Training activities

Training activities of the UCM Doctoral School

A broad and diverse range of activities managed by the Doctoral School for all UCM doctoral students.
Doctoral School Training Area

Training activities of the Faculty of Statistical Studies

Offered exclusively for doctoral students in Data Analysis (Data Science)

Schedule of Training Activities for the 2025 – 2026 Academic Year

Training activities will take place at the Faculty of Statistical Studies, from 16:00 to 20:00 (except for those specifying a different schedule) in classroom S4-05.

20-11-2025. Thursday. Inaugural Day
Presentation of the Doctoral Program.
Coordinator: Carlos Gregorio Rodríguez
Vice Dean of Research: Ramón Alberto García Carrasco
Dean: Cristóbal Pareja Flores
- From 15:30 to 18:00: Inaugural Lecture: Industrial Doctorate.
  Rocío González Martínez, CEO Analyticae
- From 18:00 to 20:00: First Steps in the Doctorate: Practical Guide for Research and Essential Tools.
  Ziwei Shu.
27-11-2025 Thursday. Multi-Criteria Decision Making: Relevant Models and Their Application.
Ziwei Shu.
04-12-2025 Thursday. Data Analysis in Clinical Studies: Challenges and Solutions.
Teresa Pérez Pérez
11-12-2025 Thursday, 15:00 to 20:00. Data Science for Image Processing.
Pablo Flores Vidal (Online only in very justified cases. Request required).
08-01-2026 Thursday.Stochastic Modeling of Epidemics: A Markovian Approach with LD-QBD Processes and Simulation in R.
Diana Taipe Hidalgo and María Gamboa Pérez.
15-01-2026 Thursday. Individual Talent Analysis: Identification of Professional KPIs.
Virginia Ramírez Herrero.
22-01-2026 Thursday. Introduction to Game Theory. In classroom B03
Daniel Martín García.
29-01-2026 Thursday. From Data to Decisions: The Role of Machine Learning in Biomedical Data. In classroom B03
Silvia Pineda San Juan
05-02-2026 Thursday. Values of Cooperative Games with Graphs and Digraphs. In classroom B03
Elena del Carmen Gavilán García.
To be held during PhDay. Fuzzy Sets Integrated in Graphs.
Inmaculada Gutiérrez García-Pardo
To be held during PhDay. AI Ethics: AI as Object and Subject.
Virginia Ramírez Herrero.

It is mandatory to complete 8 training activities during the first 2 academic years, full-time (4 activities during the first 4 years for part-time students).

Training activities from previous years

General description of the training activities

Introduction to Research in Data Analysis (Data Science)

Schedule: At the start of the doctoral program

Language: Spanish

Details and planning: Mandatory activity for all students, in the first semester of the first year. Two in-person sessions of two hours each, plus personal work by the students.

Justification of how the training activities are coherent and contribute to acquiring the degree competencies: This initial activity aims to position doctoral students within the applicable regulatory framework, present the specific doctoral program in Data Analysis (Data Science), provide a comprehensive overview of various scientific research methods, and address ethical aspects of research from the outset.

Content description:

Applicable regulations (formal procedures, stages, dates). Presentation and structure of the doctoral program in Data Analysis (Data Science)
Research methods: empirical, formal, pragmatic
Ethical aspects of research

Learning outcomes:

Understand the regulations related to the doctoral program
Understand the organization of the doctoral program
Understand different approaches to undertaking research and be able to assess how suitable they are for a specific research project
Recognize the necessity of ethics in research

Human resources for implementation: This training activity will be the responsibility of the Doctoral Program Coordinator and the Vice-Dean for Graduate Studies and Research.

Material resources for implementation: The University provides the necessary material and technological resources.

Monitoring procedure: Student attendance and participation in this activity will be monitored. The responsible staff will collect and evaluate the personal work assigned to students.

Introduction to Research Seminars

Schedule: Full-time students: first and second years; part-time students: first four years.

Language: Spanish and English

Details and planning: Mandatory activity for all doctoral students.

Each year, at least eight research seminars or conferences will be scheduled, organized by the student’s own research group or by other research groups participating in the doctoral program. The doctoral student must attend at least eight conferences over the two years. The student must demonstrate their engagement with the seminars or conferences through analysis and synthesis exercises completed with their tutor, either in written or oral form.

Students attending advanced schools or similar programs lasting more than 20 hours will have their 30 hours of required work for this activity fulfilled through such attendance.

Justification of how the training activities are coherent and contribute to acquiring the degree competencies: This activity aims to equip the doctoral student with scientific research training, developing specific skills to plan, structure, carry out, and disseminate research work, while fostering the ability to seek answers to questions arising during research and justify them both theoretically and methodologically.

