AGREEMENT on session no. 5 of the Senate, 4th March 1999, within which the new Regulations on Doctoral Studies at the Universitat Jaume I are approved, subsequently modified on 30th September 1999, 29th January 2001, 28th June 2002, 21st July 2004 and 14th July 2005.

REGULATIONS on DOCTORAL STUDIES

at the UNIVERSITAT JAUME I I. PREAMBLE As a consequence of the publication of the Royal Decree 778/1998, 30th April, which regulates university postgraduate studies, the obtention and issuing of the doctoral degree and other postgraduate courses, it has become necessary to prepare new regulations which incorporate the main objectives set by the University Organic Law 6/2001. In brief, the main objectives of these regulations are the following: 1. To give priority to quality and experimentation programmes by supporting interuniversity, interdepartmental or interdisciplinary programmes, as well as promoting students’ mobility. 2. To boost the functions of the Research and Doctorate Commission. The total number of credits within the programme is made up of two periods: a taught period and a research period. 3. To reach a higher scientific rigour of the thesis. To guarantee the independence and the competence of the members of the tribunal. To broaden the range of grades given to the theses, and to remove the deadline for submission. 4. To reduce the number of names given to a doctoral degree so that only one is given in each university, and to avoid them being considered extensions of undergraduate degrees. 5. Finally, to establish a clear difference between a doctorate, official professional specialisation diplomas and postgraduate courses. These regulations govern university postgraduate studies which lead to the awarding of the doctorate degree in both the phases where students follow their taught period or their research period within the doctoral programme, and the preparation, submission and reading of the PhD thesis. Doctoral studies focus on the student’s specialisation in a scientific field and in research techniques, with a view to presenting and defending the corresponding PhD thesis. II. AREA OF APPLICATION These Regulations are applicable to students starting their doctoral studies from the academic year 1999-2000. III. LEGISLATION Postgraduate studies leading to the award of the doctoral degree at the Universitat Jaume I follow the University Organic Law 6/2001, the Royal Decree 78/1998, dated 30th April, the Royal Decree 56/2005, dated 21st January, and all other regulations on the subject dictated by

the Spanish State, the Generalitat Valenciana (Regional Government), the Universitat Jaume I Statutes and these Regulations. IV RESEARCH AND DOCTORATE COMMITTEE The Research and Doctorate Committee is made up of doctors belonging to university teaching bodies under the terms legally established. The functions of the Committee are: - To establish the general directions which will guide doctoral programmes. - To establish the minimum students required for a programme and a course. - To approve and publish the list of doctoral programmes for the following academic year, which will include the courses, seminars and supervised research periods corresponding to each programme. - To send the approved programmes to the Universities Council and to the other universities. - To establish the teaching period. - To ascribe a number of credits to the courses, seminars and supervised research periods and their content. Each assigned credit must correspond to 10 taught hours. - To accept doctoral students from other universities. - To establish the periods for admission, registration, transfers and all other proceedings related to the running of doctoral courses. - To ratify the inscriptions of the PhD thesis projects. - To authorise the admission of students wishing to undertake a doctoral programme not scientifically related to their university curriculum. - To issue a report on the admission applications to doctoral studies from students who do not hold a recognised foreign degree. - To approve a single board for each programme, with a view to awarding the advanced studies diploma. - To accept the submission of the PhD thesis for consideration. - To appoint the board responsible for assessing the PhD thesis. - To set the period in which doctoral students must submit the thesis and their Curriculum Vitae to the board members. - To determine whether or not the public defence of the PhD thesis is appropriate. - To send the thesis microfiche to the Universities Council, the Spanish Culture and Education Ministry and the Valencian Culture, Education and Science Conselleria. - To send an annual quantified report on the development of the postgraduate studies in their field to the University Education Assessment Subcommittee from the Universities Council.

- Any other function determined by current legal rules and regulations. V. DOCTORAL PROGRAMMES The proposal, coordination and academic responsibility of a doctoral programme comes under the administration of a university department, and various departments can join efforts in order to put forward an interdepartmental doctoral programme. In this case, a coordinating department must be appointed, only for academic purposes, which will coordinate all departments that sign the proposal. Courses, seminars and supervised research may also take place, as long as they are under the academic responsibility of the relevant departments, in university institutes, other universities, in the Higher Council for Scientific Research (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), in public or private research institutions, or in other national or foreign entities of a similar nature; to do so, agreements will need to be made between the universities and the said institutions. University institutes may also propose and coordinate doctoral programmes under the academic direction of one department or more. Each department may develop its own and interdepartmental doctoral programmes authorised by the University, as long as the relevant departments have a minimum of 10 doctors. 1. Content of doctoral programmes Each proposal for a doctoral programme must include a) The name of the programme and of the doctor who will act as the programme’s coordinator,

the name of the areas of knowledge involved in the doctoral programme, and of the department to which they are attached.

b) Scientific justification of the programme and a short justification of the content of each

course and seminar. For each course or seminar, and also for each compulsory research paper, the dates in which they will take place or the maximum period to hand them in, respectively, must be provided. The dates must fit in with the University’s academic calendar. c) A list of the doctors responsible for each course or seminar, with the relevant teaching hours

for each of them. If a programme includes courses or seminars not taught by department teachers, the express acceptance of the relevant department, institute or institution will be necessary. The acceptance will mention the maximum number of students accepted on the courses or seminars, and the means of financing such. d) A report on the repercussions that the programme teaching hours will have on the department

undergraduate teaching activities. e) A proposal for assigning credits to each course and seminar, and a reasoned proposal on the

minimum (and, if possible, maximum) number of students accepted on each course or seminar.

