The Doctoral School’s Code of Good Practice

Royal Decree 99/2011, of January 28, which regulates official doctoral studies, establishes in Article 9.8 that "all members of a Doctoral School must sign a commitment to comply with the Code of Good Practice adopted by the School". Furthermore, Royal Decree 576/2023, of July 4 –amending Royal Decree 99/2011– indicates in its first article (section twenty) the need for a guide of good practices for doctoral thesis supervision. All of this is included in Article 25 of the Internal Regulation of the Doctoral School.

The University of Valladolid has a Code of Ethics, approved by the Governing Council on 22 July 2022, which sums up the principles and rules of conduct that will govern the activity of all those who make up the university community at each moment.

In the field of research –and under the premise that all disciplines must be subject to ethical principles in order to ensure enhanced quality in scientific research– at its Governing Council meeting of 31 January 2013 the University of Valladolid approved the Code of Good Practices in Research, which is applicable to all members of the university community who conduct or collaborate in research work within the university, regardless of the discipline, area, centre, etc. in which their research activity is framed. This code is inspired by the "European Charter for Researchers" and brings together the ethical principles that should guide research staff. Good research practices are, essentially, an attitude through which to understand research and they reflect the approach and proposal of the research, how it is carried out and how the results are obtained, preserved, and disseminated. Good practices in research allow the quality and integrity of the research to be verified and provide the basis for solving conflicts or complaints of malpractice, fraud or inappropriate or dishonest conduct, thereby enhancing the quality of research.

Likewise, the Doctoral School itself has a Code of Good Practice for the Tutoring of Doctoral Students and the Supervision of Doctoral Theses. It comprises a set of recommendations and commitments that must guarantee quality in terms of the conditions governing doctoral student access, the supervision and tutoring of research training, and in the management, supervision and monitoring of doctoral theses.

Finally, there is a Decalogue of Good Practices for the Academic Committees of Doctoral Programmes which is drawn up by some doctoral programme coordinators, based on the analysis of their own previous experiences. It establishes specific procedures for carrying out the responsibilities of the Academic Committees and Doctoral Programmes with the maximum guarantee of quality, transparency, and efficiency.

For all of the above, the Doctoral School of the University of Valladolid assumes as its Code of Good Practices the set of principles contained in the University of Valladolid Code of Ethics and the Code of Good Practices in Research, complemented by the Code of Good Practices for Doctoral Student Tutors and Thesis Supervisors, as well as by the recommendations contained in the document Guide of Good Practice of the Academic Committees of the Doctoral Programmes. As a whole, all of these documents set out the principles, criteria and commitments required to channel the relationships between all the people who make up the Doctoral School, avoiding conflicts and promoting responsibility, integrity and fulfilling the functions of the University of Valladolid in the field of research– all of which is geared towards the ultimate goal of strengthening the quality of doctoral training provided by our university.

All the codes referred to in this section are available for access in electronic format at the following websites: