REGULATION OF THIRD CYCLE STUDIES IN ECONOMICS OF THE SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS, UNIVERSITY OF PORTO. Article 1 Legal Framework

Transcription

1 REGULATION OF THIRD CYCLE STUDIES IN ECONOMICS OF THE SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS, UNIVERSITY OF PORTO Article 1 Legal Framework This regulation seeks to develop and complement the legal framework introduced by Decree-Law 74/2006, of 24 th. March, as amended by Decree-Law 230/2009, of 14 th. September and by other applicable legislation, regarding the third cycle studies, and the General Regulation of Third Cycle Studies of the University of Porto (RGTCUP). Article 2 Doctorate The University of Porto, via its School of Economics, awards the Doctorate in Economics to all those who have passed an examination in all curriculum units of the doctorate, and whose preparation and defence of the thesis has been approved. Article 3 Aims Third cycle studies in Economics aim to provide an advanced education in economics and to provide doctoral students with tools that enable them to undertake high-quality theoretical and empirical research in Economics. These third cycle studies are at the forefront of Economics in terms of both methodologies and theoretical concepts and are intended to play a crucial role in advanced education in Economics in Portugal. The course aims for internationalization, by seeking to create an international impact via the academic quality and the research successes of its doctoral students and faculty. Article 4 Learning Results The award of the Doctorate in Economics reflects the following essential capacities and competences: a) The capacity of systematic thought in the academic field of Economics; b) Skills, aptitudes and research methods associated with the academic field of Economics; c) Ability to design, plan, adapt and undertake a significant research project, in accordance with the requirements imposed by the academic quality and integrity standards;

2 d) Ability to undertake an original and significant research project that contributes to the advancement of knowledge, part of which deserves to be published in Portugal or internationally in publications with a selection committee; e) Ability to analyse critically, to evaluate and summarize new and complex ideas; Ability to communicate with his/her peers, the wider academic community and society at large with regard to their field of expertise; g) Ability to promote technological, social and cultural progress in both the academic and/or the professional contexts, in a knowledge-based society. Article 5 Structure of the Cycle Studies 1 The cycle studies leading to an award of the Doctorate in Economics comprises: a) Preparation and defence of an original thesis, specifically written as part of the said studies with 120 ECTS credits; b) Achievement of a pass in a series of curriculum units, termed the Doctoral Programme (not leading to the award of a doctorate), with 120 ECTS credits. 2 The programme of the Third Cycle Studies in Economics is as published in the Diário da República" (official law gazette of the Portuguese Republic), which is an integral part of this Regulation. 3 For those doctoral students attending the course on a full-time basis, the usual duration of the cycle studies is 8 semesters. 4 Exceptionally, doctoral students may, on application by the student, duly approved by the Academic Council on the basis of a favourable opinion of the Academic Committee of the cycle studies, be exempted from attendance of the doctoral course, when the student has undertaken a coherent and relevant number of research projects in the area of Economics, which have been published, after refereeing, in publications of high international merit, in which case the cycle studies will be credited accordingly. Article 6 Admittance Rules and Application Procedure 1 To be eligible for these cycle studies leading to the award of the Doctorate in Economics, applicants must meet one of the following requirements: a) Be holders of a master s degree or of a qualification of legally equivalent standard; b) Be holders of a bachelor s degree, with an especially relevant scientific or academic curriculum, which is acknowledged by the Academic Committee as confirming the applicant s ability to undertake these cycle studies; c) Possession of an educational, academic or professional curriculum, which is acknowledged by the Academic Committee as confirming the applicant s ability to undertake these cycle studies; 2 - The acknowledgment referred to in paragraphs b) and c) of the preceding number does not grant applicants a status equivalent to a bachelor s or a master s degree. 3 Matriculation and enrolment are limited to the number of places which, together with the application deadline, will be fixed annually by the Vice-Chancellor on the basis of a

3 The proposal made by the Dean of the School of Economics and by the director of these cycle studies, after having consulted the Academic Committee of the cycle studies. 4 The number of places, the applicant ranking criteria and the application and matriculation deadlines will be announced in a public notice to be posted at the premises of the School of Economics, and published in its information system, and further made known by other means as the director of the cycle studies sees fit.5 public notice referred to above shall be affixed at least one month before the opening date for applications for the cycle studies. 6 Applications are subject to payment of the application fee stipulated in the fees schedule in force in the University of Porto, and are effected via completion of the electronic form available for that purpose in the School's information system, plus the submission of the applicant's curriculum vitae, proof of his/her academic qualifications and of all other information required in the public notice referred to in the preceding paragraphs, in digital format. Applications may also be submitted in hard copy to the Administrative Services of the cycle studies. 7 Notice of acceptance or rejection of applications shall be given in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Código do Procedimento Administrativo (Administrative Procedure Code). Article 7 Doctorate on the Sole Responsibility of the Applicant Exceptionally, applicants, who, by decision of the Academic Council of the School of Economics on the basis of a favourable opinion of the Academic Committee of the cycle studies and of two experts in the subject matter of the thesis, comply with the criteria for attendance of the cycle studies, have undertaken a coherent and relevant number of research projects in Economics, which have been refereed and published in publications of high international merit, and whose thesis is in accordance with the objectives of the award of the Doctorate in Economics, may apply to publicly defend a doctoral thesis in Economics without being enrolled in the cycle studies and without supervision. Article 8 Appointment of Supervisors and of Co-Supervisors 1 Doctoral theses must be prepared under the supervision of a doctor in Economics or of a researcher with a doctorate in Economics, who teach at the University of Porto, or, if accepted by the Academic Committee, belong to another university or research institution, national or foreign, of recognised merit. 2 In duly justified circumstances, a Co-Supervisor may be appointed. 3 Both the supervisor and the Co-Supervisor, if any, will be proposed by the Academic Committee after having consulted the student and express acceptance by the appointee(s), and will be appointed by the Academic Council of the School of Economics.

4 Article 9 Registration of the Thesis Topic and Plan 1 The thesis topic shall be proposed by the supervisor, as soon as possible and no later than the end of the doctoral course. 2 The acceptance of applicants for the preparation of a thesis and final enrolment as a doctoral student shall only take place after completion of the doctoral course, and subject to a favourable opinion of the Academic Committee of the cycle studies, which shall take the student s performance during the course and the thesis plan into consideration. 3 After final enrolment as a doctoral student, and within 30 days of receipt of the corresponding notice, the applicant must register the thesis topic and plan at School s Academic Services, which, in turn, will report the data necessary to the Direção-Geral de Estatísticas da Educação e Ciência (Directorate-General for Statistics on Education and Science) of the Ministry for Education and Science, for the inclusion of the thesis in the national register of pending doctoral theses, in accordance with Decree-Law no. 252/2002, of 2 nd. March, as reiterated by article 32 of the Decree-Law no. 74/2006, of 24 th. March, and amended by Decree-Laws No. 2107/2008, of 25 th. June, and No. 2230/2009, of 14 th September. 4 The registration shall expire if the thesis is not submitted within 5 years of the said registration. 5 The expiry of registrations may be reviewed and registrations may be renewed by decision of the Academic Committee of the cycle studies, on specific and justified grounds. Article 10 Thesis Preparation Conditions 1 Enrolment for doctoral studies may be on the basis of full-time or part-time attendance and, in the latter case, shall be in accordance with the corresponding Regulation of the University of Porto. 2 Applicants shall inform the Academic Committee annually with regard to the progress made on their theses. 3 The supervisor shall issue an opinion regarding the report. 4 The information referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be submitted in writing to the Academic Committee no later than 30 days before the end of the period during which the student s enrolment is valid. Article 11 Matriculation and Tuition Fees 1 Students shall pay matriculation fees, as per the schedule of fees in force in the University of Porto, and doctoral tuition fees, the levels of which shall be fixed by the General Council, on the basis of a proposal by the Vice-Chancellor. 2 Any reductions of tuition fees shall be defined by the General Council. Article 12 Suspension of Time-Limits

5 1 Time-limits for submission and defence of theses may be suspended by decision of the Vice- Chancellor, after having consulted the Academic Council of the School of Economics, in the following instances: a) Maternity; b) Serious and prolonged disease, or serious accidental injury of the doctoral student, that occurs during the period stipulated for the submission and defence of the thesis; c) Actual occupation of one of the positions referred to in article 73Y of the Estatuto da Carreira Docente Universitária (University Teachers Regulation), republished as an attachment to Decree-Law no. 205/2009, of 31 st August. 2 Time-limits may only be suspended while the thesis is being written. 3 Applications for suspension of time-limits shall state the duration of the suspension sought, even if the suspension application is based on factors of indeterminate duration. 4 No suspension may be authorized for more than the period until the end of the academic year. If the reasons for the suspension still prevail at the beginning of the following academic year, the student must submit a further detailed application in which the renewal of the suspension of the time-limit is requested. In the event that the student neither enrols himself/herself, nor submits an application to renew the suspension, it shall be deemed to be interrupted. 5 The student may, at any time during the suspension period granted, apply for the suspension be lifted. 6 The suspension shall be taken into consideration in the calculation of the time-limit for submission of the thesis. 7 No time-limit suspension applies to the curricular component (doctoral studies); alternatively, the student may require the cancelation of the enrolment, as foreseen in the Tuition Fees Regulation of the University of Porto. 8 The suspension of time-limits shall not operate so as to prevent the expiry of registration at the end of the corresponding validity period. Article 13 Rules on Thesis Presentation, Submission and Evaluation The thesis must be submitted in a standard format approved by the Vice-Chancellor, in Portuguese, or in another language, which is widely used in Portugal and internationally by the academic community, and shall state the name of the Supervisor and Co-Supervisor, if any, and must be submitted together with an opinion by the Supervisor, and/or Co-Supervisor, and an abstract in both Portuguese and English. Article 14 Thesis Submission Conditions 1 In order to be permitted to defend the thesis publicly, the student shall submit the corresponding application to the Academic Services of the School of Economics. 2 The application may not be submitted before the fourth enrolment in the cycle studies, except in the case of the accreditation of previous education or professional experience, or if the student presents himself/herself on his/her sole responsibility.

