PhD degree

Selective Process

The Doctorate is aimed at students who already have undergraduate and Master's degrees. See how to apply. Exceptionally, some students with excellent academic performance who have just entered the Master's program may be promoted to the Doctorate course - the so-called “Direct Doctorate”.

To enter the Doctorate at the Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica, the student must first enroll in a Selection Process, whose period is well before enrollment, from April to mid-May for those who want to enter the 2nd. Semester, and from September to mid-October for those who want to enter the 1st. Semester of the following year. The specific dates for each year can be found in the Graduate Calendar.

The complete documentation for enrollment in the selection process is presented in the Regulatory Norms for Stricto Sensu Graduate Courses at ITA (ICA 37-356, which can be consulted here). The candidate to enter the Doctorate must be aware of the need to present proof of proficiency in English when registering for the selection process. We also emphasize that all applicants must take the basic mathematics test, including those enrolled in the postgraduate course in Physics (more information here).

If the candidate is accepted in the selection process, he will be able to enroll in the corresponding period.

The Doctorate is aimed at students who already have undergraduate and Master's degrees. See how to apply. Exceptionally, some students with excellent academic performance who have recently entered the Master's can be promoted to the Doctorate course - the so-called “Direct Doctorate”.

Registration

Enrollment is mandatory for all students and in all academic periods. See how to register.

Requirements to obtain the PhD degree

To successfully complete the PhD program, the student must obtain, in a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 9 academic periods:

• Approved credit count, with a minimum of 27 credits (attributed by the credit counting commission), minimum average of 7.5 in 2xx courses taken at ITA and approval in the compulsory subjects in your area of ​​concentration.
• Approval in the Qualification Exam, until the end of the 6th term. Submission of a full article to an indexed journal, co-authored with the advisor, on a subject related to the Thesis, according to criteria specified by the graduate programs.
• Approval of the thesis exam by the examining board. Acceptance of the final version of the thesis by the advisor and the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research within the deadlines stipulated by the examining board.

Each graduate program can specify additional requirements for completing the course. For the purpose of deadlines, the Postgraduate Division of ITA considers that the first term ends on August 31 of the same year and the second term ends on January 31 of the following year. The student may request the CPG to extend the maximum deadline for completion for another term.

Special Student - students with partial dedication to the course

Special student (AE) is a student who wishes to attend the Postgraduate Program at ITA during the term of employment that prevents full dedication to the course. The special student will not have a formal relationship with ITA Post-Graduation, however, he / she can count the credits obtained by taking Isolated Disciplines: up to 18 credits for Master's and up to 12 credits for Doctorate (in the latter case, if he / she has a master's degree). The Selection Process for special students is done in conjunction with that of regular students. He must have a supervisor (professor accredited in the Graduate Program of ITA), who will indicate the subjects in which he can enroll and accompany his research work.

Advisor

Each student must have a permanent professor or collaborator in the Graduate Program in which they are enrolled. The choice of advisor is made by the student with the consent of the advisor and the area coordinator. It is up to the advisor to assist in choosing the thesis theme, selecting disciplines consistent with that theme, supervising the thesis and monitoring the student's academic performance.

Co-advisor

For the supervision of the thesis, the student may have a co-supervisor. The maximum deadline for requesting co-guidance is 5 academic periods after entering the course. In the case of a co-supervisor already accredited in the Graduate Program, the supervisor must inform the area coordinator, who will request the registration to the Pro-Rectory (IP). In the case of a co-supervisor outside the Program, approval depends on the CPG and the request (see annex below) must be filled out by the student's supervisor and delivered to the Graduate Office.

Disciplines

A list of Courses Offered is made available every six months. To pass a discipline, a minimum frequency of 85% and a grade equal to or greater than 6.5 is required. The final grade of the period is obtained as the average of 3 grades: 1st bimester, 2nd bimester and exam. Only the student with an average equal to or greater than 5.0 in the two months is qualified to take the exam. If there is no minimum frequency, the student fails and does not receive a grade. The student is dismissed from the Postgraduate course if he obtains: Two failures in discipline due to insufficient attendance. Concept D in a discipline; Concept I for the 2nd time, in the same subject considered mandatory in the course; Concept I, for the 3rd time, in subjects taken after entering the course; NS Concept, for the 3rd time, in discipline 3xx or English exam applied by ITA; NS Concept, for the 2nd time, in 5xx discipline;

Credit Count

Before requesting the thesis exam, the student must request it at the secretary The request is sent to the student's area coordinator, who appoints the credit counting committee, composed of 3 teachers (one of whom is the student's advisor). The commission may award credits up to the limit of:

• 15, for the title of Master;
• without limitation (at least 6) for the set of subjects 2xx;
• 2, for the set of disciplines 3xx;
• 1, for the set of disciplines 4xx;
• 3, for the set of disciplines 6xx;
• without limitation (at least 3) for full articles accepted for publication or published, patents, books and book chapters, co-authored with the advisor, with a maximum of 3 credits per contribution, according to criteria specified for each Post-Graduate Program.
• 15, for the student without a Master's degree (or up to 6 credits for the student with the title) for courses taken at PIGM, isolated course, course 7xx, or graduate courses at another institution.