f) A proposal on applicant evaluation criteria. g) A proposal by three teaching doctors to make up the doctoral programme research aptitude

board. Doctoral programmes must be offered for at least two years, and should include: a) Courses or seminars on the fundamental contents of the scientific, technical or artistic field

on which the relevant doctoral programme focuses (fundamental subjects, F subjects). b) Courses or seminars related to the methodology and training in research techniques

(methodological subjects, M subjects). c) Supervised research papers (research subjects, I subjects). d) Courses or seminars on areas related to the content of the programme which are of interest to

the students’ thesis project (related subjects, A subjects). e) Doctoral students can take a maximum of 5 credits by attending courses or seminars not

included in their programme, as long as they have been previously authorised by their tutors. Departments must specify the number of credits assigned to a programme as a whole, and to each one of the courses, seminars and supervised research specifically; departments must also state whether they are compulsory or optional. The number of credits assigned to a programme must not be less than 32, with a minimum of 15 being assigned to F subjects. These credits can be taken through the relevant taught and research hours, bearing in mind that each credit has a value of 10 taught hours. Courses and seminars which cover F, M and A subjects have a minimum value of 3 credits. In order to offer all M and A credits, departments may include courses and seminars in their programmes offered as subjects in other doctoral programmes. A programme cannot run with fewer than 10 students. In order to complete all I credits, doctoral students must take a minimum of 12 credits during the work on one supervised research papers or more which will take place in the department responsible for the programme they follow. Before starting this research period, students must have completed 20 taught credits. Students can carry out a maximum of two research papers, each one with a minimum value of 3 credits. The credit value attached to the research paper or papers must be included in the doctoral programme offered by the department. Research papers must fulfil the following requirements: 1. The paper must be registered in the department responsible for the programme, with the

approval of the paper’s director. 2. After handing in the paper (one copy for the files and three for the board), it will be available

for examination in the department for a 15-day period. The Graduate Section must be informed of this in order to facilitate its availability.

During this period, all teaching doctors may submit as many comments as they see fit in writing to the director/coordinator of the department responsible for the doctoral programme. 3. The paper must be assessed by three doctors appointed to this end by the department where it

has been carried out. Under no circumstance may the student’s tutor be appointed to this end by the department.

4. The research paper must be read and defended in a public session. The department

responsible for the programme will publish the place, date and time when appropriate. 2. Proposal processing Departments will present their doctoral programmes proposals during the period stipulated for this purpose. The proposal will include a report by the Vice-Rectorate for Academic Organisation and Students on the repercussions that the programme will have on the department teaching activities. 3. Proposal approval The Research and Doctorate Committee must approve the doctoral programmes and must publish a list of all programmes approved with the relevant contents. It must subsequently inform the relevant bodies referred to in article 4, 3rd and 4th, of the Royal Decree 778/1998. Approved doctoral programmes will remain valid during subsequent years, until the department or departments in charge decide otherwise. If departments decide to stop the doctoral programme teaching activities of which they are in charge, they must make their decision known one academic year in advance so that students have the possibility of taking up the 32 credits required to complete their studies. Likewise, if a department decides to stop its contribution to the teaching activities of a doctoral programme, it must also inform the department in charge one academic year in advance so that the relevant department can modify its programme accordingly. The agreement on the approval of the proposals submitted must be notified to the departments involved. If an agreement is not reached, they can appeal against the resolution during the time period set for this purpose. 4. Programme modification Departments may propose changes in some of the courses, seminars or supervised research papers when special circumstances appear in connection with the treatment and scientific interest of the subjects offered, or with the teachers responsible for teaching the courses; they may do so through a proposal and a reasoned report submitted to the University’s Research and Doctorate Committee. 5. Department restructuring When a restructuring takes place in the departments which offer doctoral programmes, an agreement on which new departments are responsible for each doctoral programme will have to be reached, and the Research and Doctorate Committee will have to be informed of this agreement.

6. Doctoral programme coordination Only doctors belonging to the department in charge of the programme will be considered for the position of doctoral programme coordinator. The Department Council will elect the coordinator. Coordinator functions a) To draw up and send out the logistical and administrative details (i.e. teachers, timetable,

term dates, teaching rooms, etc.) of the relevant doctoral programme to students and teachers at the beginning of each academic year and 2-year period.

b) To manage and channel to the relevant institutions or services any administrative problems which may arise affecting students or teachers during the running of the courses.

c) To participate in the meeting convened to select the students from those that have pre-registered.

d) To periodically inform the Department Council on the programme development, any problems that may arise, etc.

e) To propose to the Department Council on the basis of the results obtained to restart, alter or stop the programme, should the occasion arise.

f) Any other functions determined by current legislation, the Research and Doctorate Commission and the Department Council.

