Academic requirements
Post-graduate stricto sensu degree in Master of Science lasts between a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 24 months while Doctoral training lasts between 24 and 48 months. In special conditions, the term could be extended for another 3 (three) months for Master and 6 (six) months for Doctorate. For more information about term extension, please see the section below.
- To obtain a Doctoral or Master’s degree, students should meet the follow requirements:
- Have completed all required credits, including the credits of two mandatory courses (Fundamentals in Chemical Biology I and II).
- Have been passed the Qualifying Examination.
- Make available to the supervisor the raw data obtained during the development of the project. These data must be accompanied by the samples and materials used to obtain them, when possible.
- Have successfully defended the thesis.
- Submitted the fulfilled defense form to the PPGBQ secretary
- Submitted the final text of the dissertation or thesis formatted following the standard of the “Manual for the normalization of academic works” from UNIFESP/Diadema to the PPGBQ secretary.
- Submitted the supervisor’s agreement form.
- Exclusive to the Doctorate program, the student should submit to the PPGBQ secretary an article submission receipt, acceptance receipt or first page copy of published paper as first author. Alternatively, the student can present a patent deposit. In all situations, the student’s supervisor should be co-author of the publication or patent.
Term extension
If necessary, in special conditions, PPGBQ could evaluate the possibility to extend the student time to conclude the program. To require a term extension, the student should fill and send the Term Extension Form to the PPGBQ Secretary. The term could be extended for another 3 (three) months for Master and 6 (six) months for Doctorate.
Master's Qualifying Examination
Master students must take and pass a Qualifying Examination between 12 and 15 months after initial enrollment. (The extension of this term must be previously approved by the CEPG)
Requirements for Qualifying Examination
To carry out the Qualifying Examination, the candidate student must:
- Have completed at least 20 credits (80% of the total credits required).
- Submit the Qualifying Examination Form for approval by CEPG at least 30 days in advance.
- Forward to the secretary the Letters of Invitation for the members of the Examining Committee at least 30 days in advance.
- Submit the Qualifying Report to the Examining Committee at least 15 days in advance.
- Qualifying Report Format
- The Qualifying Report must contain cover, summary, introduction with justification, objectives, methodology, results, discussion, schedule with future perspectives and references. If, for any reason, the actual research is different from the original project, the student must insert a justification as well as attach the new Ethics and Research Committee of UNIFESP Certificate.
- Composition of the Qualifying Examining Committee
- The Qualifying Examining Committee should be composed of 2 (two) titular members and 2 (two) equivalent substitute members chosen by the candidate and its supervisor with the approval of the PGBQ Committee. Members must hold Doctoral/PhD degrees. The supervisor or its substitute will participate as chair of the Examining Committee.
Qualifying Examination Session
The qualification session will consist of an oral presentation lasting 30 ± 10 minutes followed by the Examining Committee´s Questioning Session. Each examiner will be able to make their questions and considerations within a maximum period of 30 minutes. The candidate will have equal time to field the questions. After, the Examining Committee holds a private discussion where it decides on the overall recommendation that will be informed to the candidate by the Supervisor.If the candidate is not approved, the candidate may undergo a new Qualifying Examination within a maximum period of 3 (three) months. To require a new exam, the candidate should fill and send the Term Extension Form to the PPGBQ Secretary. In case of a new failure, the student will be disconnected from the program.
Doctoral Qualifying Examination
Doctorate students must take and pass a Qualifying Examination between 12 and 30 months after initial enrollment. (The extension of this term must be previously approved by the CEPG).
Requirements for Qualifying Examining
To carry out the Qualifying Examination, the candidate student must:
- Have completed at least 20 credits (80% of the total credits required).
- Submit the Qualifying Examination Form for approval by the PPGBQ Committee at least 30 days in advance.
- Forward to the secretary the Letters of Invitation for the members of the Examining Committee at least 60 days in advance.
- Submit the Qualifying Report to the Examining Committee at least 15 days in advance.
Qualifying Report Format
The Qualifying Report must contain cover, summary, introduction with justification, objectives, methodology, results, discussion, schedule with future perspectives and references. Qualifying Report should be written following the “Manual for the normalization of academic works” from UNIFESP/Diadema that could be consulted here. If, for any reason, the current research is different from the original project, the student must insert a justification as well as attach the new Ethics and Research Committee of UNIFESP Certificate. Alternatively, just for Doctoral students, the Qualifying Report could be formatted as an international quality paper written in English together with an introductory review written in Portuguese.
