

REGULATIONS FOR REGISTRATION AND DEFENSE OF THE DOCTORAL THESIS

The rules for the registration and defense of the doctoral thesis are set out in the General Rules for the Organization of Doctoral Studies at the Universitat Ramon Llull.

To initiate the procedures prior to the thesis deposit, the doctoral student must submit to the CAPD, with the approval of the thesis director and tutor, the thesis memoir, the thesis completion request, and the Doctoral Student Activities Document (DAD) complete and duly signed by all parties.

1. The thesis memoir must contain, at a minimum, the abstract in three languages (Catalan, Spanish, and English), the state of the art, the definition of the thesis objectives, the research plan developed with the results and conclusions obtained.
2. In the thesis completion request, the director will indicate the proposed panel of expert doctors with accredited research experience in the corresponding field of knowledge to evaluate the doctoral thesis. As a general criterion, the thesis evaluation tribunal will consist of three full members, a president, a secretary, and a member, plus two alternate members, the composition of which must comply with the requirements established in the General Rules for the Organization of Doctoral Studies at the Universitat Ramon Llull, and consider the corresponding Good Practices Guide. Exceptionally, in justified cases, the tribunal may consist of five members plus two alternates, with the approval of the CAPD.

The CAPD will evaluate the reports issued by the expert doctors, as well as the doctoral student's written response, if necessary, endorsed by their director and tutor, before authorizing the thesis deposit request before the URL Doctoral Commission, which is responsible for approving the admission request for the doctoral thesis, appointing the evaluation tribunal, and ensuring compliance with all formal aspects established in the General Rules for the Organization of Doctoral Studies at the Universitat Ramon Llull.

International Mention

For doctoral students to request the International Mention on their doctoral degree, they must accompany the previously mentioned documentation with a Certificate of stay at one or more foreign institutions for a minimum period of 3 months, with a minimum stay of one month at one of the institutions. Additionally, regarding the thesis memoir, at least the abstract and conclusions must be written and presented at the defense in a language other than the official languages of Spain. This requirement does not apply when the stay has been in a Spanish-speaking country. Finally, regarding the evaluation of the research work, two expert doctors affiliated with prestigious higher education institutions or research centers outside Spain must issue an evaluation report of the thesis. Furthermore, at least one expert doctor affiliated with a prestigious higher education institution or research center outside Spain, different from the stay tutor, must be part of the thesis evaluation tribunal.

Industrial Mention

For doctoral students to request the Industrial Mention on their doctoral degree, they must have developed their research training in a company or public administration, in collaboration with the University, within the context of an R&D&I project that will be the subject of the doctoral thesis, under the framework of a collaboration agreement signed by both parties. In addition to the previously mentioned documentation, it will be necessary to prove the existence of an employment or commercial contract between the doctoral student and a company, public or private, or a public administration, of at least one year's duration during the development of the thesis. The doctoral student must have a thesis tutor appointed by the University's CAPD and a responsible person appointed by the company or public administration who, if authorized by the CAPD and meets the requirements, may be the thesis director in accordance with the doctoral program's regulations. In no case may the company tutor be part of the doctoral thesis tribunal.

Thesis by Compendium of Publications

A doctoral thesis by compendium of publications at the URL will consist of a minimum of three publications on the same line of research. These publications must have a peer-review evaluation system and be indexed in scientific databases of international impact in line with the research evaluation criteria in the field of knowledge where the thesis is framed. To be included in the compendium, they must have an acceptance or publication date after the doctoral student's first enrollment in doctoral studies. The CAPD will determine the specific requirements for each of the program's fields of knowledge in line with the usual practices of the field.

The doctoral student must indicate in the thesis completion request document that they are requesting their thesis to be considered as a thesis by compendium of publications. If the CAPD deems it appropriate, it may request a report from the thesis director indicating the specific contribution of the doctoral student to the presented work, in relation to that of the other authors of the publications that are part of the compendium.

Thesis under Co-tutelle Regime

The co-tutelle regime provides for a doctoral thesis to be simultaneously framed in doctoral programs of different universities, one Spanish and the rest foreign, under an agreement signed by both institutions. For the doctoral thesis to be eligible for the co-tutelle regime, the doctoral student must request it from the CAPD. They must enroll in the universities signing the agreement and will have an assigned thesis director at each of the universities signing the agreement.

To obtain the doctoral degree, the requirements of each university for the presentation of the doctoral thesis must be met in accordance with the current legislation of the countries of the universities signing the agreement, guaranteeing the protection of the thesis content and the exploitation and publication rights of the results according to the specific provisions of each country.

During the training period necessary to obtain the doctoral degree, the doctoral student must have completed a minimum stay of six months at each of the universities signing the co-tutelle agreement, carrying out research work, either in a single period or in several. Only if stays are carried out at institutions different from those signing the agreement and meet the conditions established for obtaining it, the co-tutelle thesis may also request the International Mention of the doctoral degree.

There will be a single thesis defense act at one of the universities signing the agreement, applying the procedure of the university where the thesis is defended, with the tribunal agreed upon by both universities signing the agreement.