VI. ADMISSION TO A DOCTORAL PROGRAMME 1. Admission requirements The applicants’ admission into a doctoral programme will be dealt with by the departments responsible for the programme, using the following criteria: 1. Academic record. 2. Marks in the subjects related to the doctoral programme applied for. 3. Contribution to research groups in the department. 4. Publications. 5. Other merits. 2. Admission to a doctoral programme with an official or recognised degree Admitting students to a programme is the responsibility of the relevant department, which will evaluate their merits according to the criteria approved by the Senate, following the marking scale approved by the Research and Doctorate Committee, which the department must publish. Potential applicants can appeal against the department’s decision. In order to access doctorate studies, applicants should have a university degree. Moreover, the student’s academic background must be related to the chosen programme; otherwise, the approval of the Research and Doctorate Committee will be necessary. 3. Admitting teachers from this university to a doctoral programme Teachers appointed to a university school at the Universitat Jaume I who hold a university degree and wish to undertake doctoral studies at this University must ask for the relevant approval from the Rectorate in order to be able to study at the same institution where they are teaching, according to article 10.2 of the Decree 174/2002, 15th October, issued by the Generalitat Valenciana, on working conditions and remuneration of academic staff who are

under a contract of employment at public universities and on additional remuneration of university teachers. 4. Admission to a doctoral programme with a foreign degree Spanish or foreign students with a university degree from a foreign university must meet the following requirements, according to their specific situation: A) Recognised degrees: Spanish or foreign students with a university degree or equivalent awarded by a foreign university or higher teaching institution, can access doctorate studies directly if they have been granted the definitive official recognition issued by the Spanish Education and Science Ministry. Application procedure for admission with a recognised foreign degree Admission must be applied for to the department responsible for the programme, during the time period set for this purpose. The required documents will be presented, together with the definitive official recognition. (See Registration and academic regulations on doctorate studies). B) Degrees not recognised or in the process of being recognised: Students with higher foreign degrees can access postgraduate studies without previous recognition of their degrees, according to the first additional provision of the Royal Decree 778/1998, 30th April, if the Rectorate, having examined the appropriate reports, certificates, etc. provided, accepts the student for postgraduate studies. Access to doctorate studies through the Rectorate’s approval does not imply, under any circumstances, the official recognition of the foreign degree involved, or any recognition to purposes other than that of accessing postgraduate studies. Application procedure for admission of students with a non-recognised foreign degree Such students must apply for the authorisation to access postgraduate studies to the Rectorate, through the relevant department, in the stipulated period. They must enclose the following documents: Official application form, addressed to the University Rectorate University degree or equivalent academic degree Academic certificate with the subjects studied and the marks awarded

These documents must be original or a certified photocopy, official or legalised through diplomatic channels, with the relevant translation carried out by a sworn translator. The relevant Department Council must issue a report on the application and, after the Research and Doctorate Committee decides whether prospective students can or cannot access the relevant studies, they will be informed through a Rectorate resolution. Recognition channels for foreign documents

These channels vary according to the country in which the studies took place or the qualification was awarded.

1. Countries in which the Council of the European Union norms on academic recognition apply. (See Annex I). Documents issued in these countries do not require authentication. 2. The Hague Convention The authentication of documents from countries that have signed the Hague Convention of 5th October, 1961 must follow the provisions made (Spanish Official Bulletin, BOE of 25-9-78 and BOE of 17-10-78). Information concerning this authentication must be provided by the authorities or the consulate from the country of origin. Documents stamped with the Hague apostille do not require authentication through diplomatic channels. 3. The Andrés Bello Agreement The authentication of documents from countries that have signed the Andrés Bello Agreement (ANNEX I) require authentication through diplomatic channels. This authentication requires the following:

1. The acknowledgement, by Ministry of Education authorities in the country of origin, of the signatures appearing in the original document, when they provide evidence of studies followed. The acknowledgement, by the authorities from the relevant department in the country of origin, of the signatures appearing in the original document, when they provide evidence of birth, nationality or any other circumstance. 2. Authentication by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the country of origin of the acknowledgement granted in the above cases. 3. The acknowledgement of the above-mentioned signature of authentication by the Spanish Consulate in the country of origin.

4. All Other Countries All foreign documents, whether they provide evidence of studies followed, birth, nationality or any other circumstance, must be official and must be submitted after having been authenticated through diplomatic channels. This authentication requires:

1. The acknowledgement, by Ministry of Education authorities in the country of origin, of the signatures appearing in the original document, when they provide evidence of studies followed. The acknowledgement, by the authorities from the relevant department in the country of origin, of the signatures appearing in the original document, when they provide evidence of birth, nationality or any other circumstance. 2. Authentication by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the country of origin of the acknowledgement granted in the above cases. 3. The acknowledgement of the above-mentioned signature of authentication by the Spanish Consulate in the country of origin.

