Loyola Doctorados

Loyola University regards itself as a Doctoral Research University and, as stated in Art. 55 of its General Academic Regulations, is particularly interested in its teaching and research staff developing the necessary skills and competences to supervise doctoral theses.

In order to encourage and promote this academic and scientific activity, Loyola University awards 150 points per thesis supervised in its staff assessment system. In this regard, it should be noted that a full-time lecturer must earn at least 1,000 points per year (other positions have proportional reductions). In this same section, it awards 300 points for an article indexed in the JCR, 50 points for a communication/paper/poster and 25 points per credit (10 hours) for teaching at doctoral level.

Documents and tools to facilitate the management and supervision work carried out by tutors and supervisors of doctoral training activities and doctoral theses

As stated in point 5 of Article 54 of the General Academic Regulations of Loyola University:

Each doctoral student and their tutor and thesis supervisor will sign a documentary supervision agreement. This agreement will be signed as soon as possible after admission and will include the procedure for settling disputes and aspects relating to any intellectual or industrial property rights that may arise in the context of the doctoral programme.

Its signature implies an agreement between the University, the PhD student and their tutor and thesis supervisor(s), and to this end, the signatories take on a commitment regarding the supervisory functions, the dispute settlement procedure, and any aspects relating to intellectual property that may arise in the course of the doctoral thesis within the scope of the doctoral programme.

The Doctoral School has developed resources to make it easier for tutors and supervisors to follow up doctoral students:

• The Doctoral Student Follow-up and Support Plan, which aims to improve the supervision and support of tutors and supervisors through different actions that allow for the comprehensive training of the doctoral student.

• SIAP Guide for tutors and supervisors, which describes the details of the documentation management platform where tutors and supervisors store all the information related to the doctoral programme.

• Guide for the teaching staff of the Doctoral School, which defines the steps and tasks to be carried out by the teaching staff of the doctoral programmes.

• Protocol for teaching in the Doctoral School, which lists the steps to be carried out by the teaching staff to ensure that the classes are carried out properly.

• Documents referring to the training plan, which are those relating to the planning and follow-up meetings that must be held between the doctoral student and their tutor and supervisor(s) in order to design a training and research itinerary for each academic year, ensuring the smooth progress of their doctoral thesis.

In accordance with the provisions of Royal Decree 99/2011 of 28 January, the follow-up of the doctoral programme is the responsibility of the academic committee and, in accordance with Article 52 of the General Academic Regulations, the composition and functions of the latter are as follows:

The functions of the academic committee are as follows:

1. To propose the appointment of the thesis supervisor and co-supervisor to the Director of the Doctoral School and, once the thesis has been read, the change thereof, provided that there are legitimate reasons for doing so.

2. To propose the appointment of the doctoral student's tutor to the Director of the Doctoral School and, once the thesis has been read, the change thereof, provided that there are legitimate reasons for doing so.

3. To carry out the annual assessment of the doctoral student's research plan and activity document.

4. To review the documentation provided by the doctoral student for the doctoral thesis and to authorise or reject the defence of the thesis, submitting a reasoned report on its decision.

5. To authorise the proposed examining board, if appropriate.

6. Any other duties assigned to it by the regulations in force.

Article 54. Doctoral students

1. The status of doctoral student shall be acquired provided that annual enrolment has been made at the university for the academic supervision of the doctoral programme.
2. In the case of joint programmes, the respective agreement shall establish the manner in which the enrolment shall be carried out.
3. Each doctoral student shall be assigned a tutor from among the lecturers on the programme. Their mission is to advise the doctoral student so that they can carry out their research work in optimum conditions.
4. Each student on a doctoral programme shall be assigned a thesis supervisor within a maximum of three months after enrolment.
5. Doctoral students shall be provided with a document of doctoral activities in which all training and research activities carried out by the doctoral student shall be recorded. It shall be regularly reviewed by the tutor and the thesis supervisor, and supervised annually by the academic committee responsible for the doctoral programme.
6. Each doctoral student and their tutor and thesis supervisor will sign a documentary supervision agreement. This agreement will be signed as soon as possible after admission and will include the procedure for settling disputes and aspects relating to any intellectual or industrial property rights that may arise in the context of the doctoral programme.
7. Before the end of the year, each doctoral student under second and subsequent years of academic supervision shall draw up a progress report, which shall be endorsed by their thesis supervisor and tutor, and shall include at least the following aspects: monitoring of the timing and progress of the thesis.
8. The academic committee's assessment of the research plan and the progress report, together with the reports issued for this purpose by the supervisor and tutor, may be positive or negative. In the latter case, the doctoral student will be asked to submit a new research plan or progress report within six months. If the assessment continues to be negative or the report is not submitted, the academic committee shall issue a report explaining the reasons for the student's definitive withdrawal from the programme.
9. Both figures (tutor and supervisor) shall hold a doctoral degree and have proven research experience. To make this assignment, the academic committee of the doctoral programme shall use the following procedure:

