Meeting of the G9 Sectoral Committee. Doctoral Schools Group

Last week, on 20 and 21 May 2026, the Paraninfo at the University of Zaragoza hosted the annual meeting of the Research Sectoral Committee of the Group of 9 Universities (G-9), attended by the working group of Doctoral Schools from the universities forming part of the consortium.

The representatives of the G-9 Doctoral Schools attending the meeting were:

•    Fernando Moreno. Director of the Doctoral School at the University of Cantabria. 
•    Begoña Alonso Ruiz. Deputy Director of the Doctoral School at the University of Cantabria. 
•    María Ángeles Davia Rodríguez. Director of the International Doctoral School at the University of Castilla-La Mancha. 
•    Juan Florencio Tejeda Sereno. Director of the International Doctoral School at the University of Extremadura. 
•    Pilar Vargas. Director of the Master’s and Doctoral School at the University of La Rioja. 
•    Juan Manuel Hernández Campoy. Director of the International Doctoral School at the University of Murcia. 
•    Manuel Arias Pérez de Azpeitia. Deputy Director of the International Doctoral School at the University of Oviedo. 
•    Eva Portillo Pérez. Director of the Doctoral School at the University of the Basque Country. 
•    Ana Zabalza Aznárez. Director of the Doctoral School at the Public University of Navarre. 
Representing the Doctoral School of the University of Zaragoza were:
•    Eva Cerezo Bagdasari. Director of the Doctoral School of the University of Zaragoza. 
•    Luis Vicente Casaló Ariño. Deputy Director of Quality at the Doctoral School of the University of Zaragoza. 
•    Marta Haro Remón. Deputy Director of Internationalisation at the Doctoral School of the University of Zaragoza. 
•    Ana Cristina Sánchez Gimeno. Professor and Secretary of the Doctoral School at the University of Zaragoza. 
•    Ana Belén Pina Calvo. Administrator of the Doctoral School at the University of Zaragoza.

During the working sessions, the Doctoral Group shared information and discussed various strategic issues relating to doctoral training. Among the topics addressed, the institutional accreditation process for Doctoral Schools stood out; this has already been achieved by the Public University of Navarra and is currently underway at several universities in the group, including the University of Zaragoza.

The launch of a joint programme of cross-disciplinary training webinars in English aimed at PhD students at G-9 universities was also discussed, as was recognition of the work carried out by PhD programme coordinators.

The group’s next meeting will focus on the impact of Artificial Intelligence in the doctoral sphere, both in the development of doctoral theses and in the management of the Doctoral Schools themselves.

During the meeting, the G-9 Doctoral Conference, to be held next June in Cuenca, organised by the University of Castilla-La Mancha, was also presented.