4. The acknowledgement of the signature of the Consulate official or civil servant by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

All documents issued by Consulate services of countries outside Spain must be authorised by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Translating documents issued in a foreign language All documents issued in a foreign language by the relevant authorities from the country of origin must be presented with an accompanying translation into Spanish, which may be carried out by a) The Spanish Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Language Interpreting Office. b) UNESCO, the Office of the Latin-American Centre for Co-operation, or any other

organisation recognised in Spain. c) Any diplomatic or consulate representation of the Spanish State abroad. d) The diplomatic representative of the applicant’s country or of the country where the

document was issued, serving office in Spain. e) A sworn translator, officially authorised or registered in Spain. Test to establish the prospective student’s command of the Valencian or the Spanish languages Foreign students are required to have passed the Diploma Básico de Español como Lengua Extranjera (Basic Diploma of Spanish as a Foreign Language) issued by the Ministry of Education and Science, or the Certificat Elemental de Valencià (Elementary Certificate of the Valencian Language) issued by the Valencian Language Examining Board, or an equivalent diploma. Applicants who do not have the said diplomas must pass an exam which will test the following aspects: Reading / Writing Grammar and vocabulary Listening / Speaking

In order to take this test, they must contact the Language and Terminology Service, which will set a time and a date. 5. Tutor assignment Doctoral students will have been assigned a tutor, who must be doctors themselves and members of one of the university departments or institutes in charge of the student’s doctoral programme. They will be responsible for the student’s studies and research. The tutor’s functions are: a) To advise and guide the students on the courses they should take, and to tell them which

documents they should enclose. b) To write, if necessary, a report on the students’ progress on the programme. c) To back any changes in the student’s registration for courses. d) To advise and authorise students to take courses not included in their programme of studies. e) To guide doctoral students towards the most appropriate supervised research for the

student’s PhD thesis project.

Any request for a change of tutor must be made known to the Graduate Section, otherwise it will have to be ratified on the research paper registration form. VII. CONCURRENT STUDIES Doctoral students wishing to start a further doctoral programme either in this or a different university, and who remain on the course on which they are registered at the same time, must apply for concurrent studies permission to the department, which in turn must issue a corresponding report. In order to be considered favourably, the student must have successfully taken at least 16 credits on his or her original doctoral programme. If the further doctoral programmes the student wishes to study concurrently are taught in the Universitat Jaume I, he or she must apply for admission to the department within the established time limits and formats in which the concurrent nature of the studies is expressly mentioned. If the doctoral programmes are taught in the departments of different universities, the student must apply for transfer by following the established time limits and formats for the transfer of academic records, stating that the reason for the transfer is in order to study concurrently. In this way, the transfer approval implies that concurrent studies have been authorised. A report from the university of origin and a favourable report from the relevant department in the Universitat Jaume I are required to process the transfer of academic records, and thus enable the student to study concurrently. The Doctorate Committee will decide on the authorisation for concurrent studies in the light of these reports. If the authorisation for concurrent studies involves two doctoral programmes in the Universitat Jaume I, the student’s record will include the procedure for the opening of a new record. If authorisation is granted for concurrent studies on doctoral programmes in different universities, the university of origin will send an official copy of his or her personal academic record to the university of the student’s choice in which the details relating to his or her admission to the university must appear. In all cases, any incidences that have taken place which may have academic repercussions must appear for the purposes of the records together with the opening procedure of the new record. Likewise, the destination university must inform the university of origin of any circumstances that may affect the academic record. VIII. REGISTRATION, CHANGE OF PROGRAMME AND RECOGNITIONS Accepted students must register at the time and place set for this purpose. With regard to any changes relating to the student’s change of programme, the procedures established in article 15 of the Royal Decree 778/1998 must be followed, according to the specifications set out below: For students’ admission into a doctoral programme, a favourable report must be obtained by the Universitat Jaume I department responsible for the doctoral programme where students wish to continue their studies. To this end, the evaluation criteria established in section VI.1 of these Regulations, which deals with students’ admission to a doctoral programme, will be taken into

account, together with the student’s previous studies in the doctoral programme at the university of origin. After acquiring the admission referred to in the previous paragraph, if students have the certificate on postgraduate taught courses issued by their university of origin, the 20 taught credits of the doctoral programme where they wish to register will be recognised. If doctoral students have finished their research period, the relevant department may recognise up to a maximum of 12 credits from those corresponding to I subjects. If students have their advanced studies diploma (DEA) in accordance with Article 6 of the Royal Decree 778/98, issued by their university of origin, they may proceed directly to the preparation of their PhD thesis. They will subsequently be bound by the general regulations of both the Universitat Jaume I and the department in charge of PhD thesis project acceptance, appointment of the thesis director and any other procedural requirements established by these regulations. If students do not fall into any of the above-mentioned cases, the recognition of the credits obtained at the university of origin will require the approval of the department applied to at the Universitat Jaume I, which will issue a report on all the courses and seminars followed at the university of origin for this purpose, and send it to the Research and Doctorate Committee. If students have their tutor’s authorisation and a previous favourable department report, courses and seminars that they may have followed in other programmes at the Universitat Jaume I or at other universities may be included in their doctoral programme taught period, with a maximum value of 5 credits. In order to be included as free choice courses organised by the Universitat Jaume I, the Research and Doctorate Committee must approve this possibility before the courses are taught. These credits must have been taken from the beginning of the student’s admission into a doctoral programme (Annex II). IX. MARKS It is the programme teachers’ responsibility to assess the knowledge acquired by doctoral students throughout the duration of the course, by the most appropriate means of assessment, depending on the number of students, the contents taught or the teaching method used. Teachers must display the marks of the subjects for which they are responsible on the department notice board. The date, the teacher’s signature and the time period where the mark can be reviewed must appear clearly. All marks must fall into one of the following marking categories: not present, fail, pass, good and excellent. In the minutes, where the final mark is established, the quantitative mark must also be included, together with the qualitative mark. Overall quantitative assessment of the knowledge acquired during the taught period is arrived at through the arithmetic average of the student’s mark in each of the courses or seminars taken. X. ACADEMIC TUTORSHIP Bearing in mind the particular situation of doctoral students, to maintain the academic link with the University, all the situations in which the student continues to be considered as such, but does not enjoy the benefits that this status implies, e.g. student card, email account, library

