Norms
I – Coordination Comminttee Program (CCP)
The Coordination Committee Program (CCP) is made up of four members who are full members and four substitutes who are accredited supervisors of the Program and belong to the School of Engineering. The full members are made up of the Program Co-ordinator; Co-ordinator Substitute; two accredited members of the teaching staff of the Program and a student representative and his/her substitute.
II – Selection Criteria
Registration documents, the number of available places, the list of supervisors, items to evaluate in the curriculum, subjects and recommended bibliographies for the selection process will be listed and made public.
A candidate for the Graduate Program in Electrical Engineering must register for the selection process by the set dates previously publicized by filling in the form available at the site of the Program, print it, attach the documents stated on the form and send it to the Admissions Office.
A candidate’s registration will only be accepted if the documents are complete and received at the Admissions Office by the set deadline.
The selection criteria to register are as follows:
Master’s Degree
Analysis of Curriculum Vitae. Letters of reference and undergraduate transcript.
N.B. Candidates must prove the information by copies of respective publications, diplomas and other academic work).
● Analysis of the Curriculum Vitae will correspond to 70% of the total mark and the following will be considered: undergraduate scientific projects which were awarded scholarships; publications of work and other academic work.
● Analysis of letters of reference will correspond to 10% of the total mark.
● Analysis of undergraduate transcript will correspond to 20% of the total mark and the following will be considered: performance in subjects and length of degree.
● Those candidates who obtain a total mark of 50% or more will be classified.
● Classified candidates will be examined by the supervisors of the area of interest. The following will be considered: length of time dedicated to studies and interest and affinity with the proposed subjects.
Acceptance of a candidate will depend on the supervisors´ opinions from the area the student registered for.
Doctorate Degree
Analysis of Curriculum Vitae, letters of reference, undergraduate transcript and Master’s transcript.
N.B. Candidates must prove the information by copies of respective publications, diplomas and other academic work).
● Analysis of the Curriculum Vitae will correspond to 70% of the total mark and the following will be considered: undergraduate scientific projects which were awarded scholarships; scholarships awarded for Master’s studies; publications of work or patents and other academic work.
● Analysis of undergraduate transcript will correspond to 10% of the total mark and the following will be considered: performance in subjects and length of degree.
● Analysis of the Master’s transcript will correspond to 10% of the total mark and the following will be considered: performance in subjects and length of degree.
● Those candidates who obtain a total mark of 50% or more will be classified.
● Classified candidates will be examined by the supervisors of the area of interest. The following will be considered: length of time dedicated to studies and interest and affinity with the proposed subjects.
Acceptance of a candidate will depend on the supervisors´ opinions from the area the student registered for.
To go to the Doctorate Directly
The same criteria as the Master’s Degree applies, as well as the presentation of a research project developed together with the future supervisor.
The research project will be analysed and approved by the CCP.
III – Deadlines
The maximum deadline to hand in the dissertation for the Master´s Degree is thirty six months.
The maximum deadline for a Master´s graduate to hand in the thesis for the Doctorate Degree is sixty months.
The maximum deadline for a student who is not a Master graduate to hand in the thesis for the Doctorate Degree is seventy two months.
IV – Minimum Credits
A minimum of ninety six hours of credits is required for the Master´s Degree. A minimum of forty eight hours of credits for subjects and forty eight hours of credits for the dissertation.
At least one hundred and forty four hours of credits is required for the Doctorate Degree for students who hold a Master’s degree from USP or a recognized title. A minimum of forty eight hours of credits for subjects and ninety six hours of credits for the thesis.
At least one hundred and ninety two hours of credits is required for the Doctorate Degree for students who do not hold a Master’s degree. A minimum of ninety six hours of credits for subjects and ninety six hours of credits for the thesis.
Up to 50% in special credits can be computed in the total number of minimum credits required.
V – Foreign Language
A student must prove his/her proficiency in English when registering for the Master´s or Doctorate Qualification Exam.
The requirement for the Master´s Degree is reading comprehension and translation of texts. The test is applied by the Program.
An exam compatible with TOEFL (minimum number of points is 500) or IELTS (grade 6) is required for the Doctorate Program. The exams cited above will only be accepted if taken within a period of 4 years or those applied by the Program.
Apart from English, a foreign candidate must be proficient in Portuguese and must prove this by a test applied by the Program. This must be done before registering for the Program. The minimum grade to pass is 60%.
VI – Subjects
The criteria to qualify for the subjects on the Program are:
● When the candidate takes a compulsory subject of the Program or in the research area, the responsible lecturer must participate actively in the Program, which is part of the guidelines for accredited supervisors.
● The subject proposal must include reasons that state the importance and coherence related to research topics of the Program; clear and well-defined objectives; it must show up-to-date knowledge of the subject, objectives, a current bibliography; and evaluation criteria. To resit a subject, as well as the previous criteria, the importance in the student’s education should be demonstrated, up-to-date knowledge in the context of the Program and regularity of supply and demand in the registrations.
VII – Cancellation of Classes
Classes will only be cancelled in the following cases:
● If the minimum number of students is not attained.
● By the lecturer´s request, before the beginning of term having clear reasons and approval by the CCP. In this case, the CCP will have fifteen days to deliberate.
VIII – Qualifying Exam
A student can only sit the qualifying exam after doing the following credits:
● Master´s: 12 (twelve) credits of subjects
● Doctorate with Master´s: 12 (twelve) credits of subjects
● Direct Doctorate: 24 (twenty four) credits of subjects
Qualifying Exam for Master´s Degree:
The objectives of the Master´s qualifying exam are to evaluate the potential of the student in the dissertation topic, structure and project proposal of the dissertation.
