QUALIFICATION EXAM

Every student enrolled in a PhD program must register to the Qualification Exam.

Deadline for the student to request the appointment of the exam to the organizing committee, counting from the date of admission of the student in the course:

a)12 (twelve) months for the regular course (course with a maximum duration of 48 months)

b)18 (eighteen) months for the Direct Doctorate (course with a maximum duration of 60 months)

RULES FOR THE REGISTRATION AND THE EXAMINATION:

The student must register to the exam by sending an e-mail message to the members of the Committee informing the following data:

A set of pre-selected topics will be chosen by the Committee. The student will receive 4 (four) distinct topics outside of his/her main research area and should choose one of them within a week. He/She should also inform if he/she prefers that the exam will be opened (where anyone can attend) or closed (only him/her and the examining board).

The candidate should make his presentation after 30 days of choosing the examination topic. Once the exam date has been set, it is the student's responsibility to reserve the room and the material needed for the presentation.

The examining board will consist of three faculty members. In general, the two members of the qualification committee and a third faculty member invited. However, for whatever reason it may be convenient, the examining board may consist of only one member of the committee and two invited researchers (for example, when the student is supervised for one of the committee members).

The presentation will take from 50 to 60 minutes. The candidate can make use of the following infrastructure: chalkboard, chalk, retro-projector, and data-show. After the presentation there will be a session of questions whose duration is at the discretion of the examining board. If it is convenient, questions may asked during the presentation and, in this case, time will be added to the candidate as needed according to the judgment of the examining board.

Remarks:

a) The candidate may use the bibliography that he / she deems necessary to complement the review article used.

b) Qualification exams will be open to the public upon authorization of the candidate. In this case, the qualification committee will be responsible for the attendees (Minutes of the Collegiate, December 14, 2010).

c) A student who is late for the presentation for more than 15 minutes will be considered defaulter (only those cases provided for in Law will be reconsidered).

Upon completion of the exam the examining board will deliberate in secrecy and announce the result directly to the candidate.

In case of failure, the candidate will have a period of up to 15 (fifteen) days for a new presentation on the same topic of the first presentation (addressing the boarding recommendations).

Note: The student who fails on his first qualifying examination will have his supervisor summoned to attend the second exam (Collegiate Minutes of December 14, 2010).

Any situation not foreseen here will be resolved by the organizing Committee. The Committee has the right to adjust the procedures to ensure the adequate conduction of the exam.