Obtaining a Thesis Tutor and Director (Supervisor)

 

Thesis Tutor

Once the enrollment has been completed, the Academic Committee for the PhD Program will assign the student a tutor, who will guide them during the entire period.

The Academic Committee will assign a tutor to each student at the time of acceptance to the program.

The tutor will help the student in all the initial procedures and find a potential thesis director. The Academic Committee of the PhD Program must assign a Thesis director to each student within a maximum period of 3 months after their enrollment.

The Academic Committee will be responsible for the assignment of the tutors. The procedure will normally be as follows:

1. If at the time of enrollment the student has suggested a director for their thesis, and the person agrees and can accept new doctoral students for the given academic year, the Committee will assign the person suggested by the PhD student as their tutor and director.
2. If at the time of enrollment the student has suggested a director for their thesis, but the person chosen cannot accept the role, the suggested person may still be appointed as tutor to help the PhD student to find the most suitable director for their thesis project.
3. If the student has suggested a person outside the PhD Program as a director and a faculty member of the program as a tutor, the Committee will proceed to appoint them providing they both agree.
4. In any other case, the Academic Committee will choose an available PhD Program faculty member as a tutor, whose line of research best matches the PhD student's project. If possible, the opinion of the PhD student will be taken into account, while ensuring that students are evenly distributed across the different lines of research of the PhD program.

 

Thesis Director

The thesis director (or directors) is a key figure in supervising the thesis. The Committee will take into account the student's profile and preferences to appoint the most appropriate director from among the researchers available, while ensuring that students are evenly distributed across the different lines of research of the program. The final decision to appoint the director is the responsibility of the Academic Committee. Each PhD student will have a tutor and one or two directors. The tutor and the director can be the same person. Normally, when the director is not part of the teaching staff assigned to the PhD Program, or when the director is not from the University of Malaga, the tutor and the director will not be the same person.

 

According to the PhD strategy of the University of Malaga, co-direction is especially recommended in the following situations:

1. The thesis is about an interdisciplinary topic that requires the participation of directors from different areas.
2. One of the directors is new to the role and the doctoral thesis has a marked experimental nature that requires the participation of a more experienced director.
3. Co-direction by international researchers is beneficial for the doctoral student.
4. It could help to strengthen the relationship between academia and the business world.

 

At any time, the PhD student may request a change of director or tutor, providing they justify their reasons for doing so. The PhD student should submit the request to the coordinator of the PhD Program, who will send it to the Academic Committee for consideration.