6 3 A student enrolled on a part-time basis may only submit his/her application to defend his/her thesis after the expiry of the period resulting from the proportional application of the general rules applicable to the cycle studies in question. 4 In the event that the student makes the application in accordance with the provisions of article 7, the student must pay fees equal to the fees payable for two years cycle studies. 5 Notwithstanding the stipulations of the above paragraphs, the application may be submitted any time after the minimal time-limits in paragraph 2 of this article, provided that both the registration of the thesis title and the applicant s enrolment are still valid. 6 The application must be submitted together with: a) Ten printed copies of the thesis and of the student s curriculum vitae; b) Ten printed copies of the thesis abstract in Portuguese and in English; c) Two copies of the thesis in digital format (CD-ROM), duly identified, together with the abstracts in Portuguese and in English; d) The opinion of the Supervisor and of the Co-Supervisor, if any; e) A statement by the student granting the University of Porto the non-exclusive licence to file and, if the student so wishes, to make the thesis available on the Internet in digital pdf format. 7 - In the event that the student submits the application on his/her sole responsibility, the application shall include: a) Ten printed copies of the thesis and of the applicant s curriculum vitae; b) Ten printed copies of the thesis abstract in Portuguese and in English; c) Two copies of the thesis in digital format (CD-ROM), duly identified, together with the abstracts in Portuguese and in English; d) Documentation attesting that the applicant complies with the criteria in article 7; e) An opinion analogous to that referred to in paragraph d) of the preceding number, signed by two professors or researchers with doctorate, who are experts in the subject matter of the thesis, appointed by the Academic Committee. 9 Once all of the said documentation has been organized, the Academic Services shall submit the same to the Academic Council within two days of the date set for the submission of the thesis. Article 15 Composition and Appointment of the Panel 1 The Academic Committee shall, within no more than 10 working days, submit a proposal to the Academic Council of the School of Economics regarding the composition of the Panel, which shall be appointed by the Vice-Chancellor, within no more than 30 working days of the date of the approval of said proposal. 2 Notice of the order appointing the Panel shall be given to the student within 5 days and the order shall be affixed in the usual public place within 5 days. 3 The student may, in the 15 days following either receipt of notice of the order referred to in the preceding paragraph, or the date on which the order was first publicly affixed, object to any member of the Panel, according to the applicable legislation. 4 The Doctorate Panel shall comprise: a) the Vice-Chancellor, or someone to whom he/she delegates the duty, who shall chair the Panel;

7 b) the Supervisor or the Co-Supervisor, if any; c) a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 5 Panel members, who shall all have doctorates and be experts in the area of the subject matter of the thesis; 5 The majority of the members of the Panel must be experts in the academic area of the subject matter of the thesis. 6 At least 2 members of the Panel shall be appointed from among professors and researchers with doctorates, from other Portuguese or foreign higher education or research institutions, who are experts in the specific academic field of the thesis. 7 One of the panel members may be a Portuguese or international expert in the specific field of the thesis, whose competence is recognised by the Academic Council of the School of Economics. Article 16 Panel Procedures and Time-Limits for the Public Defence of the Thesis 1 The Panel shall, within no more than 60 days of the affixing of the order appointing it, meet and issue its initial order in which it shall state whether or not it accepts the thesis. In the event that the Panel rejects the thesis, it shall make detailed recommendations to the student regarding the reformulation of the thesis. 2 In the event that the Panel accepts the thesis, the acceptance order shall state the conditions governing the public defence thereof: a) The time granted to the student for the viva voce presentation of the thesis; b) Identification of the main examiners. 3 In the event that the Panel recommends the reformulation of the thesis, the student shall be granted a fixed 120-day period in which to reformulate the thesis or in which to state that he/she wishes to continue with the thesis as first submitted. 4 The student shall be deemed to have abandoned his/her application if the reformulated thesis is not submitted, or the statement referred to in above paragraph is not made within the time-limit referred to in the preceding paragraph. 5 On receipt of the reformulated thesis or on the making of the statement referred to in the preceding paragraph, the Panel Chairperson shall fix a date and place for the public presentation and defence of the thesis. 6 The viva voce shall take place within no more than 60 days, as the case may be: a) of the date of the Panel s order accepting the thesis; b) of the date of receipt of the reformulated thesis, or of the student s statement that he/she waives reformulation. 7 The Panel shall decide by the majority of the votes of its members, via a roll call vote stating reasons, with no abstentions being accepted. 8 Minutes shall be taken of all meetings of the Panel, which shall record the votes of each Panel member and the reasons stated. The reasons stated may be common to some or all of the Panel members. 9 Panel meetings that take place prior to the public defence of the thesis may be held by conference call. Article 17 Rules on Thesis Public Defence Examinations

