Doctorates in Cotutelle

UAlg's doctoral programmes allow the signing of a Specific Doctoral Agreement for studies under the international joint supervision regime (cotutelle agreements).

Joint supervision is the regime under which a doctoral student can simultaneously obtain a doctoral degree in two, or more, higher education institutions offering doctoral programmes, with or without taught components, provided that the participating institutions recognise these programmes like counterparts.

Objectives:

This type of opportunity aims to stimulate and promote scientific cooperation and the mobility of doctoral students. The specific agreement establishes a joint supervision framework for the programme to be carried out by the PhD student.

The doctoral student must spend a period of time working in each of the institutions where the doctorate is held, under the responsibility of the respective supervisors.

Conditions

At the University of Algarve, the doctoral student must spend at least one year at the university, of which a minimum of six months must be spent actually attending. The remaining six months can be spent ​on a distance learning system as long as it is supervised.

Whether or not doctoral students decide to dedicate part of their work period to supervised distance learning, they are obliged, before defending their thesis, to prove the production of at least one joint publication, affiliated with the University of Algarve, in a scientific journal or conference minutes, certified by the opinion of the UAlg supervisor.

Without prejudice to the provisions of the second paragraph above, the doctoral student and supervisors must determine between themselves as to how the working time in each institution will be divided, taking into account the specific research requirements and the circumstances of the studies for the doctoral degree.

Consult regulation (see box).