Process and criteria for assigning a tutor

The academic committee shall assign a tutor to each doctoral student at the time of admission, in accordance with the following criteria:

• The tutor shall always be a lecturer from the doctoral programme and from the line of research in which the doctoral student is carrying out their doctoral thesis. A tutor may be assigned to one or more doctoral students.
• The tutor may also be the supervisor (or one of the supervisors) of the doctoral thesis, provided that they meet the requirements of the regulations and are approved by the academic committee of the doctoral programme.
• The tutor assigned shall be the same for all years of doctoral training unless one of the parties involved requests otherwise. In such cases, the programme coordinator, with the approval of the academic committee, shall be responsible for issuing a decision.

Loyola University has three campuses in the cities of Cordoba, Granada and Seville, all of which are equipped with state-of-the-art technological systems. However, since this Doctoral Programme is attached to the Seville Campus, this section will focus on describing the facilities of the latter.

The material resources and services available for the Doctoral Programme in Engineering described below are in line with the training objectives and teaching planning envisaged for the degree, are adapted to the characteristics of the European Higher Education Area and the ECTS methodology and allow for the teaching of master classes, group work, organisation of seminars, as well as the needs of the more practical subjects (computer rooms, specialised laboratories, etc.).

The buildings are air-conditioned and are equipped throughout with fibre optic cabling, Wi-Fi coverage, fire escapes, fire detection and extinguishing equipment, and an anti-intrusion system with surveillance cameras.

The Campus has lifts, ramps and adapted services that allow access and use of the facilities for people with special needs. The car park annexed to the Campus has 1,170 parking spaces.

General Material Resources

Classrooms

All classrooms are equipped with the necessary furniture for maximum occupancy and with the necessary teaching resources: blackboards, projectors for computer and video connection, Wi-Fi and wired Internet connection, wireless microphones, computer integrated in the lecturer's desk and an automatic curtain system for darkening the classroom.

Moreover, the size of the classrooms is adapted to the size of the groups and the type of furniture facilitates the application of the ECTS methodology. The existence of movable tables facilitates group work. The Information and Communication Technologies incorporated in each of the classrooms allow for a teaching-learning process adapted to the European Education Area.

Location and General Description of the Dos Hermanas - Seville Campus

The Dos Hermanas - Seville Campus is located in Avenida de las Universidades s/n, 41703 Seville. It is in the Entrenúcleos area of the municipality of Dos Hermanas, with access by SE-40, Metro L1, Cercanías (local train) and urban bus line 5.

The Campus has a plot of 110,944 m² and 28,407 m² of parking space. The facilities occupy four buildings: main building, library, chapel, sports building, plus changing rooms and sports courts, with a total gross floor area of 38,805 m2, as well as an outdoor plaza and green areas.

Group Work Rooms

There are rooms for group work, located in the main building and library, especially designed for study within the ECTS system. These rooms have a capacity for 130 students and 76 students respectively. The rooms are freely accessible, allowing students to meet with their work groups at any time and have access to the Wi-Fi network.

Computer rooms

The Campus has a complete and redundant fibre optic connection, with main communications cabinets in the various blocks and distribution cabinets on each floor. The wired network provides service to all areas of the buildings, both teaching and functional.

There is wireless Wi-Fi coverage throughout the Campus, so it is possible to access the Internet from any location.

