5. Tutoring and co-tutoring triadic didactic system
(30 credits per year assigned to research)

The tutoring and co-tutoring triadic system is aimed at monitoring the development of research programmes at both national and foreign training sites over the entire period up to the final dissertation. Students are assigned their own research “space” on the web-site in order to update their project and to allow supervision by national and foreign tutors and monitoring by the Programme Director.

Within this tutoring and co-tutoring triadic didactic system, research trainees are required:

a) to spend at least 6 months conducting research in two different European countries. This unique feature of the European/International Joint Ph.D. programme enables research trainees to work alongside their foreign tutors in a new and stimulating research environment. This training is characterised by a multidisciplinary and multi-method approach. Each network university site has special expertise in a particular methodological approach to research in social representations. The research trainee is thus exposed to a variety of complementary methodological approaches;

b) to maintain regular communication with their national and foreign tutors. According to the circumstances, this can be in a face-to-face interactive and/or computer mediated communication context through the dedicated European/International Joint Ph.D. web-auditorium, forum discussion and multipoint videoconferences;

c) to attend courses and complete study and research activities in a timely fashion within the structures designed for that purpose, collaborating on institutional projects designated by the director of that structure and from the coordinating body of the doctoral programme. Doctoral candidates can participate in supplementary activities, such as seminars and tutoring, for a maximum of 50 hours annually. However, they cannot participate in commissions examining undergraduate candidates (laurea);

d) to submit an extensive yearly report to be presented during a dedicated training session at the International Summer School and a critical review of the bibliography of research conducted;

e) to write their dissertation in the language of their main national tutor (host institution), or if different, in a national language of the country where the doctorate is being pursued. This must be positively reviewed by the national and the two foreign tutors before being discussed and evaluated by the International Evaluation Board of the Final Jury. In addition they must write a short version in English (or French, upon agreement of the Core Executive Committee) which will be evaluated by the International Evaluation Board and must be presented in a format ready to be submitted to international journals.