access, sports facilities etc. will fall under the label of “Academic tutorship”. The following situations fall within this classification: 1. Students who have finished their taught credits, but have still not registered for research credits as established in the regulations on doctoral studies. 2.Students who have passed all the credits on their doctoral programme, have registered their thesis project with a department and have obtained their advanced studies diploma, and are in the stage of preparing, presenting and reading their doctoral thesis. In these two cases, students will come under academic tutorship. Provision is made for this every academic year during the month of October, when the corresponding applications for tutorship are opened. The process is as follows:

- Application for academic tutorship is presented with the tutor’s approval in the case of research credits or the thesis supervisor’s approval if the thesis is in the preparatory stage.

- If applicable, the educational insurance fee is paid (students under the age of 28) - The fees corresponding to the issuing, maintenance or up-dating of the student card are

paid. XI. PhD THESIS PROJECT Doctoral students will have to submit a PhD thesis project backed by their tutor before finishing the doctoral programme, i.e., before ending their research period. The relevant department will decide on the project’s admission. Starting from the approval of the project, the department will be responsible for the thesis which the student will carry out. In the case of students transferring their academic record without their advanced studies diploma (DEA) in accordance with Article 6 of the Royal Decree 778/98, they will need to register the thesis project at this university, even if they have already done so at the universityof origin. Students who wish to transfer their academic record after having obtained the DEA, and do not have their thesis project registered at the university of origin will have to register it at this university. A minimum time period of one year is necessary between the registration and the defence of the thesis, although the Research and Doctorate Committee may exempt students from this requirement on exceptional and justified cases. Thesis direction Only doctors permanently or temporarily connected to the university department or institute responsible for coordinating the relevant doctoral programme can be considered for the position of thesis director. Doctors referred to in article 7.3 of the Royal Decree 778/1998 may also direct PhD thesis, as long as they have the previous agreement of the Research and Doctorate Committee. PhD theses may be co-directed by various doctors.

When there is a change in a thesis director, the request for change will include the acceptance of the previous director, unless the Committee, following specific circumstances, accepts the request without this requirement. No doctor from the Universitat Jaume I may act as director in more than 10 PhD theses concurrently. XII. RESEARCH APTITUDE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Taught period certificate Passing a minimum of 20 credits from the taught period, of which at least 15 must be F subjects, entitles the student to obtain a postgraduate taught certificate. This certificate is recognised in all Spanish universities. Advanced studies diploma After passing the taught period and the research period, and after the approval of the thesis project, the knowledge acquired by doctoral students must be assessed in a public presentation that will take place before the research aptitude board of the doctoral programme in which the student is enrolled. The board will be made up of three doctors, one of whom will not belong to the department which coordinates and is responsible for the doctoral programme. One of the members of the board, who will be a university teacher, will act as its chair. Passing this evaluation will guarantee the student’s research aptitude, and will grant him or her the advanced studies diploma. This diploma acknowledges that students have carried out a research task in a specific area of knowledge, it proves their research aptitude and is recognised in all Spanish universities. If various areas of knowledge are involved, the research paper or papers and therefore the certificate-diploma will be identified with one of them, in such a way that the name of the department that has approved the thesis project presented by the student appears next to that of the doctoral programme. XIII. THE PhD THESIS 1. PhD thesis content Students wishing to gain a doctorate degree must submit their PhD thesis and obtain the relevant approval in accordance with the provisions of articles 11, 12 and 13 of the Royal Decree 56/2005. A PhD thesis consists of an original piece of research on a subject related to the scientific, technical or artistic field linked to the doctoral programme undertaken by the doctoral student.

2. Evaluation process aimed at guaranteeing the quality of the PhD thesis The postgraduate student should request that their completed PhD thesis is submitted to an evaluation process to guarantee its quality prior to its formal presentation. After consulting the thesis director, the body responsible for the doctoral programme will submit a reasoned report written by three to five experts to the Research and Doctorate Committee. This report shall state the suitability or not of the thesis as regards its subject. The Doctorate Committee will choose three experts to carry out an evaluation of the thesis. All members writing the report shall hold the doctorate degree, have reputable research experience and shall not be linked with the Universitat Jaume I. Subsequently, these experts may be members of the doctoral thesis assessment board. The body responsible for the doctoral programme shall send a copy of the thesis to each of the three evaluators and a form to be filled in by them. This form will clearly specify whether or not the evaluation is positive, and whether or not it requires to be modified or needs to be revised again. The experts shall submit the corresponding report to the body responsible within a month from the day they receive the thesis. All the reports shall be made available for the doctoral student, his/her director and his/her tutor, if there is one. 3. Authorisation for the submission of a PhD thesis Once the evaluation process has finished, the doctoral student may ask the body responsible for the programme for authorisation to submit his/her PhD thesis. The director’s or directors’ authorisation must be enclosed together with the thesis along with the observations about the evaluation process that he, she or they consider appropriate. When the thesis director does not teach in the department that is in charge of the programme, the student’s tutor will ratify the director’s approval for the thesis submission by means of a written argument. Upon consideration of the reports submitted by the experts and the thesis director(s), the responsible body will decide whether or not it authorises the presentation of the doctoral thesis. The maximum time period that can elapse from the department’s and the director’s authorisation until the deposit is three months. 4. Thesis deposit Together with the authorisation of the body responsible for the doctoral programme, doctoral students will submit two copies of the thesis to the Doctorate Section of the Teaching and Student Service, which will remain in University hands for a 15-day period. The Doctorate Section itself will keep one copy, while the body responsible for the doctoral programme will keep the other. Copies must be submitted appropriately bound and numbered, so that no future substitutions or amendments can be made; the name of the Universitat Jaume I and the basic information on the thesis must appear clearly on the cover. The Doctorate Section of the Teaching and Student Service will inform all departments and institutes of the Universitat Jaume I of the thesis deposit. Doctors interested may examine the copies deposited and, if appropriate, may send their comments to the Research and Doctorate Committee in writing.