8 1 The public defence of a thesis may not take place other than in the presence of the Panel Chairperson and of a majority of the other Panel members. 2 The student shall commence the examination with an oral presentation of the thesis for no longer than 30 minutes. 3 During the discussion of the thesis, which shall take no longer than 2 hours, the student shall be given the same time as that taken by the Panel members. 4 Notwithstanding the above stipulations, the Panel Chairperson shall, at the beginning of the examination, establish the specific order and duration of each intervention, resolve any doubts and decide any contradictions in order to ensure that all rights are respected and the solemnity of the act. Article 18 Procedure for Award of the Final Mark 1 Once the oral examination has been concluded, the Panel shall meet to consider the same and to deliberate regarding the student s final mark, to be awarded via a roll call vote stating reasons with no abstentions being accepted. 2 In the event that the Panel approves the thesis but recommends that the student corrects errors, inaccuracies or formal mistakes detected and expressly mentioned during the examination, the student will only be entitled to the issue of the corresponding registration certificate once the said corrections have been implemented and validated by the Supervisor and the duly corrected copies have been submitted in both digital format and hard copy. 3 The Panel Chairperson shall not be a voting member of the Panel and shall only be entitled to vote in event of a tied vote. 4 The final mark shall be expressed in terms of Fail or Pass and, in the latter case the classification with Distinction may be awarded if the pass decision was unanimous. 5 The with Distinction classification shall depend on the exceptional academic quality of the thesis, and must take into consideration the marks obtained in the curricular units of the doctoral studies. 6 In the circumstances provided in paragraph 2, the student shall make the corrections within no more than one month of the approval, and the corrections shall be validated by the Supervisor within no more than one month of submission thereof by the student. Article 19 Doctoral Studies Diploma (not Involving the Award of a Doctorate) 1 - A pass in all curricular units of the doctoral studies entitles the student the to the grant of a Diploma of Doctoral Studies in Economics (not involving the grant of a doctorate). 2 The issue of the diploma referred to in previous paragraph will include the issue of the corresponding supplement to the Diploma, in accordance with Decree-Law no. 42/2005, of 22 nd. February, and articles 39 and 40 of Decree-Law no. 974/2006, of 24 th. March, as amended by Decree-Law no. 107/2008, of 25 th. June and by Decree-Law no. 2230/2009, of 14 th September.

9 Article 20 Doctorate Degree Certificate, its Certified Copies and Supplement 1 The degree of Doctor of Economics is evidenced by a Registration Certificate and, if requested by the student, by a Doctorate Degree Certificate issued by the proper body of the University of Porto. 2 The issue of the Doctoral Degree Certificate, the Doctorate Registration Certificate and the Supplement to the Degree Certificate is subject to the submission of the final version of the thesis, including the corrections, if any, as per the minutes of the public examination, which shall be validated by the thesis supervisor. 3 The Doctoral Degree Certificate and the corresponding Registration Certificates shall be issued together with a Supplement to the Degree Certificate in accordance with and for the purposes of Decree-Law no. 242/2005, of 22 nd. February. 4 The Doctoral Degree Certificate, together with the corresponding Supplement, shall be issued no later than 180 days after submission of the corresponding application. 5 Registration Certificates and the Supplement to the Degree Certificate shall be issued no later than 30 days after the corresponding application. Article 21 Cases Not Covered Herein The provisions of Decree-Law no. 74/2006, of 24 th. March, as amended by Decree-Law no. 107/2008, of 25 th. June, and by Decree-Law no. 230/2009, of 14 th. September, and the other applicable legislation shall apply in all circumstances not contemplated in this Regulation. All cases in respect of which there is no applicable legal provision shall be decided by order of the Vice-Chancellor. Article 22 Commencement The provisions of this Regulation shall come into force once approved by the Vice-Chancellor and published in the information system.