As a general rule, within the Doctoral Programme in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biomedicine, the supervision of doctoral theses and the monitoring of doctoral candidates shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 11 of Royal Decree 99/2011 (as amended by Royal Decree 576/2023), which regulates doctoral studies, as well as the UCM regulations implementing this Royal Decree.

Every year, the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme shall evaluate the Research Plan and the Record of Activities, together with the reports to be issued by the academic tutor and the thesis supervisor (tutor's report) (supervisor's report). These documents must be submitted by email to the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme (dbbm@ucm.es). A positive evaluation is an essential requirement for continuing in the programme. In the event of a negative evaluation, which must be duly justified, the doctoral candidate shall be re-evaluated within a period of six months, for which purpose a new Research Plan must be prepared. If a second negative evaluation is issued, the doctoral candidate shall be permanently withdrawn from the programme. This decision may be appealed before the UCM Doctoral Committee.

UCM email account

Students must have a UCM email account in order to access RAPI2 (the electronic application for the Registration of Activities and Research Plan). If a UCM account is not available, students must request “UCM Account Activation” https://www.ucm.es/activacion-del-correo-electronico-institucional-1.

Students experiencing any problems should contact the Secretariat of their Faculty or School. The Third-Cycle Office currently uses the email address provided by the student during the admission process, but it will normally communicate with students through their UCM email account. As some students may not regularly check their UCM email account, they are strongly advised to check it regularly or to set up email forwarding to their personal email account.

Record of Activities and Research Plan

For the assessment of training activities and the Research Plan, once a student has enrolled in the programme, a PERSONALISED RECORD OF ACTIVITIES will be created for each doctoral candidate for the purposes of maintaining an individualised monitoring record (Article 2.5 of Royal Decree 99/2011). This record shall include all activities relevant to the development of the doctoral studies, in accordance with the regulations established by the UCM or by the Academic Committee itself. The record shall be regularly reviewed by the academic tutor and thesis supervisor and evaluated by the Academic Committee responsible for the Doctoral Programme.

Before the end of the first year, the doctoral candidate must prepare a RESEARCH PLAN, which may be further developed and refined throughout their time in the programme. The plan shall include, at a minimum, the methodology to be used, the objectives to be achieved, as well as the resources and timetable required to achieve them. The plan may be further developed and detailed throughout the doctoral candidate's period in the programme and must be endorsed by the academic tutor and thesis supervisor and approved by the Academic Committee of the programme.

A personal training plan for the doctoral candidate was introduced as a new requirement under Royal Decree 576/2023. This plan shall contain a schedule of the training activities to be undertaken during the doctoral studies (courses, delivery of seminars, mobility activities, etc.). A corresponding section has been incorporated into RAPI as part of the Research Plan.

The Doctoral School's website provides details of the requirements for this Training Plan at the following link: Training Plan (only for doctoral candidates who started their studies from the 2023–24 academic year onwards) | Doctoral School. The page includes the relevant instructions and specific documents, depending on the doctoral candidate's study dedication status. This document must be submitted together with the Record of Training Activities and the Research Plan.

The Training Plan must also be completed by doctoral candidates who commenced their studies in the 2023–24 academic year.

Access to RAPI2

Access to the Record of Activities and Research Plan through the RAPI2 (Registration of Activities and Research Plan) application is available through the Academic Management Portal at https://geaportal.ucm.es/. Students must select the RAPI icon and then authenticate themselves. The relevant document can be accessed by selecting the “Record of Activities and Research Plan” option.

The “User Guide” for doctoral candidates, explaining how to complete the Record of Activities and Research Plan in RAPI2, is available at https://edoctorado.ucm.es/file/guia-rapi2-ucm. The guide explains the procedure to be followed for completing the different sections. Frequently asked questions about the “RAPI2” application are available at https://edoctorado.ucm.es/textos/260415, together with an RAPI2 explanatory video.

The UCM Doctoral School website provides the Calendar for the Joint Evaluation of the Doctoral Candidate's Record of Activities and Research Plan, including the deadline for making changes (16 June this academic year; see evaluation calendar) to the Record of Activities and Research Plan in the RAPI2 application.

It should be noted that the information recorded in RAPI2 is the only information that will be taken into consideration when the doctoral thesis is deposited.

DOCUMENTS (TRAINING ACTIVITIES AND RESEARCH PLAN) TO BE SUBMITTED TO dbbm@ucm.es

The Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme recommends keeping an updated Word document containing all academic achievements and merits (CV), since the annual evaluation requires submission of a single PDF containing the complete information, the corresponding supporting documentation, and the signatures and approval of the academic tutor and thesis supervisor(s) (template for the Record of Training Activities).

This document should include publications, attendance at conferences and seminars (specifying at least the title of the presentation, speaker and venue), courses completed, conference attendance, mobility activities, and any other activity that the doctoral candidate wishes to have recorded in their academic file.

It is also recommended that the Research Plan be maintained in Word format and include the following information:

1. Thesis title, academic tutor and thesis supervisor, as well as the location where the research is being conducted.
2. The sections required in RAPI2:
   • Methodology to be used
   • Objectives to be achieved
   • Resources to be used
   • Timeline for the Research Plan
   • “Other” section, in which the background to the research should be described

Research Plan template (doctoral candidates admitted before the 2023–24 academic year)

Research Plan template (doctoral candidates admitted from the 2023–24 academic year onwards)

Recommended length: 2–3 A4 pages, Arial 11 pt; the document must be signed and endorsed by the academic tutor and thesis supervisor(s).

Documents that the PhD student should send to PDBBMBiomed@ucm.es

The Academic Commission of the Doctoral Programme recommends having an updated Word document with all the merits (CV). For the annual evaluation a single pdf is requested with complete information, the corresponding justifications and signed with the approval of the tutor and director/s (template for the training activities document).
This document should include publications, attendance at conferences/seminars (indicating at least the title of the talk, speaker and place), courses attended, attendance at congresses, mobility activities and any other activity that the doctoral student wishes to be included in his or her dossier.

It is also advisable to have the Research Plan in Word format indicating:

1. Title of the thesis, tutor and director/s as well as the place where the thesis will be carried out.
2. Aspects that are requested in RAPI2:
   • Methodology to be used
     Objectives to be achieved
     Means to be used
     Temporal planning of the research plan
     Other" section (where the background of the work should be collected)

Research Plan Template (recommended length: 2-3 DIN-A4, Arial 11pt font)