Within the above-mentioned 15-day period, the body responsible for the doctoral programme will submit all the documents generated by the thesis evaluation process (including the experts’ reports) to the Doctorate Section of the Teaching and Student Service so that they can be available for the Research and Doctorate Committee. Upon consideration of all the documents generated during the evaluation process regarding the thesis director’s report, the authorisation by the body responsible for the thesis presentation and the objections raised, where appropriate, within the public examination period, the Research and Doctorate Committee will decide whether or not the doctoral thesis is authorised for defence, and it may request any additional information that it considers relevant. In the event of not authorising the defence of the thesis, the Committee will have to prepare a written report about the reasons or motives of its decision to the doctoral student, the thesis director and the body responsible for the programme. From the date of deposit to the defence of the thesis, a minimum of 15 days will elapse. 5. Theses written in a non official language PhD theses not written in Valencian (Catalan) or Spanish will include, when they are presented, a sufficiently large section in one of these two languages, which will be bound with the main body of the thesis and will include the following: - Research object and objectives. - Approach and methodology used. - Original contributions. - Conclusions reached and future research. On the first page, the thesis will include its complete definition in Valencian or in Spanish: university name, department, title, author, director, date and place. XIV. BOARD APPOINTMENT AND CONSTITUTION. READING OF THE PhD THESIS 1. Doctoral thesis assessment board After consulting the thesis director, the body responsible for the doctoral programme will send a proposal to the Research and Doctorate Committee for the board which is to assess it, together with a reasoned report on the suitability of each board member proposed. The board will be made up of five permanent and two substitute members, all of them holding a doctorate degree and reputable research experience. No more than two members from the same department or three members from the same university will be allowed on a board. Under no circumstance may the thesis director or the tutor form part of the assessment board, except for the case of a thesis presented within the framework of co-tutorship bilateral agreements with foreign universities that have considered this possibility. Among the seven specialist members proposed, the Research and Doctorate Committee will appoint the president and the secretary, and the Doctorate Section of the Teaching and Student Service will notify its appointment to all the members.

The thesis assessment board is definitively constituted when the Research and Doctorate Committee receive the acceptance of at least three permanent board members. If a proposed board member turns down the appointment, or if he or she resigns after having been appointed, the president will appoint the corresponding substitute member. Once the board has been appointed and constituted, the Doctorate Section will inform the body responsible for the doctoral programme about it. From this moment onwards, the doctoral student will submit the copies of the thesis to the body responsible for the doctoral programme. Once the copies have been stamped to guarantee that they correspond to those in deposit, they will be submitted to the board members by this body. 2. Defence and assessment of the doctoral thesis The thesis defence session will be called by the president and announced by the secretary to the Research and Doctorate Committee at least 15 calendar days before it is held. It will be held in a public session, and will consist of the student’s presentation of the tasks carried out and the thesis’ methods, contents and conclusions. Special mention of original contributions will be made. The board members will pose the questions they consider relevant to the student. The doctors present in the public session may also pose questions at the time and in the way the board president indicates. All the documents generated through the assessment period and subsequent deposit will remain available for the thesis board members. After the defence of the thesis the board will give one of the following marks: fail, pass, good or excellent. If the board reaches an agreement with a minimum of four votes by its members, a mention of excellent cum laude can be awarded to the thesis. Whenever the mention cum laude is awarded unanimously, this should appear in the minutes of the doctorate awarding session. The Governing Council of the Universitat Jaume I, following the proposal of the Research and Doctorate Committee, has established a procedure for awarding the extraordinary doctorate and European doctorate prizes. However, it can also create new regulations to award other honourable mentions or prizes to deserving PhD theses. XV. PhD THESIS PROCESSING PERIOD When counting the time periods and the proceedings that deal with the processing and reading of a PhD thesis, non working days, the month of August, holiday periods, Christmas time and Easter will not be taken into account, unless otherwise specified. XVI. FILING A PhD THESIS The University Library at the Universitat Jaume I is responsible for organising, looking after and filing the PhD thesis. On deposit of theses, authors will authorise the consultation and loan of their theses in writing. If there are justified reasons that require an individual author authorisation for every consultation and loan, authors will state the reasons for this and the time period within which consultations may be made.