Content description: The content corresponds to the seminars scheduled each year, or the advanced schools or similar programs attended by the students.

Learning outcomes:

Acquire the ability to identify problems present in research hypotheses and topics under study.
Develop the skill to present results through written reports.
Develop critical reading skills of research results in any knowledge areas related to the doctoral program's theme.
Strengthen critical thinking and written expression skills.
Formulate questions, express opinions, and contrast value judgments regarding research results obtained by other researchers.

Human resources for implementation: This activity will involve researchers participating in the doctoral program and, where applicable, their national or international collaborators in research networks or projects.

Material resources for implementation: The University provides the appropriate material and technological resources for conducting the conference-related activities on its premises.

For attendance at advanced schools, the activity will be funded from the research director's own resources, although funds may also be requested from various entities: the University itself or other national or international organizations.

Monitoring procedure: The tutor will evaluate the student’s engagement based on exercises, written or oral, completed with the student. Active participation in established forums will also be assessed.

Research Methodology Seminar: Sources, Writing, and Dissemination of a Research Report

Schedule: Full-time students: first and second years; part-time students: first four years.

Language: Spanish

Details and planning: Mandatory transversal activity for all doctoral students.

This activity consists of two parts:

Course on bibliographic reference search techniques. Aimed at acquiring the ability to conduct and manage bibliographic searches. Sessions will be organized in the Library of the Faculty of Statistics with the collaboration of tutors and thesis supervisors.
Scientific writing workshop, which will provide doctoral students with tools for scientific-academic editing and writing. A review of the conditions and conventions for publishing research articles in specialized journals is also included.

Justification of how the training activities are coherent and contribute to acquiring the degree competencies: A significant portion of the research needed to develop a doctoral thesis involves searching, analyzing, and organizing bibliographic references. One part of this seminar aims to introduce students to techniques for finding scientific information (databases and search engines), criteria for selecting relevant bibliographic references, managing and organizing references, and commonly used citation styles in doctoral theses.

Additionally, scientific writing is a fundamental element of scientific production.

Content description: Doctoral students will be informed about the stages of article submission and review processes.

In the second part of the seminar, students will receive essential guidance on scientific writing.
Examples of scientific documents in the area of Data Analysis (Data Science) will be shown.
Specific training will be provided in using bibliographic databases, repositories, catalogs, and search engines for analyzing citations and references, abstracts, and accessing full texts of indexed content.
Practical information about bibliographic management tools will also be provided.
The main bibliographic citation styles will be introduced.
Information on the necessary tools for scientific text editing will be provided.

Learning outcomes:

Acquire the ability to produce academic texts that meet adequate coherence and readability standards.
Understand the publication conditions for scientific texts in fields related to Data Analysis.
Search for and select the most relevant bibliography for ongoing research.
Organize and properly cite scientific references in a scientific text.

Human resources for implementation: This activity will involve library professionals from the Complutense University of Madrid and researchers participating in the doctoral program.

Material resources for implementation: The University provides the appropriate material and technological resources to conduct these activities on its premises.

Monitoring procedure: Evaluation and control will be carried out by the activity coordinators. Students will be assigned a research topic to collect and select relevant bibliography and write a brief report summarizing the contents of selected articles, organizing references and citations correctly.

Doctoral Students Research Days

Schedule: Full-time students: second year, first semester. Part-time students: second and third years.

Language: Spanish and English.

Details and planning: Each year, a session will be held to present the doctoral students' scientific research. The content of each student's presentation may include results previously presented at research conferences or published in scientific journals, or ongoing work currently being conducted by the student.

Justification of how the training activities are coherent and contribute to acquiring the degree competencies: Doctoral students must become familiar with dissemination and presentation activities of their scientific work before audiences from various research areas, as well as learn about the research conducted by other doctoral students in the program. Therefore, these research days are fundamental to their training and are mandatory.

Content description: Presentation of the research work the doctoral student is currently conducting. This may include research results previously presented at conferences by the student.

Learning outcomes:

As a result of these research days, the student will acquire skills and experience in verbally presenting their research results in various forums.
Additionally, the student will learn new verbal presentation techniques from other doctoral students in the program.

Human resources for implementation: The organization of the sessions will be carried out by the program coordinator or faculty members of the doctoral program.

Material resources for implementation: The faculty provides the necessary material and technological resources (classrooms, projectors, etc.) for this activity.

Monitoring procedure: Organizing professors will supervise attendance at these Research Days, evaluating each student's communication and expression skills as well as participation in discussion forums.

