Information - Master's Degree

Master's Degree students must take subjects until the attainment of a minimum of 360 credit hours. From 2013 onwards, the subject Mathematical Methods in Civil Engineering I (COC-709) is compulsory for all master's students regardless of their area of focus. To qualify as a Master's Candidate, i.e. to start research on their master's dissertation, a student must attain a minimum CRA of 2.0 after completing the required credit hours and present a Master's Seminar. For full-time students, the Master's Seminar must be presented no later than 13 months after their entry in the Master's Program. Part-time students must present the Master's Seminar within a non-extendable period of up to 2 years from the start date of the Master's course.

The title of Master of Science (M.Sc.) will be awarded to students after approval by an Examining Board in a public defense of their dissertation. Full-time scholarship students must defend their dissertation no later than 2 years after their entry in the Master's Program. Students without grants have a period of up to 3 years after entry to hold the public defense of their dissertation.

 

GENERAL RULES TO OBTAIN A MASTER'S DEGREE IN THE CIVIL ENGINEERING PROGRAM

I – APPLICATION AND SELECTION

I.1 The application and selection of candidates for the Academic Master's Degree course of COPPE/UFRJ's Civil Engineering Program (PEC) follow the rules set down in the Selection Announcement available in the PEC webpage.

II – WORKLOAD AND EVALUATION

II.1. Applicants are selected by PEC's areas of focus and must complete a number of credit hours equal or greater (as required by the specific area of focus) to 360 hours. Each area of focus has an unique set of subjects which must be taken by candidates.

II.2. Performance in each subject will be assessed by the professor in charge by means of tests, examinations and academic works and presentations and expressed by one of the following grades/performance indications:

 

A – Excellent; B – Good; C – Regular; D- Poor; I – Incomplete; or J – justified withdrawal.

 

II.3. Candidates who complete a subject with grades A, B or C will be considered approved and obtain the corresponding credit hours.

II.4. The indication I (Incomplete) will be assigned, at the discretion of the professor in charge, to students who do not fully complete their academic work for a subject but commits to complete it within a period no longer than one academic period, as defined by CPGP/COPPE. Should the work not be completed within this period, the indication I will be automatically converted to grade D.

II.5 Subjects for which exclusion from the program is requested by a student within the period regularly defined by CPGP/COPPE for inclusion/exclusion of subjects will not be included in the student's Academic Transcript.

II.6 Students who withdraw from a subject after the deadline for exclusion of subjects for a fully justified reason, as per the discretion of the Academic Program Committee, may receive the indication J (Justified Withdrawal) for that subject.

II.7. Inclusion and consideration for the Program of subjects taken outside COPPE/UFRJ or consideration of subjects taken by former COPPE/UFRJ students is limited to 90 credit hours and is subject to approval by the Academic Program Committee and subsequently by the CPGP/COPPE. These subjects will appear with an indication T in the Academic Transcript.

II.8 In order to assess students' performance at the end of each academic period, the following values are assigned to the grades obtained in the completed subjects:

A = 3 (three); B = 2 (two); C = 1 (one); D = 0 (zero)

Performance assessment will be expressed by the CRA (Cumulative Performance Coefficient), calculated as the average of these values weighted by the number of credit hours of each subject.

Obs: Subjects with indications I, J or T will not be considered for calculation of the CRA.

 

II.9 A student may be required to repeat a subject in which he previously obtained grade D, at the discretion of his area of focus. Both results will be included in the student's Academic Transcript. In accordance to COPPE/UFRJ rules, a student with two D grades in his Academic Transcript will have his registration automatically cancelled.

 

II.10 In accordance with COPPE/UFRJ and PEC/COPPE rules, students must meet the following performance standards to maintain their registration in PEC's Academic Master's Degree course:

a) CRA equal to or higher than 1.00 at the end of the 1st academic period at COPPE;

b) CRA equal to or higher than 1.75 at the end of the 2nd academic period at COPPE;

c) CRA equal to or higher than 1.75 at the end of subsequent periods.

 

III – CANDIDACY FOR THE MASTER'S DEGREE

III.1 Students registered in PEC's Master's Degree Program will be considered Master's Degree Candidates when they have:

a) Obtained a minimum of 360 credit hours in COPPE;

b) Obtained a CRA equal to or higher than 2.0 (two), considering all subjects taken during the Master's course;

c) Fulfilled the English reading and interpretation requirement, as well as attesting proficiency in Portuguese;

d) Been approved in the Master's Seminar.

Obs: Students who complete the minimum workload of 360 credit hours may request Candidacy for the Master's Degree, provided that they meet CPGP/COPPE's requirements.

III.2. The Master's Seminar must be held no later than 13 months after entry in the Master's Program for full-time (TI) students, and no later than 24 months after the start of the Program for part-time (TP) students. The deadline for part-time students cannot be extended.

III.3 The Master's Seminar will be presented before an examining board comprising the student's Advisor(s) and at least one additional member, who must not necessarily be a member of the PEC. The seminar will consist in an oral argumentation of the candidate's dissertation proposal. This proposal must be presented to the members of the examining board as a monograph at least 15 days in advance, and should include the following topics:
• A literature review on the dissertation's topic, so that the board can assess the candidate's acquired knowledge.
• Presentation of the dissertation proposal demonstrating the relevance of the study to be developed.
• Presentation of the steps to be undertaken for completion of the dissertation within the time remaining.
Observation: Candidates not approved in the Master's Seminar will have a single additional opportunity to present it again within a period of one month, subject to the maximum limit of 24 months after entry in the Master's Program.

 

IV – DEGREE AWARDING The degree of Master of Science will be awarded to Master's Degree Candidates whose dissertation is approved by an examining board composed in accordance with the rules of the CPGP/COPPE within the following time limits: • 24 months for full-time (TI) scholarship students, exceptionally admitting two three month extensions, which must be appropriately justified and approved by the Academic Committee of the PEC. • 36 months for full-time (TI) students without a scholarship or for part-time (TP) students, exceptionally admitting two three month extensions, subject to approval by the Academic Committee of the PEC.

Observation: Complementary information can be found within the COPPE/UFRJ's Rules for students ( http://www.coppe.ufrj.br/ensino/cpg.html ).

 

SCHOLARSHIPS

 

Scholarships from CAPES and CNPq (Social Demand Grants) may be granted to full-time (TI) students without permanent employment. In some exceptional cases, scholarships may be granted to employed students if they are legally released to attend COPPE full time. Another form of scholarship is intended for Brazilian university professors or technicians and granted by the home institution through the Institutional Program for Teacher and Technical Traning (PICDT/CAPES). Foreign students may apply for scholarships from the Covenant Students Program – Post Graduation (PEC-PG) with the appropriate Brazilian diplomatic representation (embassy or consulate) in their country of origin. The application deadlines for PEC-PG scholarships must be obtained directly from Brazilian diplomatic representations abroad. Foreign candidates may exceptionally be awarded Social Demand Grants in specific circumstances.

 

CONTACT:                                                                                                 

Academic Department                                                                               
Elizabeth Cornélio, Jairo A. Leite and Michael Monteiro

Centro de Tecnologia (Technology Centre) – B Block - Room 101 - Ilha do Fundão (Fundão Island)                      
P.O. Box 68506 – Postal Code: 21941-942                                                     
Rio de Janeiro - RJ                                                                                   

Telephones (+55 - 0-XX-21) 2562-8463 or (+55 - 0-XX-21) 2562-7390
Fax number (+55 - 0-XX-21) 2562-8464

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