Distance learning: Virtual Classroom

The training offered by the Doctoral Programmes of Loyola University is, to a large extent, face-to-face and virtual, and to enable doctoral students to attend the planned sessions in real time, the university has a virtual platform. This creates a space where lecturer and students can interact in the same way as they would in a physical classroom:

• Students see and hear lecturers in real time.
• Students can intervene at any time through audio and video or through a chat integrated in the virtual session.
• Lecturers can share all types of documents (PowerPoint, Word, Excel, videos, etc.) and use a digital whiteboard.
• Lecturers can assign privileges to participants so that they can share their documents, thus encouraging participation as if it were a physical classroom.

The Cisco WebEx service is delivered on demand, so students have as many Virtual Sessions available on the platform as they have scheduled in the subjects in which they are enrolled in this modality. Broadcasting is done by streaming, i.e. users do not download anything to their computers; viewing is done by storing a minimum amount of information (buffering) for viewing the content.

On the other hand, the doctoral programmes of Loyola University have their own structure on the Moodle platform, which has a space enabled for each subject where the teaching team can upload content (material, video explanatory pills, timetable, etc.) and share it with students prior to the classes. In addition, this tool hosts the Doctoral School Community, which through a system of alerts and notifications, is the main channel of communication between students, teaching staff and the management area of the Doctoral School, allowing constant and smooth communication between the parties.

Specific Material Resources

The Doctoral Programme in Engineering also has specific facilities for doctoral students to develop and implement their research, namely:

Materials and Sustainability (M&S) Laboratory

The aim of the laboratory is to support the experimental research of the Materials and Sustainability group. The group's research is based on the design of catalysts and materials for the capture of carbon dioxide and its transformation into valuable products through chemical and electrochemical processes, the thermochemical storage of energy, the study of alternatives for the catalytic conversion of biomass and the virtual design of materials for sustainable applications.

Laboratory for the Optimisation and Control of Distributed Systems (ODS)

The laboratory of the Optimisation and Control of Distributed Systems (ODS) research group is a space where lecturers, PhD students, laboratory technicians and equipment used to carry out different types of experiments coexist.

Although the ODS research group also carries out theoretical research in distributed control and estimation, it is the applied research lines that make intensive use of this space. There are two applied lines: Autonomous Surface Vehicles, which proposes the use of fleets of autonomous aquatic vehicles as a versatile platform for the execution of different missions related to the sustainability of rivers, lakes or reservoirs; and Smart Agriculture, in which the ODS group pursues digitalisation to move towards smart and sustainable agriculture.

The Academic Committee is responsible for the follow-up of PhD graduates from the Doctoral Programme in Engineering at Loyola Andalucía University. To carry out this task, both the Doctoral School and the Vice-Rectorate for Research of Loyola Andalucía University will provide the Academic Committee with the necessary material and human resources.

The follow-up of PhD graduates from the programme will be carried out by means of the following:

• Design and development of the programme's alumni database, which will be integrated with the Doctoral School's alumni database.

- Assessment of the level of satisfaction of the graduates after the reading of the Doctoral Thesis.

- Design of specific activities such as seminars, courses and conferences for Doctoral Programme alumni.

- Maintenance of regular contacts (at least once a year) by the Administration and Services Staff of the Vice-Rectorate for Research.

- Design and development of a specific interactive section (graduates will be able to add the relevant information, if they so wish) on the University's website (Vice-Rectorate for Research) offering, at least, the following contents:

o Specific activities for PhD graduates from the Doctoral Programme.

o Information of interest to all former doctoral students who, for whatever reason, have not been able to successfully complete their doctoral studies.

o Job offers channelled through the University's Job Bank.

o Information of interest from the University's Innovation Office: new emerging ideas, knowledge-based business projects, patent management, etc.

o Announcements of R&D&I projects.

o Information on the progress of R&D&I projects underway.

o Information on scholarships and jobs offered by Loyola Andalucía University for PhDs.

o Information of interest on University Chairs and Institutes.

o Information on mobility channelled through the International Relations Service of Loyola Andalucía University.

o Who's who with the contacts and jobs of any graduates who wish to publish this information.

o A section for graduates to share activities, news, etc. Of interest to the group.