Presentations at Research Conferences

Schedule: Full-time students: second semester of the second year and third year; part-time students: second and third years.

As this activity largely depends on the individual scientific output of each thesis, it may be carried out in semesters other than those initially planned.

Language: Spanish or English.

Details and planning: Oral presentations at research conferences are essential to scientific activity and therefore must be part of doctoral training. Although considered a key activity, due to potential funding limitations, this activity is optional.

Justification of how the training activities are coherent and contribute to acquiring the degree competencies: Participation in conferences is an essential part of research activity, making this activity fully justified within the doctoral program.
The presentation of a paper at a conference allows for critical evaluation of the student's research by other researchers in the field. The ability to discuss critically one’s own work in the context of a conference is fundamental for research training. Additionally, attending a scientific conference enhances communication skills and networking among researchers.

Content description:

Oral presentation of research work at a national or international conference in the doctoral student’s area of research.
Preparation of supporting materials for the oral presentation: slides, graphic materials to illustrate experimental results.
Attendance at conference sessions.

Learning outcomes:

As a result of this activity, the student will acquire skills for verbally presenting research results.
Attending other presentations at the conference will broaden the student’s knowledge in their specific research area as well as in related fields.

Human resources for implementation: No additional human resources are required beyond the research director, tutor, and the student.

Material resources for implementation: This activity will be funded from the resources available to the research director, although funding may also be requested from various entities: the university itself or other national or international institutions.

Monitoring procedure: Students must submit to the director or tutor the certificates of conference attendance and presentation. These certificates should include the title of the presentation, the authors, the mode of presentation, as well as conference details (name, location, duration, etc.).

Mobility

Schedule: Full-time students: second or third year; part-time students: from the third year onwards. The schedule is indicative and will be adapted to the situation of each student.

Language: The language of the host location.

Details and planning: Participation of the doctoral student in stays at other national and, preferably, international research centers will be encouraged. Stays must last at least one month. Although considered an essential activity, due to potential funding limitations, this activity is optional.

Justification of how the training activities are coherent and contribute to acquiring the degree competencies: A stay at another research center provides the doctoral student with the opportunity to learn other techniques, research procedures, and tools, complementing what they already know and enriching the work methods applied in their thesis development.

Content description: Depends on the specific research activity.

Learning outcomes:

Acquisition of work methods from other research centers.
Improvement of communication skills in other languages.
Promotion of the student’s participation in activities related to European research networks.

Human resources for implementation: Not applicable.

Material resources for implementation: This activity will be funded, as far as possible, from the resources available to the research director, although funds may also be requested from various entities: the university and faculty (see section 7 of this report), short-term scholarships, or support from national or international entities.

Monitoring procedure: The student must make productive use of their stay at other centers and submit a report from the supervisor at the host institution. This report, together with a brief summary of the research stay, will be supervised by the student’s director or tutor.

Active participation in competitive R&D projects or research contracts during the development of the doctoral thesis

Time planning: First, second, and third years; part-time students: first five years. The activity will account for a maximum of 30 hours per year for full-time students, and 18 for part-time students.

Language: Spanish and English.

Details and planning: Optional activity. Participation in research projects and integration within a team of researchers carrying out active research, with all activities related to such research, is considered an experience of utmost importance in the training of a researcher. It would be desirable for all students to undertake this activity; however, as this cannot be guaranteed, it is proposed as an optional activity.

The aim of this activity is to fully integrate students into teams working on research projects so that, by carrying out research support tasks, they learn first-hand how the different stages of a research project are conducted.

The objective is therefore for students to acquire and consolidate the skills necessary to carry out research work, which is a primary goal of the doctoral program. The activity to be carried out by students will consist of providing research support as requested by members of the research team.

Justification of how the training activities are consistent with and contribute to acquiring the program competencies: This is considered a training activity due to the guidance and mentoring received during participation in the R&D project, and insofar as the tutor or supervisor transfers their experience to the doctoral student in the development of research activities.

Description of contents: Those corresponding to the specific project in which the doctoral student is involved.

Learning outcomes: To become familiar with the typical tasks carried out within a research project: preparation of articles, organization of seminars and participation in them, preparation of research reports and fieldwork, etc.

Human resources for its development: The resources available within the specific research project.

Material resources for its development: The resources available within the specific research project.

Monitoring procedure: The persons responsible will be the principal investigator of the research project and the tutor or supervisor of the doctoral thesis. It will be recorded in the Doctoral Student Activity Document. The principal investigator of the project and the tutor or thesis supervisor will determine the number of hours in which the doctoral students have participated.