Composition of the Qualifying Examining Committee
The Qualifying Examination Committee should be composed of 3 (three) titular members and 2 (two) equivalent substitute members chosen by the candidate and its supervisor with the approval of the PPGBQ Committee. Members must hold Doctoral/PhD degrees. The supervisor or its substitute will participate as chair of the Examining Committee.
Qualifying Examination Session
The qualification session will consist of an oral presentation lasting 30 ± 10 minutes followed by the Examining Committee´s Questioning Session. Each examiner will be able to make their questions and considerations within a maximum period of 30 minutes. The candidate will have equal time to field the questions. After, the Examining Committee holds a private discussion where it decides on the overall recommendation that will be informed to the candidate by the Supervisor.
If the candidate is not approved, the candidate may undergo a new Qualifying Examination within a maximum period of 6 (six) months. To require a new exam, the candidate should fill and send the Term Extension Form to the PGBQ Secretary. In case of a new failure, the student will be disconnected from the program.
Dissertation and Thesis Defense
After completing all requirements (see below), the student should defend the Dissertation or Thesis. The defense consists in the submission of a Dissertation or Thesis text formatted following the standard of the “Manual for the normalization of academic works” from UNIFESP/Diadema and an oral presentation lasting 30 ± 10 minutes follow by Dissertation/Thesis Committee’s Questioning Session.
Requirement to defense
To require the defense, student should present:
- The approved qualification terms.
- Submit the defense form for approval at least 45 days in advance
- Forward to the secretary the letters of invitation of all members of the Judging Committee at least 45 days in advance.
- Submit the Dissertation/Thesis to the Judging Committee at least 15 days in advance.
- Forward to the secretary the filled checklist signed by the student and its supervisor.
Composition of the Dissertation Judging Committee
The Judging Committee should be composed of 2 (two) titular members and 2 (two) equivalent substitute members chosen by the candidate and its supervisor with the approval of the PPGBQ Committee. Members must hold Doctoral/PhD degrees. The supervisor or its substitute will participate as chair of the Examining Committee.
According to UNIFESP Graduate and Research Internal Regulations, it is forbidden to participate, in the Judging Committees, spouse, partner or relatives, in a straight or collateral line up to the third degree, in relation to the candidate.
Composition of the Thesis Judging Committee
The Judging Committee should be composed of 4 (four) titular members and 2 (two) equivalent substitute members chosen by the candidate and its supervisor with the approval of the PPGBQ Committee. Members must hold Doctoral/PhD degrees. The supervisor or its substitute will participate as chair of the Examining Committee.
According to UNIFESP Graduate and Research Internal Regulations, it is forbidden to participate, in the Judging Committees, spouse, partner and/or relatives, in a straight or collateral line up to the third degree, in relation to the candidate.
Defense Session
The defense session will consist of an oral presentation lasting 30 ± 10 minutes followed by the Examining Committee´s Questioning Session. Each examiner will be able to make their questions and considerations within a maximum period of 30 minutes. The candidate will have equal time to field the questions. After, the Judging Committee holds a private discussion where it decides on the overall recommendation that will be informed to the candidate by the Supervisor.
Pos-Defense procedure’s
After have successfully defended, the students should submit to the secretary the following documents:
The Correction Form signed by the supervisor. If there is no correction to be made, the student should present a supervisor’s signed declaration that “no corrections were suggested”.
The final printed Dissertation/Thesis text. Students should submit to the secretary X Hardcover Binding copies of the final text. These copies should follow all recommendations of UNIFESP/Diadema standards (see the Manual for the normalization of academic works). Also, the student must present 3 (three) digital copies of the final text in PDF format. The digital copies should be saved in CD/DVD media and be identified with the student's name, supervisor’s name, the title of the dissertation or thesis, year and month of the defense.
The full filled Diploma Form, signed by the supervisor.
Important: the student and its supervisor should check the options for electronic dissemination of the thesis or dissertation on the Divulga-Eletronica.doc form. After choosing, they must send an email addressed to the PPG-BQ secretary, informing them of the chosen option. Subsequently, the secretariat will forward the official document by e-mail so that it can be signed by those involved and delivered with the other documents.
Additional information:
The defense certificate must be requested from the PPGBQ Secretary, which will forward it by e-mail within a period of up to 30 working days.
There is no pre-established deadline for delivering the diploma. When the diploma is available, the student will be notified by email.
The Diploma should be picked personally by the PPGBQ secretary. If the student cannot personally pick up, a third party with a personal authorization letter can retrieve the Diploma. To retrieve the Diploma, the third party must identify themselves with an official identity document (with photo) and present the full filled requesting protocol.
Non-signed forms or requisitions that do not meet all requirements will not be accepted.