The Research and Doctorate Committee will send the microfiche of the thesis to the Culture Ministry and to the Valencian Conselleria of Culture, Education and Science XVII. ISSUING OF DOCTOR DEGREES After approving their PhD thesis, authors may apply for the relevant issuing of the doctor degree to the Degrees Section from the Teaching and Student Service. When issuing doctor degrees, the Universitat Jaume I will comply with norms established in article 12 of the Royal Decree 778/1998. Doctor degrees must include the words “doctor from the Universitat Jaume I”; they must also mention the name of the previous authorised degree, equivalent or recognised, which the new doctor holds, together with the university name, the place and the issuing date. The name of the doctoral programme and of the department in charge must also appear. Additional regulation All processing affairs related to postgraduate studies are delegated to the presidency to facilitate administration. Transitional regulation Matters stipulated by these regulations are applicable to students starting their postgraduate studies from academic year 1999/2000. These students are subject to the regulations established by the Royal Decree 778/1998. Postgraduate students who have started their studies prior to the academic year 1999/2000 will be subject to doctorate regulations operative before the enforcement previous of the Royal Decree 778/1998, except for articles 9 and 10, and the University Regulations previous to those current. With a view to removing differences between students who start their studies under the new Royal Decree 778/1998 and those who started earlier, all PhD thesis are given an indefinite extended period of time for their submission. All Universitat Jaume I students who began their studies up to and including academic year 1998/99, and who have passed 32 credits and have registered their doctoral thesis project, will be granted the same extension by default. No transfer from other universities will be allowed to follow postgraduate studies under the old Royal Decree 185/85. Students who have taken partial third cycle studies, including those who have obtained the research aptitude diploma, within the framework of the Royal Decree 185/1985 will be able to obtain the advanced studies diploma provided for in Article 6.2 of the Royal Decree 788/98 so long as they apply for and are granted the appropriate recognition of credits by the corresponding department. The department will acknowledge credits F, M, A, free choice credits, and research work through a qualitative and quantitative evaluation. In all cases, the knowledge acquired by the interested party must be submitted to public examination as referred to in Article 6.2 of the Royal Decree 778.

Once credits and marks have been acknowledged, the Royal Decree 778/98 fully applies to the student. This acknowledgement can be obtained both by students of this university whose programme began under the auspices of the Royal Decree 185/85 and who wish to transfer to the Royal Decree 778/98, and by students coming from other universities in the same situation. Students registered on courses prior to 2001/2002 in programmes that provide for the possibility of recognition of their research work dissertations may defend their dissertation and subsequently request acknowledgment for research work on their doctoral programme. Derogatory regulation Old regulations on doctorate studies at the Universitat Jaume I approved by the Research and Doctorate Committee on 6th September 1993 and their subsequent modifications are hereby abolished, except those referred to under the transitional regulation. Final regulation. Enforcement These regulations will come into force on 1st October 1999, except for section XIV, which refers to the board appointment and constitution, and to the reading of the PhD thesis, which comes into force on 2nd May 1998. AGREEMENT on session no. 5 of the Senate, 4th March 1999, within which the Regulations on the European Doctorate at the Universitat Jaume I are approved. EUROPEAN DOCTORATE The Liaison Committee of the various national rectors’ or chancellors’ conferences from European universities (in Spain, the Universities Council) took the decision to support the award, by the universities, of a “European doctorate” mention to theses which meet certain requirements. The responsibility and the ability to award this mention falls under the specific responsibilities of each university. Because of this, and bearing in mind the fact that this mention may be taken as an added quality value to a thesis, the Research and Doctorate Committee of the Universitat Jaume I proposes the creation of the mention referred to in our University, which will be awarded to those PhD theses whose preparation and defence meet the following requirements:

1. The authorisation to defend the PhD thesis will be preceded by favourable reports from a minimum of two teachers from higher education institutions in two different European countries. 2. At least one member of the PhD assessment board will be a member of a higher education institution from another European country. This member shall not be one of those who have issued the report referred to in the previous paragraph. 3. Part of the PhD defence will be carried out in the official language of another European country. With regard to this, care will be taken that at least two members of the board have the appropriate linguistic knowledge. 4. Doctoral students will prove that they have spent a minimum of three months in another European country in the preparation of their theses.

When doctoral students are awarded the “European doctorate” mention, they have a right to be issued a certificate with the mention. Likewise, mention will be on the back of the official doctor certificate of this special award. European Doctorate Processing All third cycle students wishing to obtain the title of European Doctorate must present an application to the Third Cycle Section, requesting that they be issued the title of European Doctorate, together with a copy of their thesis and the authorisation granted for the presentation of the thesis. This application must be accompanied by: a) Two favourable reports, as outlined in point 1 of the requirements b) Certificate to prove they have spent a period of at least threemonths in another European country, during which time work related to the doctoral thesis presented was undertaken. This certificate must have been issued by the educational centre in which the research period was spent. The administrative process must follow the procedure outlined below:

1. Evaluation of the reports and the certificate outlined in a) and b) above, of the student’s application, to be undertaken by the Research and Doctorate Committee (chaired by delegation)

2. When the Research and Doctorate Committee (chaired by delegation) approves the documentation presented, the Secretary of the Examining Board will be informed in order that the corresponding administrative steps may be completed, together with the documentation for the reading of the thesis.