The aims of the follow-up activities of the programme's graduates are:

• To disseminate useful information among the group for their professional and occupational development.
• To update their academic and scientific knowledge and skills.
• To promote the creation and maintenance of researcher networks.
• To promote the creation and dissemination of knowledge.
• Graduates from the programme will have the following channels to maintain contact with the Doctoral Programme, the Doctoral School and the Vice-Rectorate for Research:
• Personal contact through the Administration and Services Staff of the Vice-Rectorate for Research.
• Carrying out some of the programmed activities.
• Contact through the University website (Vice-Rectorate for Research).

The forecast of the percentage of doctoral students who obtain grants for postdoctoral contracts in the Doctoral Programme in Engineering at Loyola University Andalusia is as follows:

• Year 1: 20%
• Year 2: 30%
• Year 3: 40%

The forecast of the percentage of doctoral students who will get a job linked to the training received in the Doctoral Programme in Engineering at Loyola Andalucía University is as follows:

• Year 1: 30%
• Year 2: 40%
• Year 3: 50%

The statistical information on the employability of students on this Doctoral Programme will be compiled by the Doctoral School. For this purpose, the Vice-Rectorate for Research will provide the necessary material and human resources for this task. The results of the analysis of this information will contribute to the continuous improvement of the programme by means of:

• Assessment of the overall level of satisfaction after the reading of the Doctoral Thesis. These opinions will be of relevance in the design and development of the programme's research and training activities.
• Collection and analysis of the opinions/suggestions of graduates through the aforementioned channels for maintaining contact. These opinions will be of relevance for the design of activities following the reading of doctoral theses that contribute to enhancing the employability of the programme's graduates.

When accessing information about programme graduates, current legislation on personal data protection will be taken into account. All graduates of the programme will have the right, with prior written notification, to modify their data, as well as to delete, if they so wish, any information that Loyola Andalucía University has about them that is not strictly academic.

Loyola Andalucía University undertakes not to use the information available on graduates of the Doctoral Programme for purposes other than those mentioned above.

In all cases, the principles of equal opportunities and non-discrimination for reasons of sex, race, religion or disability, as well as any other personal or social condition or circumstance, will be taken into account. This is intended to guarantee their access to available information and the exercise of their rights.

The knowledge required for admission to the Doctoral Programme in Engineering at Loyola University conforms to one of the following 3 profiles:

Profile 1

A degree in Industrial Technologies Engineering, Electromechanics, Energy or Electronics, Robotics and Mechatronics and related engineering fields, and a postgraduate level in one of the areas of knowledge related to the aforementioned degree qualifications awarded by an official master's degree programme in the European Union with a research or mixed focus in which the candidate has completed the research itinerary and a Master's Thesis of 12 ECTS credits or more.

Profile 2

A degree in Industrial Technologies Engineering, Electromechanics, Energy or Electronics, Robotics and Mechatronics and related engineering fields, and a postgraduate level in one of the areas of knowledge related to the aforementioned degree qualifications awarded by an official master's degree programme in the European Union, with a professional or mixed focus in which the candidate has completed the professional itinerary. Those who fit this second admission profile will have the opportunity to access the Doctoral Programme by taking the appropriate further training courses proposed by the programme's Academic Committee.

Profile 3

A degree in engineering, physical sciences, chemistry, computer science or mathematics, awarded by an official master's degree programme in the European Union, regardless of its focus. Industrial Engineering or similar from previous Spanish university degrees, in which the course load is equal to or higher than 300 credits, and therefore offer the possibility of pursuing a doctorate. Engineering studies from International Universities in 5-year programmes, qualifying students in their country of origin to undertake doctoral studies. Those who fit this third admission profile will have the opportunity to access the Doctoral Programme by taking the appropriate further training courses proposed by the Academic Committee.

Language Requirements and Levels

In addition to the above, in order to be admitted to the programme, candidates must accredit a B2 level of English through the qualifications accepted by Loyola University. If they are unable to do so, they will take a level test (online) developed by Loyola School of Language, Culture and Communication during the admission process.

Further Training

The admission of candidates who apply to the programme with profile 2 and 3 will be conditional on the completion of a series of further training courses. These will be designated by the Academic Committee of the programme and may be:

• 12 ECTS credits: completion of the Equivalent Research Project (ERP).
• 16 ECTS credits: taking one of the activities of the Master's Degree in Research Methods Applied to the Social Sciences (MUMICS) or the Master's Degree in Industrial Engineering and the Master's Degree in Renewable Energies and Energy Transition or the ERP.