International doctoral thesis co-supervision
In order to promote and facilitate the internationalization of its academic offer, the University of Valladolid encourages international co-supervision of doctoral theses. For this purpose, the statement "Thesis in co-supervision with the University U", will be included on the front of the title of Doctor, provided that the following REQUIREMENTS are met:
- A co-supervision agreement will have been formalized between the University of Valladolid and the foreign university(ies) whereby both recognise the validity of theses written under co-supervision and wherein they undertake to award the doctoral degree at the request of the interested parties.
- During the term of the agreement, the doctoral student must be enrolled in doctoral studies at all participating universities.
- The doctoral student will have a thesis supervisor at each university.
- That, for their doctoral thesis work, the doctoral candidate is awarded a PhD degree from each of the higher education institutions responsible for the thesis and who are signatories of the agreement
- During the training period required to obtain the title of Doctor, the doctoral student must carry out a stay of at least six months (with a maximum of three periods) at each of the institutions that sign the co-supervision agreement, and must conduct research work. This stay may be longer if the rules of any of the universities signing the agreement so require. In such instances, this condition must be explicitly stated in the co-supervision agreement. Stays and activities will be set out in the co-supervision agreement and will be accredited by means of certificates signed by the persons responsible for the stays, and which will be included in the doctoral student's activities document.
- Theses in international co-supervision may also grant the mention "International Doctorate" in the title of Doctor if research stays are carried out at institutions other than those taking part in the formalized agreement, provided that the remaining requirements stipulated for this mention are fulfilled.
The doctoral student must follow the ordinary deposit, public presentation and admission to defence procedure established by the Regulation of Doctoral Studies of the University of Valladolid.
The defence of the thesis shall be a single event and shall be held at either of the two universities –as specified in the agreement. The examining board shall have the approval of the Doctoral Theses Committee or equivalent body of both institutions and shall send an original record of its proceedings to the competent body of each university.
More information in the Rules for Doctoral Studies.
If you are interested in promoting a co-supervision (cotutelle) agreement and/or wish to request information about the process, please contact:
Deputy Director of International Relations at the Doctoral School (EsDUVA):
subdireccion.relaciones.escuela.doctorado@uva.es
Agreements Section of the International Relations Office (RELINT):
The student must be enrolled in the doctoral studies of all the universities participating in the agreement when the agreement is first signed for the whole academic term of the agreement and until the doctoral thesis is deposited.
The agreement will be processed and signed during the first year of enrolment in doctoral studies at the University of Valladolid. In exceptional cases –and subsequent to authorisation from the Doctoral Thesis Committee– and after a reasoned request from the promoter of the agreement, the process may commence and conclude during the second year of enrolment in doctoral studies at the University of Valladolid.
In order to help and speed up the processing of the agreement, the proposal will preferably comply with the model available on the EsDUVa website, and which has already been reviewed and approved by the legal services of our university. However, in cases where the partner universities so require, the agreement may, if necessary, be adapted or modified. A copy of the agreement must always be signed in Spanish.
The forms for the proposed co-supervision agreement and the co-supervision agreement template (together with the annex) are available HERE in the panel "Forms for the processing of international co-supervision".
1st stage) PROPOSAL AGREEMENT STAGE: The promoter of the agreement at the UVa must be the thesis supervisor if he/she is a UVa staff member or, if this person belongs to a different institution, the student's tutor.
a) The promoter of the agreement will send the following documents to the Deputy Director of International Relations at the EsDUVa (subdireccion.relaciones.escuela.doctorado@uva.es) the following documents:
-The specific agreement proposal, signed by the promoter.
-The suitability report of the thesis supervisor at the foreign institution, signed by said supervisor.
b) The Deputy Director of International Relations at the EsDUVa will send the above documents to the coordinator of the doctoral programme for their evaluation and, if applicable, approval by the academic committee.
c) Once approval has been obtained from the Academic Committee of the doctoral programme, the same Deputy Director will process the proposal for the specific agreement, which must be signed by the coordinator of the doctoral programme, by the EsDUVa –represented in this case by the Sub-Directorate for International Relations– and by the Vice-Rectorate for Internationalization of the University of Valladolid
2nd stage) PREPARATION, APPROVAL, AND SIGNING of the agreement:
a) Once the agreement proposal has been processed, the final text of the specific co-supervision agreement must be negotiated with the foreign university or universities involved. In this stage, those representing the UVa will be the International Relations Service (convenios.internacionales@uva.es) and the Sub-Directorate for International Relations at the EsDUVa (subdireccion.relaciones.escuela.doctorado@uva.es).
b) Once the final text of the agreement has been agreed, the UVa’s International Relations Service will submit it for approval by two UVa committees: firstly, by the International Relations Committee and, secondly, by the Standing Committee of the Governing Council.
c) After approval, signing will begin.
The process is deemed to have concluded when the agreement with all the required signatures is deposited with the International Relations Service.
Procedure for processing doctoral theses under international co-supervision
(Agreement of the Management Committee of the Doctoral School, 18 November 2024; and published on the University of Valladolid Sede Electrónica (electronic office) on 20/11/2024)
