Guidelines for enrollment and taking the Qualification Exam
The Qualification Exam is mandatory and should be conducted in a public session with an oral presentation by the student about the research project and its development, followed by questioning by the Examination Committee.
The Qualification Exam aims to evaluate the student’s academic and scientific maturity, their knowledge about the subject and the study method, their ability to reflect and defend the project, as well as the relevance, adequacy of the methodological design, and feasibility of the study.
The student may enroll for the Qualification Exam after completing 24 credits in courses and within 18 months after their first enrollment in the program, having to take the exam within 60 days after enrollment. If failed, the student may re-enroll within a maximum period of 30 days after the first exam. The second exam must be taken within a maximum period of 60 days after this second enrollment. If the failure persists, the student will be dismissed from the Program and will receive a certificate for the completed courses. The deadline for enrolling in the Qualification Exam can be found in the student’s record, which can be accessed through the Janus System.
The Examination Committees should consist of 3 (three) voting examiners and 2 (two) alternates, with a minimum qualification of Doctorate, appointed by the CCP. According to the Program regulations, one voting member and their alternate should be external to the Program and/or the Unit. The Committee must also include a voting member and an alternate who are faculty members of the Program, in order to comply with paragraph 3 of article 72 of the Graduate Program Regulations of the university:
- 3 – The exam may be conducted in-person or remotely, for the student and the examiners, and must necessarily have the presence of a faculty member of the Program, at its headquarters or at USP.
Therefore, the committees should be constituted as per the table below:
| Committee Members | Regular Members | Alternates |
| MPTO Faculty Member (in-person with the student at FMUSP or CDP/Didactic Block) |
1 (mandatory) or 2 (with 1 mandatory and 1 optional) | 1 (mandatory) |
| FMUSP External Faculty Member | 1 or 2 | 0 or 1 |
| Program External Faculty Member (may be from FMUSP) | 1 or 2 | 0 or 1 |
The Qualification Exam should last no more than 3h30min (three hours and thirty minutes). The student’s presentation of the research project and its development should be conducted within a maximum of 30 (thirty) minutes. Each examiner will have a maximum of 30 (thirty) minutes to question the student. The student will have a maximum of 30 (thirty) minutes to respond to each examiner’s questioning.
The Qualification Exam can be conducted in a face-to-face or hybrid modality. It is mandatory for one of the committee members who is a faculty member of the Program to be present at the University of São Paulo premises. It is recommended that the student taking the exam also be in the face-to-face modality, except for those residing abroad.
The Report, containing the assessment and result assigned by the Examination Committee, must be prepared in a secret session at the end of the exam. The Examination Committee will inform the student of the Minutes, with the result assigned by the examiners, right after the exam. The Report must be submitted to the CCP for approval.
Rules for production and formatting of the qualification manuscripts and the dissertation: http://www.livrosabertos.sibi.usp.br/portaldelivrosUSP/catalog/view/115/98/495-1
Guidelines for enrolling in the Qualification Exam (Step by step):
- Advisors and students should consider potential committee members according to the study theme. Before indicating the committee, potential members should be consulted about the possibility of participating via electronic message with information such as: project title, advisor, possible exam period, and whether the invitation refers to regular or alternate committee membership
- Fill out the document “Suggestion of the Examination Committee for the Qualification Exam,” indicating 5 (five) names, according to the model (CLICK HERE). The form must include the USP number of each committee member, even those who are not from USP. Former USP students retain their numbers. Some external faculty members of the university already have USP numbers due to participation in previous committees, which can be checked through the program’s office. If any USP number is missing, proceed to step 3; if the form is complete, proceed to step 4.
- If it is necessary to designate a USP number, the student should send the “Visiting Professor Registration Form” to the committee member for completion (CLICK HERE). Once completed, send it to the MPTO office and wait for the number to be registered on the “Suggestion of the Examination Committee for the Qualification Exam” document.
- Prepare the “Application Letter for Enrolling in the Qualification Exam,” which contains the necessary information for preparing the invitation letter to be prepared by the office and sent to the committee. Follow the model (CLICK HERE);
- Submit your enrollment in the “Qualification Exam Enrollment Form” (CLICK HERE), attaching:
- Application Letter for Enrolling in the Qualification Exam;
- Suggestion of the Examination Committee for the Qualification Exam;
- Manuscript document in Word format, related to your research project and its development;
- Manuscript document in PDF format, related to your research project and its development.
The MPTO office will review the documentation and forward it to the CCP for approval, and will include the information in the Janus System, referring to the student’s enrollment deadline as the enrollment exam date. We ask that master’s students submit their enrollment in the Qualification Exam Enrollment Form 3 days in advance to allow time for document review and any necessary corrections