The student must have passed the course so that it can be counted. The student must obtain a minimum of 27 credits, a minimum average of 7.5 in 2xx subjects taken at ITA, and pass the mandatory subjects in his / her concentration area. Courses 2xx, 6xx, 7xx can grant up to 3 credits; 3xx and 4xx, up to 1 and 5xx does not grant credits.

Qualification exam

The Qualification Exam aims to verify the breadth and depth of knowledge, as well as the critical capacity of the student, necessary for the elaboration of a PhD thesis. The maximum period for obtaining approval in the qualification exam is 6 academic semesters after entering the course, being allowed a single failure in the qualification exam. To take the exam, the student must make a request at the secretariat: The qualification exam board is appointed by the area coordinator, at the student's request and is composed of at least 3 members, including the advisor and at least one accredited professor in ITA's Graduate Program. The qualification exam consists of:

• Delivery to the members of the bank, with a minimum of 15 days in advance, of a monograph, in Portuguese or English, containing proposal, research methodology, partial results and remaining activity plan;
• Oral presentation, in Portuguese or English, lasting up to 50 min;
• Oral argument, in which each member of the board evaluates the items presented.

Doctoral thesis

The Doctoral Thesis is an individual work that demonstrates the ability to contextualize existing knowledge and use scientific research methods and techniques on a theme and that represents an original contribution.

Thesis Exam Request

The student can request the Thesis Exam provided that:

• Has obtained the necessary credits recorded in the credit counting;
• Passed an English language exam;
• Submit a copy of the full article, co-authored with the advisor, on a subject related to the thesis, already published, accepted, submitted or ready for publication, according to criteria specified by each Graduate Program.

To request the Thesis Exam, the student must submit to the area coordinator: Application for appointment of an examining board; Copy of the article, proof of publication or proof of submission; CV Lattes of members of the board suggested by the advisor; Exemplary of the thesis;

Approval from the Examining Board

The advisor must fill out and forward to the area coordinator, by e-mail, the name suggestion form for the examining board: The examining board is analyzed by the Program Council (CPPG) and appointed at the CPG meetings (held on the dates indicated by the calendar). The board consists of the advisor, co-supervisor and at least 4 more members: at least two external to ITA and at least one accredited in the ITA Graduate Program. One of the members of the board is appointed president. An internal and an external alternate member are also appointed in case of unavailability of any member of the board.

Invitation to external members

• The chairman of the board or adviser informs the student of the approval of the thesis board by the CPG.
• The president or student (as long as authorized by the first) contacts external members to formalize the invitation. If one of them indicates unavailability, the alternate member must be invited.
• The student sends copies of the thesis to all members of the board.
• The president or the student himself (as long as authorized by the first) consults all members to schedule the date and time of the defense, which must be at least 15 days after the members receive their theses.
• After setting the date, the chairman of the board makes the official statement to the Post-Graduation Secretariat, in an email sent to <agentese@ita.br>, with a copy to the members of the board and to the PROAP office <pereirae@ita.br>.
• The secretariat (Elenice) sends the invitation letter to external members.

Thesis Exam

The Thesis Exam comprises:

• Oral presentation of the thesis, lasting 50 min;
• Oral argument, in which each examiner assesses the candidate's knowledge of the topic of the thesis.

The assessment is made in a private meeting after the argument. The expected results are:

• Approval. The candidate has 30 days to deliver the final version of the thesis to the secretariat.
• Conditional approval. The bank sets a deadline for the final version, not exceeding 90 days.
• Disapproval. The candidate may request a new exam, only once, within a maximum period of 1 year.

The above deadlines cannot exceed the course completion deadline.

Course interruption cases

• Enrollment lockout is the temporary exclusion from the course for a maximum of 2 academic periods, with the right to re-entry, which can be granted only once, at the proposal of the Area Coordinator. This period is not counted, for the purposes of the completion of the course, when requested by medical recommendation or exceptional reason, at the discretion of the CPG;
• The transfer of a student enrolled in a Graduate Program to another program is carried out at the student's request. It must have the consent of the supervisor and the coordinators of the programs and areas involved and approved by the Pro-Rector;
• Exclusion from the course may occur due to: student request; student's health reason; insufficient school performance; do not require enrollment in discipline in the period; cancel enrollment in all subjects in two periods; not meeting the minimum frequency in two subjects; or does not meet the deadlines for completion of the course and English exam;
• In the cases of exclusion above, the student may request, once only, readmission to the Doctorate. Re-entry conditions are submitted to the CPG for judgment (see Regulatory Norms for Graduate Studies). In the case of exclusion due to insufficient school performance, re-entry can only occur in a different program from which it was excluded;
• Termination is the exclusion from the Postgraduate Course at ITA without the right to re-enrollment or re-entry and will occur in cases of: disciplinary transgressions (see Regulatory Norms for Graduate Studies); school improbity; indiscipline; or if the student who requested readmission did not meet the conditions for re-entry.

Regulation

It is important that the master's student knows the Regulatory Regulations for Graduate Studies (NOREG 2013), which can be found in the ITA Legislation, at "Graduate Courses". In the rules of ITA's Graduate Program, we call this course the Academic Master to differentiate it from the Professional Master. Graduate programs may also have additional requirements, as described in CPG Resolutions.