The doctoral student is both a student and a researcher, because of his rights and his duties which define his status, his role and his commitments.

The rights of the doctoral student

• The doctoral student is entitled to a personal supervision by his thesis director, who devotes a significant and sufficient part of his time.
• The doctoral student is fully integrated in his host structure. It has access to information and various regulations related to its research and training activities. It also has, where appropriate, access to equipment and computer resources available to perform, under the best conditions, its research work.
• With the agreement of his thesis director, he takes part in seminars and conferences.
• He is co-author of articles, communications, books, internal or industrial reports and co-owner of patents and software, in which his contribution is deemed significant by his thesis supervisor.
• All scientific and technical production related to intellectual and industrial property (patent, software, schema, prototype, etc …) is subject to the regulations in force. Subject to any other contract or agreement entered into with a third party and in particular in the case of co-supervision / co-supervision of the thesis, the doctoral student agrees to assign to I.S.T.M.T. exploitation of the results obtained. The PhD student’s exploitation of the results of his research is possible within the framework of an agreement or a contract signed with the ISTMT, on the advice of the thesis director, the director of the host organization and the director of the the ISTMT

The doctoral student’s homework

• He must respect the rules of the collective life and make sure to apply without fault the rules of the scientific integrity, in particular to scrupulously respect the intellectual property and to prohibit any kind of plagiarism and fraud.
• It must respect the internal regulations of the I.T.M.T., those of the host organization and the partner (s).
• It must respect the regulations of the doctoral school and must, in particular, follow the courses, conferences and seminars it organizes so that it can broaden its field of knowledge and its disciplinary horizons.
• At the individual level, the doctoral student advances a research problem, proposes new ideas or techniques, brings the necessary rigor and involvement to his research work. He demonstrates initiative and autonomy and is committed to a time and a pace of work established in consultation with his thesis supervisor.
• He undertakes to inform his thesis director and the doctoral school of any change in his professional situation.
• The doctoral student, with the prior approval and support of his thesis supervisor, disseminates and promotes his research results through publications, patents, industrial reports and communications at national and international conferences and congresses.
• The doctoral student agrees to inform the Doctoral School of the I.S.T.M.T. his professional life for a period of four years after graduation and responds to any professional career survey.
• The doctoral student reports regularly to his thesis director, his work and any difficulties encountered.

Following the initiative of the thesis director, the head of the host organization, the director of the Doctoral School or the director of the ISTMT, several people and structures can be mobilized to support the doctoral student in his training, the advise, and ensure the acquisition of skills, such as research methods and techniques, communication skills, popularization, team work, project management, etc …

The supervision also guarantees the doctoral student access to the additional modules (courses and seminars organized by the doctoral school or another partner).

The annual research progress report, signed by the thesis director, must highlight the results obtained by highlighting the progress of the thesis work, while including the list of possible publications.

The thesis director :

• Is the guarantor of the scientific level and the quality of the work.
• Work to support the thesis as soon as possible.
• Work to support the thesis as soon as possible.
• Follows the progress of the work of the PhD student and offers him to follow any additional training essential to his research or his career.
• Conducts regular and frequent interviews with the doctoral student and ensures the progress of his research.
• Encourages and assists the doctoral student to participate in conferences of international and national audience, to activities of valorization of his research results and the publication of his works.
• Among the commitments made by the thesis director and the doctoral student, the defense of the research work constitutes, in terms of valorization, the strong link of the agreement contracted by the various parties. This defense must crown the efforts of the doctoral student and his thesis director as well as that of all the components of the university research system.

Failure to respect the commitments made by the doctoral student or his / her thesis supervisor may be the subject of a reasoned written request from either party to the director of the ISTMT, without that this may prejudge the responsibility of one or other of the two parties. The director of I.S.T.M.T. may initiate, if necessary, an internal mediation procedure at the ITSM, conducted by him or by the director of the doctoral school.

In case of persistent conflict between the doctoral student and his thesis supervisor, the director of I.S.T.M.T. may use an external mediation procedure. In order for the mediator to be impartial, he or she may be chosen, on the advice of the scientific and pedagogical committee of the doctoral school and approved by the director of the ISTMT, among the members, lecturers or professors, of a similar doctoral school, if it exists, or among the members, of the same rank mentioned above, of a thesis and habilitation commission of the same field. The mediator listens to all the parties involved and proposes a solution that aims to convince the parties concerned to accept it in order to complete the preparation of the thesis. In the event of failure of this mediation, a last written and argued appeal may be brought by one of the two parties concerned directly, through the hierarchical way, to the president of the University Tunis El Manar.