A student must register for the qualifying exam by the twelfth month starting from the beginning and must do the exam up to ninety days after the registration. After doing the second qualifying exam, this must happen six months after being reapproved.
In order to register, three copies of the qualification text printed on the back and front must be sent to the Admissions Office. Afterwards, they will be sent to the board of judges.
The qualifying exam includes presenting and arguing an oral text to a board of judges specially chosen by the CCP.
Qualifying Exam for Doctorate Degree:
The objectives of the Doctorate qualifying exam are to evaluate the potential of the student in the thesis topic, structure and project proposal of the thesis reflecting on the state of art of the topic and preliminary results.
A student must register for the qualification exam by the twenty fourth month starting from the beginning and must do the exam up to ninety days after the registration. After doing the second qualifying exam, this must happen six months after being reapproved.
In the case of a doing a direct Doctorate, a student must register for the qualifying exam by the 30o (thirtieth) month starting from the beginning and must do the exam up to ninety days after the registration. After doing the second qualifying exam, this must happen 6 (six) months after being reapproved.
In order to register, 03 (three) copies of the qualification text printed on the back and front must be sent to the Admissions Office. Afterwards, they will be sent to the board of judges.
The qualifying exam consists of giving and arguing an oral presentation to a board of judges, especially selected by the CCP, in which there will be one external member.
IX – Going from a Master´s Degree directly to a Doctorate Degree
After passing the Master’s qualifying exam, and by the suggestion of the board of judges, a student can request to change degree with the agreement of his/her supervisor. The CCP will analyse the request based on a transcript about the new research project and academic performance of the student.
X – Unsatisfactory Academic and Scientific Performance
A student will be asked to stop the degree if he/she demonstrates unsatisfactory work, proved by an annual work transcript sent to the supervisor from the student. The supervisor must give reasons of the aspects related to unproductiveness of the student. This will be judged by the CCP.
XI – Supervisors and Co-Supervisors
The maximum number of students per supervisor, between Master´s and Doctorate is ten Additionally, they can co-supervise up to three Doctorate students.
The supervisor has three years to supervise a student.
The CCP will only appreciate requests of accreditation of supervisors who meet the norms, which are:
Criteria for accreditation:
To supervise Master students: The lecturer who is requesting must prove that he/she has published at least 1 (one) article in a journal related to ISI Web of Knowledge in the last 36 (thirty six) months.
To supervise Doctorate students: The lecturer who is requesting must have supervised a Master’s student proving the publication of at least 2 (two) articles in journals related to the ISI Web of Knowledge in the last 36 (thirty six) months and prove his/her participation in research projects funded by official funding agencies at that time.
Criteria for re-accreditation:
To be re-accredited, the lecturer requesting must show involvement in the Program, as well as meet the requests to be accredited. This lecturer must send a formal request to the CCP indicating objectively his/her qualifications to continue on the Program. He/She must attach his/her up-to-date Curriculum Vitae to the request.
In order for the lecturer requesting to be re-accredited on the Program, the following items will be analysed:
● Number of students who have successfully completed degrees in the period;
● Average time of finishing the degree of his/her students;
● Number of students graduated in the period but without their certificate;
● Scientific production from dissertations or theses who he/she has supervised;
● Number of subjects offered at Graduate level;
● Participation in activities organized by the Program.
The rules for co-supervisors to be accredited are the same as the ones established for supervisors and the request to co-supervise must describe the actual contribution to the research project.
Criteria for specific accreditation:
Teaching staff who do not meet the aims to accredit a Master’s and/or Doctorate can obtain specific accreditation, according to the criteria of the CCP.
To supervise a Master’s student: the lecturer requesting can supervise two Master’s students with delayed starts in at least 1 (one) year.
To supervise a Doctorate student: the lecturer requesting must have supervised a Master’s student and can supervise only 1 (one) Doctorate.
External teaching staff, researchers and Higher Education technicians from the School of Engineering can obtain specific accreditation if they meet the criteria of accreditation, prove their participation in research subjects funded by official funding agencies and describe their real contribution to the Program.
XII – Procedures to hand in Dissertations and Theses
If the supervisor approves, a student must hand in four copies of the Master´s dissertation or six copies of the Doctorate thesis with an electronic version of the work.
N.B. The copies must follow the models of dissertation and theses established by the CPG at EESC.
XIII – Nomenclature of the Title
The title of diploma awarded to graduate students on the Program will be:
Master´s in Science from the Electrical Engineering Program or Doctor of Science, from the Electrical Engineering Program, indicating the main subject area in which the student registered.
XIV – Other Norms
Special Credits
A student has the right to special credits gained in the following work in the period in which he/she registered as a regular student on the Program:
● Publication of completed work in a journal circulating nationally and internationally having a recognized editorial board in the area;
● Publication of completed work in annuals (or similar) of events promoted by scientific societies;
● Publication of a book or chapter of a book recognized by merit in the area;
● Participation in the Program of Improving Teaching (PAE)
The number of credits attributed to each activity will meet the following criteria:
| Congress | Book | Chapter of Book 3 | International journal | National journal | |
| Only author 1 | 4 credits | 12 credits | 6 credits | 8 credits | 6 credits |
| Co-author 2 | 2 credits | 6 credits | 3 credits | 4 credits | 3 credits |
| 3rd e 4th Autor | 0 credits | 3 credits | 1 credit | 3 credits | 1 credit |
| 1 – Together with Supervisor | 2 – Together with Supervisor and Co-author | 3 – To be evaluated by the CCP | |||||