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Date of last update: 2025-06-04

If you want to add a co-advisor to your thesis, both you and your thesis advisor must consider the following.

The CAPDIB does not have specific criteria for admitting new professors to the program and is governed by the UPM regulations for researcher admissions.

In summary, the UPM regulations indicate the following:

• Having an active research accreditation (sexenio) or, alternatively, presenting 5 scientific contributions from the last 5 years along with their quality indicators.
• Being affiliated with the proposing university or, alternatively, having a specific collaboration agreement.
• It requires the express authorization of the responsible authority of the university or organization from which the applicant originates.

1. Access the link to the Thesis-specific form for external individuals to request a Thesis service account: https://www.upm.es/atencion_usuario/solicitud.upm?peticion=2750.
2. The researcher applicant should fill it out to obtain access to Thesis. Once access is granted, they can submit their admission request through the Thesis platform.

In particular, attention should be paid to point "3. PROCEDIMIENTO DE SOLICITUD DE ALTA", which states that: the PhD interested in joining as a researcher in a doctoral program will submit their application —this step currently corresponds to the application through Thesis mentioned earlier— to the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Program, attaching:

• The researcher admission form for the doctoral program, duly completed (this happens automatically when submitting the application through Thesis).

• Justification that the researcher meets the specific criteria of the doctoral program for supervising theses (in CAPDIB we do not have, they are those of UPM: research accreditation or 5 contributions, and affiliation to a center).

• An updated CV reflecting their scientific production, supervised doctoral theses, and direction of projects or contracts. Additionally, the applicant's ORCID record must be updated and include the relevant information.

• Express authorization to participate in the doctoral program issued by the responsible authority of the university, organization, or company from which the applicant originates. This varies by university. Some have implemented mechanisms to grant permissions, but others do not, leading to uncertainties, and inquiries must be made. There have been cases where the signature of the doctoral program coordinator at its university, or its Vice-Rector for Research.

If everything goes well, the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Program will include it in its next meeting. CAPDIB only provides favorable or unfavorable information, but does not make the decision regarding the admission of new researchers, as it is elevated and decided by CAD-TIC in its next meeting. You can check the meeting dates on the ETSIT website.

Once the new advisor has been admitted, the student, from Thesis, must initiate the co-advisorship request. There, they can select the name of the new thesis advisor, and they will be asked to provide the following information:

• Indicate whether it is: (i) interdisciplinary (most of the time), (ii) inter-institutional, (iii) international, or (iv) training (if the current advisor is a training professor).
• Knowledge field of the current advisor.
• Knowledge field of the proposed advisor.
• Justification for the collaboration of the current advisor.
• Justification for the collaboration of the proposed co-advisor.

In the justification for the need to add a co-advisor to their thesis, it should be made clear that it complements the current supervision, and that the contribution is orthogonal to the current supervision, not a duplication of it. The new thesis advisor should justify their interest in participating in the thesis supervision, explaining how their experience and knowledge are relevant to the student's research project.

Both the current advisor and the new co-advisor must accept the co-advisorship request from Thesis. Once accepted, it will be sent to the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Program for approval.

Good luck with your co-advisorship!

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