GUIDE FOR THE FORMATION OF COLLEGIATE GROUPS INVOLVED IN RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

Note: This document is in the process of being reviewed by the academic and management authorities.

1. Objective

The collegial characteristics of academic work and the necessary linking of research and development with the environment prioritise collaboration and the articulation of academic work between professors. In this sense, teacher-researchers, in collaboration, must support the research orientation of an institution. For this reason, in order to carry out their functions properly, it is recommended that full-time professors form collegiate groups that allow them to reflect and act with efficiency, intellectual rigour and ethical sense.

The importance of these academic teams lies in the fact that:

• They are the driving force behind the development of research, aligned with the other substantive functions of the university.
• They favour the training of researchers and the formation of research teams.
• They guarantee the fulfilment of institutional objectives, both educational and research and development.
• They are the promoters of the dissemination and application of new knowledge in their environment.
• Likewise, they self-regulate the functioning of the institution's research and technological development.
• They enrich institutional academic life through the exchange of experience and information with their peers.
• They foster intellectually rich academic environments.
• Furthermore, they promote, through research, the continuous improvement of the quality of the educational programmes in which they participate.
• Establish and strengthen inter-institutional relations with relevant teams in other educational, business or governmental institutions.

2. Structure.

1. The work team
   In order to be formally considered, in any of the denominations, a team of UPAEP professors must be formed, and desirably of invited professors and undergraduate and postgraduate students who carry out research activities in a specific line of knowledge, in accordance with the lines of focus of the SAPS. The professors must have proven experience in the subject to be developed. However, those professors who demonstrate special interest and potential in the line in question may join. The consent of the team members must be demonstrated.
   
   
2. Characteristics of the work teams according to the consolidation stage
   Research group: This denomination determines the initial phase or initial registration of the development of projects in the specific line of knowledge chosen.
   
   Academic Group: At this stage, the work team has demonstrated with evidence sufficient productivity. Sufficient productivity is understood to mean at least 5 of the following products: publication in indexed journals, publication of books by specialised publishers, patents pending or granted, directed research theses, obtaining external resources for the development of projects and projects linked to the productive and social sectors.
   
   Research centre: It is formed by the evolution of an academic body or preferably by the sum of several academic bodies that have demonstrated consolidated productivity (abundant and continuous) evaluated by the Research Committee and have fully demonstrated the ability to obtain external resources to operate.
   
   
3. Operation
   1. The working team will have permanent members who will be responsible for achieving the objectives set out in its annual work plan and interim collaborators who will enrich the team's activities with their participation.
   2. As permanent members, full-time and part-time teachers may be part of the team if they apply to the coordinator and are accepted by agreement by the team. All lecturers who are permanent members shall remain attached to their Dean's Office of Origin.
   3. Participation as a member of a research team shall not affect the teaching, training, liaison or extension work of the academic unit to which they are attached. Students from degree courses related to the team's lines of research may be part of the team, at the request of a member lecturer and with the consensual consent of the team.
   4. Professors and students from other higher education institutions may participate as guest collaborators at the invitation of a member of the team and with the consensual consent of the team.
   5. Any person who, although not attached to the UPAEP or to any other higher education institution, is invited by a member of the team to participate as a guest collaborator, demonstrating the relevance of their participation to enrich the team's activities, may participate as a guest collaborator.
   6. As in the previous cases, it must be approved by consensus of the team members. It is the responsibility of the team coordinator to notify the Research Directorate in writing of the acceptance or suspension of team members.
      
      
4. Characteristics of the researcher coordinating the team.
   1. He/she will have the status of full-time lecturer.
   2. He/she will have a doctorate degree in a discipline related to the team's lines of research.
   3. He/she must have experience in research and dissemination activities in projects related to the team's lines of research.
      
      
5. Registration
   1. The Team Coordinator will submit his/her application for registration to the Director of Research.
   2. The Research Director will have a period of 1 month to request complementary information from the Coordinator or, where appropriate, to schedule the presentation to the Research Committee.
   3. The request will be presented by the Team Coordinator at an ordinary session of the Research Committee for evaluation and feedback.
   4. If requested, the Coordinator will have a period of two months to submit complementary information.
   5. With the approval of the Research Committee, the registration of the research team will be formalised utilizing minutes signed by the permanent members of the team and the members of the Research Committee.
   6. The Director of Research shall notify the Rector's Office, the Office of the Vice-Rector for Postgraduate Studies and Research, the Office of the Academic Vice-Rector and the University Community of the formal registration of the team.
   7. The application document must include:
      • Name of the team.
      • Related or complementary lines of research of the team (maximum three).
      • Objectives of the team.
      • List of the permanent members of the team and interim collaborators.
      • Description of the trajectory of the team coordinator and team members.
      • Work plan for a period of one year. Material resources available to the team.
      • Relations with other UPAEP Collegiate Groups.
      • Relations with other Collegiate Groups in other higher education institutions.
      • Relations with bodies in sectors besides education.
      • It is desirable to include a fund-raising programme that includes the immediate needs for the operation of the team, in terms of current and investment expenditure.
6. Operation
   1. To obtain institutional resources for the development of the team's research projects, the Coordinator must submit a proposal to the annual Call for Proposals of the UPAEP Research Fund.
      • The Directorate of Research will manage the opening of a cost centre for the administration of the resources assigned to the project, as a result of the Call of the Research Fund.
      • The exercise of the allocated budget will be carried out with the support of the Research Directorate team, following institutional procedures and in accordance with the approved project protocol.
   2. When the Research Team obtains resources for the development of research activities from national or international institutions that invest in research and knowledge dissemination projects or activities:
      • The Research Directorate will manage the signature of the corresponding agreement with the external institution and subsequently the opening of a cost centre for the administration of the allocated resources.
      • The exercise of the allocated budget will be carried out with the support of the Research Directorate team following institutional procedures, in accordance with the agreement signed between UPAEP and the external institution, and in accordance with the approved project protocol.
      • The Research Directorate will prepare the partial and final reports on the use of the allocated budget in accordance with the requirements, policies, or regulations of the external institution and the signed agreement.
      • The member of the team recognised as technically responsible for the project by the external institution will be responsible for submitting the report on the activities carried out and the results obtained, in accordance with the signed agreement and the policies or regulations of the external institution.
      • It is the responsibility of the Team Coordinator to ensure the delivery of the technical report to the external institution.
      • Likewise, it is the responsibility of the team member acting as technical manager and the Team Coordinator to notify the Research Directorate of any setbacks in the development of the project.
   3. Regardless of the reports submitted by internally or externally funded projects, the Research Team Coordinator must submit an annual activity report containing the following data:
      • Name of the team.
      • Name of the Team Coordinator.
      • List of members in force at the date of submission of the report. Percentage of objectives achieved.
      • Description of the reasons why the objectives were not achieved, if necessary.
      • List of publications, including a copy of the publications.
      • Main activities carried out with other internal or external COLLEGIATE GROUPS.
      • Main activities carried out with other national or international institutions.
      • Work plan for the following year in the format described in point 6(g).

Research teams will maintain their registration as long as they fulfil their objectives and demonstrate their relevance in accordance with institutional guidelines, particularly the Research Master Plan.

¹ Provisionally, the Advisory Council of the Directorate of Research will assume the functions of the Research Committee mentioned in the present document until a new Regulation of the Research Committee is approved by the University Council.