The Doctoral Studies Extraordinary Awards are honorary mentions that the Menéndez Pelayo International University may grant in recognition of the high quality of Doctoral Theses, in accordance with the provisions of Royal Decree 99/2011, of 28 January, which regulates Official Doctoral Studies.
In the Grants and Burseries web link you can consult UIMP Doctoral Studies Extraordinary Awards Announcements.
Competency
The Rector of the Menéndez Pelayo International University will convene each academic year the Doctoral Studies Extraordinary Awards.
Applicant's requirements
The Doctoral Studies Extraordinary Awards may be granted to those Doctoral Theses presented at the Menéndez Pelayo International University that have been defended within the deadlines set out in the corresponding calls for applications and that have obtained:
- the mention "Cum Laude"
- the positive report, unanimously, of the Thesis Examining Board on the option for Doctoral Studies Exceptionalism Award.
Scope of application
The prizes will be convened for each of the Doctoral Programs:
- Doctoral Program in Science and Technology
- Doctoral Program in Economics and Government
Call for applications
For the purpose of establishing the corresponding calls, the Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies Committee of the Menéndez Pelayo International University will update annually, for each Doctoral Program, the list of Doctoral Theses that have obtained the highest grade and will proceed to publish the call for the awards, taking into account what is established in the following section.
Number of Awards
An annual award may be granted, in each Doctoral Program, for every five Theses read and obtaining the highest grade in the academic year prior to the academic year immediately preceding that of the call.
In the event that the aforementioned number is not reached in the academic year, in any of the programs, the Doctoral Theses read in two or more academic years will be accumulated until the aforementioned numer is reached. If, on the other hand, the number of Doctoral Theses read exceeds this number, the number of awards that may be granted will be the result of dividing the number of Theses read by five and rounding the result to the nearest whole number.
Deadlines and submission of applications
The awards will be announced before 15 February each year.
The application must be submitted in the place and by the deadline established in the call for entries (which, in any case, must be before 31 March), together with the documentation that is to serve as the basis for the assessment.
Each applicant must compete in the quota corresponding to the area to which he/she has been assigned within the corresponding call for applications, not having the option to compete in subsequent calls for applications.
- Application for the Doctoral Studies Extraordinary Awards (Forms).
Evaluation and Award Proposal
The evaluation and proposal for the awarding of the prizes will be the responsibility of the Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies Committee, which will be advised by as many experts as it deems appropriate.
The provisional award proposal, which must be made before 31 May, will be based on the following evaluation criteria:
1. Scientific impact:
- Publications associated with the Doctoral Thesis - Up to 2.5 points for each publication, weighted according to the type of publication and indicating the evidence of quality of these publications: full national or international book, chapter in national or international book, article in national or international journal, with external evaluation or without external evaluation, and dissemination works. The prestige of the journal or publisher that has published the work will be assessed (e.g., the indicators published in the Journal Citation Reports, Science / Social Sciences Citation Index, Institute for Scientific Information, Scholarly Publishers Indicator or other indicators used by the National Commission for the Evaluation of Research Activity in the respective areas). In the case of collaborations, the applicant must justify his/her participation in the work.
- Presentations at congresses associated with the Doctoral Thesis: Up to 1 point, weighted according to the type of congress (International or National). An assessment will also be made differentiating the category of the presentation (poster, communication, paper or conference by invitation).
- Patents, degree of technology transfer achieved or awards obtained - Up to 1 point.
- Invitations or stays in other academic institutions for reasons associated with the Thesis, after its defense: Up to 1 point.
2. International Doctor Mention/Theses carried out under cotutellge agreements with foreign universities: 2,5 points .
3. Other merits directly related to the Doctoral Thesis: up to 2 points.
Those members of the Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies Committee and those experts who have been Thesis Supervisors or Tutors of any of the applicants must abstain from intervening in the evaluation and award proposal.
Awarding of prizes and complaints
Once the Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies Committee has published the provisional proposals, these may be subject to complaints within the period established in the call for applications.
Once the allegations have been resolved by the Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies Committee, after hearing the interested party, the Committee shall submit the definitive proposals to the University Governing Council, which shall have the power to decide on the awarding of the prizes.
The final decision will be published on the website of the Vice-Rectorate of Postgraduate and Research, and will be notified personally and in writing to the beneficiaries.
All those Doctors who have been awarded a Doctoral Studies Extraordinary Award will be entitled to:
- The issue of a Diploma/Certificate accrediting the awarding of the prize.
- Exemption from, or reimbursement, where applicable, of the fees for the awarding of the Doctoral Degree Certificate.
An appeal may be brought before the Rector of the Menéndez Pelayo University against the resolution to grant the Doctoral Studies Extraordinary Award, adopted by the Vice-Rectorate for Postgraduate Studies and Research, within a period of one month from the date of publication of the said resolution.
