PhD Thesis project development

On the website of the UAM Doctoral School Detailed information is provided on all the procedures to be followed by doctoral students from their registration. It is recommended to review all the subsections of the tab doctoral students periodically in order to stay informed about the first guardianship and successive guardianships, about the formation activities, about academic-administrative affairs and other information that the Doctoral School eventually deems appropriate to include. The text that follows is a summary to guide doctoral students on the development of the doctorate (point 1), on specific aspects for doctoral students with scholarships and contracts (point 2) and on the mandatory annual reports (point 3).

1. Overview

Within four months of enrollment, the student should submit to the Academic Committee an Initial Research Plan though SIGMA platform. This plan consists of a summary of the relevant scientific background, the hypotheses to be tested and the experiments and analysis to be carried out. The plan must include the Advisor’s approval. The Academic Committee will evaluate and eventually approve the plan.

Along with the Research Plan, the student must sign a Legal & Ethics Agreement regarding good scientific practice and intellectual property rights. This document should first be sent to the Academic Commission for approval and signature. Subsequently, the signed document must be sent to EDUAM for final validation and record.

Once the Initial Research Plan is approved, the student should open a Student Activities Logbook (DAD) to record the scientific activities developed and events attended while in the Program (attendance to seminars or courses, short stays in other laboratories, scientific presentations at meetings, publications, etc.). The relevance of the activities recorded should be subsequently endorsed by the Thesis Advisor.

Abstracts or full-length publications recorded in the DAD must specifically list the “PhD Program in Neuroscience, Autonoma de Madrid University-Cajal Institute, Spain 28029” as the student’s primary institutional affiliation. On a yearly basis, the Academic Committee of the Program will evaluate the results recorded in the DAD.

Before the end of the first Tutorship Period, the student and Advisor should together submit the first Annual Progress Report to the Academic Committee. Once the first annual report is approved, the student can enroll in the "Second Annual Tutorship". The same process will be iterated each year until the thesis is finally submitted for defense. During these years, the student must continue to record his/her activities in the DAD.

2. Certification of teaching activities:

The Department of Anatomy, Histology and Neuroscience of the UAM can officially certify teaching activities to PhD students who carry out their Thesis under a research or scholarship contract signed with the UAM. Students interested in this possibility must discuss his/her annual allocation of teaching activities with the Department’s Head. A specific agreement on this issue should be established before signing the contract or accepting the scholarship at UAM.