Graduating around the globe
LADISLAO SALMERÓN & MARÍA TERESA BAJO
Spain
Most PhD programs in Spain have a four-year duration, although there is some flexibility to extend it for one more year. Programs offer courses oriented towards soft research skills, such as writing scientific papers or using databases. They may also offer scientific workshops specific to the field, such as research methods. Students are usually supervised by one or two professors who take an active role in tutoring the student during the program. Some programs incorporate guidance committees during the second year, formed by a group of professors, to supervise
the adequate development of the PhD work. Nevertheless, there is still a longstanding tradition that conceives of the PhD as the work between the candidate and the advisor. Indeed, advisors have the ultimate voice in deciding if and when a dissertation can be defended. At this stage, an external committee, composed by 3-6 professors different from the advisor, must review and approve the dissertation for its defense. Those committees usually suggest rather minor changes, and although they have the right to do so, it is not common that they disapprove the dissertation and
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