3. The Secretary of the Examining Board must approve the composition of the Board that will assess the thesis, and the languages in which the thesis is to be defended.

4. From the certificate provided by the Board Secretary, the Third Cycle Section, will verify that points 2 and 3 of the requirements for European Doctorate status are fulfilled, i.e.:

a) That the board included at least one representative from a higher education establishment or research institute from another European country.

b) That the thesis was partly defended in a European language other than Spanish or Valencian.

Awarding of the European Doctorate The European Doctorate can be corroborated through certificates, official title or diploma:

1. Mention in the fee payment certificate of the issuing of the award

The European Doctorate can be awarded through a mention which appears in the fee payment certificate for the issuing of the award and on the back, the title of Doctor. “The bearer of this certificate holds the title of Doctor, and has been granted European Doctorate status.” In both the fee payment certificate and the title of Doctor on the back must bear the stamp of the European Doctorate symbol or seal.

2. European Doctorate Diploma

At the same time as the official title of Doctor is issued, the student will be given a Diploma, issued by the Rector, on which the status of European Doctorate is indicated.

ANNEX I Recognition channels for foreign documents 1. Countries in which the Council of the European Union norms on academic recognition apply: France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, Greece, Portugal, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Liechtenstein.

2. The Hague Convention The countries that have ratified the Hague Convention are: Germany, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei-Darussalam, Bulgaria, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, El Salvador, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, United States of America, Estonia, Federation of Russia, Fiji, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, the Island of Mauritius, the Marshall Islands, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Yugoslavia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lesotho, Latvia, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Malawi, Malta, Mexico, Namibia, Niue, Norway, The Netherlands, Panama, Portugal, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Romania, Saint Kitts and Nevis, San Marino, Seychelles, Switzerland, South Africa, Suriname, Swaziland, Tonga, Turkey and Venezuela. The information corresponding to this authorization must come from the authorities or the Consular Offices of the country of origin.

3. Andrés Bello Agreement The signatory countries to this agreement are: Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.

ANNEX II

CRITERIA FOR THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THIRD CYCLE CREDITS FOR COURSES OR ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN OUTSIDE THE DOCTORAL

PROGRAMME The Universitat Jaume I Regulations on Doctoral studies, in accordance with Article 6 of the Royal Decree 778/998 of 30 April governing university third cycle studies, the attainment and issuing of PhDs and other post graduate studies, stipulate in section 1a) that the doctoral student may complete his or her studies by taking up to a maximum of 5 credits on courses or seminars which are not provided in his or her doctoral programme. In order to regualte this option, we propose the following criteria: 1. Inclusion of courses from other doctoral programmes.

1.1.The inclusion of courses taken on doctoral programmes other than that on which the student is registered, whether they be in the Universitat Jaume I or other Spanish or foreign universities, simply requires prior authorisation from the tutor.

1.2.The mark on the course or courses included on the programme is that which appears on

the course certificate or the corresponding academic documents. 2. Inclusion of courses or seminars that do not form part of other doctoral programmes.

2.1.The inclusion of courses or seminars organised by the Universitat Jaume I on a doctoral programme, which do not form part of other doctoral programmes requires the authorisation, prior to the course or seminar being taken, of the Research and Doctorate Committee which must determine the credits corresponding to the activity.

2.2.The department/pre-departmental unit or services or bodies responsible, and the

organisers of the activity to be acknowledged are responsible for presenting the corresponding acknowledgement application to the Research and Doctorate Committee.

2.3.The Research and Doctorate Committee must grant authorisation and acknowledgement

if the following criteria are met:

2.3.1. The authorisation of both the coordinator and the department responsible for the doctoral programme has been given.

2.3.2.The activity (course or seminar) takes place over a period of at least 30 hours. 2.3.3.The activity is taught by Doctors or professionals of recognised prestige. 2.3.4.The activity is taken after the first registration on the corresponding doctoral

programme has been processed. 2.3.5.The course includes a system of attendance control and/or marked assessment of the

knowledge acquired by the student. 2.3.6.Activities which will not be considered for acknowledgment as free choice credits

on the doctoral programme are: congresses, conferences, workshops and other scientific or academic events.

2.3.7. The content of the courses or seminars for which acknowledgement is applied for may be complementary to the content of courses taught on the doctoral programme taken by the student.

2.4. The mark from the acknowledged course or seminar, when passed, will be “pass 5”

2.5. The Research and Doctorate Committee, in exceptional circumstances, may exempt the complementary course from meeting certain of these requirements, with a previous report from the department.

3. Procedure for inclusion of free choice credits.

3.1.The student may apply for acknowledgement of free choice credits in his or her doctoral programme for courses or seminars taken:

3.1.1.When the Research and Doctorate Committee has authorised the courses or

seminars in accordance with points 2.3-2.5. 3.1.2.With a favourable report from the student’s tutor.

3.2.The student must present the application for acknowledgement to the department/pre-departmental unit responsible for the doctoral programme he or she is taking so as this department/pre-departmental unit can issue the corresponding report.

3.3.The student must include, together with the acknowledgement application form, the

documents that specify the name and type of course or seminar he or she wishes to have acknowledged, the names of the lecturers/professors who have taught it, the number of hours taught or credits, the assessment or control system and, where applicable, the mark obtained or proof of attendance in the activity.