COMMITMENT OF GOOD PRACTICES (DOCTORAL CHARTER)

The COMMITMENT OF GOOD PRACTICES  (Doctoral Charter) is the document that includes the rights and obligations of each researcher in training, and of the people who assume the direction of the thesis and the tutoring. That is why the researcher in training, and the supervisors of the thesis must know and accept its content, from the moment of the first enrollment in the Doctoral studies.

The Doctoral School demands and guarantees the compliment of this Commitment, and is accepted by the University of Lleida itself, and by all the people involved, through the validation of all the documents of the doctoral student's file.

COMMITMENT OF GOOD PRACTICES

One.- I’m aware that the functions, rights and obligations of the trainee researcher, thesis supervisor and thesis tutor are described in the Regulations for the Doctoral Schgool of the UdL.

Two.- The agreement starts upon signing of this document and takes place simultaneously when the research trainee enrols for the doctoral program for the first time, and ends at the time when he or she obtains the doctoral degree through the defence and approval of the thesis and the payment of the doctoral certificate. The agreement will be terminated when the research trainee is no longer permanently enrolled in the doctoral program.

Three.- All parties are subject, in rights and duties, to the Regulations of the Doctoral School of the University of Lleida and to any other complementary regulations that may affect them.

Four.- The research trainee and the thesis tutor and supervisor agree to carry out the work under the security measures described in the current legislation on accidents and prevention of occupational hazards. When the research involves the use of living organisms, the requirements of applicable law and codes of ethics governing experimentation with such organisms will be met. When persons are involved in the experimentation, the basic principle of confidentiality and human dignity will be followed.

Five.- The research trainee and the thesis tutor and supervisor agree to carry out the work in an original way and without unauthorized copying of other work.

Six.- The research trainee must be recognized as the holder of the rights of intellectual or industrial property, in accordance with current legislation (RD 1/1996 of 12 April on intellectual property; Law 11/1986 of 20 March and RD 55/2002 of 18 January on patents) and his or her name must appear in all papers, articles or communications to which he or she has made a significant contribution. Furthermore, the research trainee must respect the principle of intellectual property or joint ownership of data when the research is conducted in collaboration with other researchers, on the understanding that the results belong to the entity in which they are produced.

Seven.- Regardless of the property rights that may apply to the parties, the research trainee and the principal investigator agree to notify the R&D&I Support Office of any results arising from the research training that may be profitable and used for financial benefits. These results may be disseminated by the UdL provided that the rights of intellectual property arising from the research are respected.

Eight.- No monetary amounts received for the use or transfer of rights will be in the form of a salary.

Nine.- The research trainee will inform the UdL of any change of address. Failure to do so will authorize the UdL to represent the trainee researcher in any proceedings that the procedure requires. The UdL will send, in the form and to the place indicated by the research trainee, any profits arising from the industrial or intellectual property in which he or she is involved.

Ten.- The research trainee agrees to maintain the confidentiality of any confidential information provided by the thesis supervisor, tutor or any other researcher of the group and communicated by oral, written or any other means. He or she shall not communicate to third parties information concerning the research conducted for the thesis.

Eleven.- The confidentiality and secrecy agreement will continue even after the end of the administrative relationship with the UdL and may only be amended in writing with the signature of all parties involved.

Twelve.- Any dispute arising through violation of the agreements set out in this document shall be resolved in accordance with the procedure described in the document "Conflict Resolution in the Field of Doctoral Studies”.

Thirteen.- If the research trainee decides not to continue the doctoral thesis, he or she must notify the thesis supervisor of the reasons for this decision in writing.

Fourteen.- When the research trainee has passed the thesis examination, he or she will deliver a copy of the thesis to the UdL in the format indicated by the latter for depositing in the institutional register established for that purpose.

Fifteen.- When the doctoral thesis has been approved, the University of Lleida will ensure that a digital copy of the thesis is deposited in an open-access institutional repository. The institutional repository for depositing theses defended and approved at the universities of the Catalan  university system is TDX (Tesis Doctorals en Xarxa, www.tdx.cat), as described in an agreement of the Board of the Interuniversity Council of Catalonia at the meeting of 06/10/2011. To this end, together with the agreement authorizing publication, the author of the thesis will deliver the full text of the thesis in electronic format.