The PDSE (Programa de Doutorado Sanduíche no Exterior / Sanduich PhD Program Abroad) was established in 2011, replacing the Doutorado Sanduíche Balcão and the Doctoral Program in Brazil with Internship Abroad (Programa de Doutorado no País com Estágio no Exterior – PDEE). The change aimed to give greater agility in the implementation process of doctoral student internships abroad.
Objective
To support the training of high-level human resources through the granting of sandwich PhD scholarships abroad to doctoral courses recognized by CAPES. The internship abroad should primarily involve research in areas of knowledge that are less consolidated in Brazil.
PRPG Call for Applications No. 16/2025 – 2nd Round – CAPES PDSE (Click here to download)
PRPG Call No. 16/2025 details the internal selection at USP.
Call No. 17/2025 – CAPES PDSE (Click here to download)
CAPES Call No. 17/2025 presents the general rules, and Item 8 must be read and followed by applicants and programs.
Eligible students:
-PhD students with enrollment date in the doctoral program between July 1, 2023 and July 30, 2025
Direct PhD students with enrollment between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2025 The student must have passed the qualification exam or have completed at least the first year of the PhD (2 academic semesters completed).
To find out your enrollment date, access your Janus student record.
Number of positions: 1 (The PPGET may suggest candidates for remaining vacancies).
Scholarship duration: minimum of 4 months and maximum of 9 months.
Expected departure: between September and October 2026.
The candidate must submit the documentation listed below through the electronic application form for selection within PPGET (Item 9.2.2 of CAPES Call No. 17/2025 – read the full call before applying):
I – Research plan to be carried out abroad, with indication of the existence of infrastructure at the host institution that enables the execution of the proposed work and the timetable of activities, formally approved by the Brazilian supervisor and the co-supervisor abroad. (The activity schedule must be compatible with the start and end months indicated in Annex V (Declaration of the co-supervisor abroad). Both the timetable and the declaration should not mention the specific day of start or end of the internship, but only the respective months, according to CAPES instructions.)
II – Updated Lattes CV.
III – Letter from the Brazilian supervisor, duly signed and on official letterhead of the home institution, justifying the need for the internship and demonstrating technical-scientific interaction with the co-supervisor abroad. It must inform the student’s regulatory deadline for thesis defense and confirm that the doctoral credits already obtained are compatible with timely completion after the internship abroad.
IV – Declaration of the co-supervisor abroad, duly signed and on official letterhead of the foreign institution, indicating the month/year of start and end of the internship abroad, according to the model in Annex V.
V – Declaration of recognition of language fluency signed by the co-supervisor abroad according to the model available in Annex II.*
VI – Declaration of recognition of language fluency signed by the supervisor in Brazil, according to the model available in Annex III.*
VII – Brief CV of the co-supervisor abroad, who must have scientific and/or technological output compatible and hold at least a doctoral degree.
* Alternatively, the candidate may prove foreign language proficiency by means of a Proficiency Test, as specified in Annex IV.
Applications for candidates in the respective program are open from November 10 to December 15, 2025. To apply, the student must use their USP account.
Before applying, it is essential to read PRPG Call No. 16/2025 and CAPES Call No. 17/2025 in full.
Application form for selection within PPGET: (Online form link)
PPGET student applications: | November 10 to December 15, 2025 — deadline defined by PRPG Call No. 16/2025. |
Internal PPGET selection: | December 16 to 18, 2025. |
Preliminary internal PPGET selection results: | by December 19, 2025. |
Appeal to the preliminary results: | January 14, 2026 (Wednesday). |
Final results: The final result will be sent by email to the candidates and included on the program website | on 16 January 2026 (Friday). |
Final internal PRPG selection results: | by February 13, 2026 |
Submission of selection minutes to PRPG by PPGET: | by January 23, 2026 |
Coming soon.
