Procedures for Conducting a Doctoral Specific Qualification Exam

Updated 28/05/2026 - WBJ

The Doctoral Specific Qualification Exam (EQE) aims to assess the depth of the student's knowledge in the specific area of ​​his subsequent thesis work, the content of his thesis project and the feasibility of his schedule, as well as guiding the student regarding the final stage of your doctoral course.

All doctoral students must take the Doctoral Qualification Examination by the end of the first month of their fifth semester in the program. The periods are defined in the IC's postgraduate calendar. There must be a minimum interval of 21 days between the request in e-DAC and the exam date.

Exam Text: According to the Internal Resolution CPG / IC 001/2026The EQE text has a maximum limit of 8.000 words, not including references and appendices. As a suggestion, it is recommended to use the document structure adopted in [previous document/section]. FAPESP's “Research Project”.

Before taking the EQE, the student must have completed the EQG or requested EQG waiver.

Composition of the Examining Committee

In accordance with the Regulations of the Postgraduate Program, the Examining Committee for the Specific Doctoral Qualification Examination (EQE), designated by the CPG/IC, through indications of members suggested by the supervisor, will be made up of at least three doctors, one of whom will be or more of them external to the IC Postgraduate Program (PPG). The advisor must indicate which of the members will preside over the Committee. Neither the supervisor nor any co-supervisors can be part of the Examining Committee.

The CPG recommends that the advisor appoint at least two alternate members: one who is accredited in the IC Postgraduate Program and another who is external to it.

Suggestion for Composition of the Examining Committee:

(#) Although the condition of 'external member' is defined, in this case, by the absence of a direct link with the Postgraduate Program, it is recommended not to nominate researchers linked to the IC (for example, postdoctoral fellows linked to the Institute, but not to the Program), in order to avoid the Examining Committee being rejected by the CPG.

CPG will not pay for the arrival of any external member to participate in EQE Evaluation Committees. Exceptional cases should be consulted beforehand with the CPG.

CPG recommends that the Qualification Exams be carried out entirely remotely, even with the return to face-to-face activities. If there is a need to use any room at the IC so that the student can present the EQE (student use only), the postgraduate secretary must be consulted in advance.

As they are evaluation activities of an academic nature, access to Qualifying Exams, during presentation and discussion, is restricted to members of the academic community of the Institute of Computing and the Examining Committee

Application Procedure

1. Obtain approval for the Ethics Statement in the e-DAC system.
   • Access e-DAC and submit the request. The request must be approved by the advisor and validated by the Secretariat. Only after this procedure will the system allow the submission of the EQE request.
   • If in doubt, consult the DAC Tutorial.
2. Fill in the Examination Committee Composition Analysis Form
   • Fill out the Examination Committee Composition Analysis Form
   • When submitting the form, you will receive a PDF by email with the answers provided. This file must be printed, signed by you and your supervisor and delivered to the Graduate Secretariat (signatures can be scanned if desired)
3. Fill in the exam details on e-DAC:
   • Access  e-DAC, go to Academic Life / School History> Dissertation / Theses and fill in the requested information.
   • If in doubt, consult the Tutorial Flow of Dissertations and Theses.
   • In the field Examination, choose the option Concentration area.
   • To reserve a room for the Exam, the advisor can directly access the website https://reservas.ic.unicamp.br/ or the student can check availability on the same website and request a reservation by email sec-pos (at) ic.unicamp.br
4. Fill out the EQE Form:  
   • Access the form here.
5. Forwarding the PDF file of the text of the EQE proposal by email to the members of the Examining Committee.
   • It is the supervisor's responsibility (or, at their discretion, the student's) to send the Qualifying Examination text file to the Examining Committee members via email, as uploading it via e-DAC is optional. We strongly recommend that, if the final text is not attached to the system for the committee's review, a PDF file be included in the system indicating the expected date of email delivery of the document, in order to guarantee a reasonable timeframe for the committee to review it.