The CCP is composed by the coordinator, alternate coordinator, an accredited professor of the program and an alternate accredited professor, one student representative and an alternate student representative.

The documents for admission, the number of vacancies available, mentors available, curriculum evaluation items, the grade of each item and the final approval average and the indicated literature for the selection process will be made public by the program before each selective process.

Comprobation of English proficiency for all students, and Portuguese for foreign students, will be required as provided in Section V of this statute upon registration for the selective process for both master and doctoral degree.
For the selection of candidates for master, doctoral and direct doctoral degree the following criteria will be considered:

• Written test based on the analysis of a scientific paper (weight 3).
• Curricular analysis (weight 3). The analysis of the curriculum will be based on the assessment of academic and scientific activities performed by the candidates.
• Oral presentation of the research project, followed by oral argumentation (weight 4). In the oral presentation and argumentation of the research project the knowledge of the student on his project will be evaluated. The examination board of the selection process for admission of new students will be indicated by the CCP and must be chosen by the CCP coordinator, two members of the commission and their alternates. Preferably, at least one member of the board must be external to the program.

The grade of each evaluation will vary from 0 to 10 and students will be considered approved with grade greater than or equal to 5.0 in the written test. Students who fail to obtain the minimum score on the written test (5.0) are automatically eliminated from the subsequent stages of the selection process. The final grade is the average of the three evaluations.

For the master degree program the deadline for depositing the dissertation is thirty-six months.

For the doctoral program, to those who have taken the master degree, the deadline for depositing the dissertation is forty-eight months.

For the direct doctoral program the deadline for depositing the dissertation is sixty months.

The master degree program student must accomplish at least 96 credits, distributed as follows:

• Minimum of 20 credits obtained in disciplines
• 76 credits obtained in preparing the dissertation.

The doctoral student, either holder of the title of master from USP or recognized by it, shall accomplish at least 172 of credits distributed as follows:

• Minimum of 20 credits obtained in disciplines
• 152 credits obtained in preparing the dissertation.

The direct doctoral student must accomplish at least 192 credits distributed as follows:

• Minimum of 40 credits obtained in subjects
• 152 credits obtained in preparing dissertation.

Under approval of the CCP, special credits will be awarded to scientific and educational activities, as detailed in section XIV.

Only exams acknowledged by the Graduation Committee of FMRP-USP (TEAP, TOEFL, ALLUMINI, CAMBRIDGE AND IELTS) will be accepted for the English language proficiency test, and students will be considered approved achieving 60% or higher of maximum grade for the master degree and 70% of maximum grade for the doctorate.

A student may also be considered proficient in the English language if he/she presents comprobation of one full cycle of study (elementary school, high school or university), or at least one year of internship or course in an educational/research institution in an English speaking country.

The exam acknowledged by the Graduate Commission of FMRP-USP for proficiency in the Portuguese language is CELPE-BRAS. Students who achieve 60% or more of the maximum score will be approved.

A student may also be considered proficient in the Portuguese language if he/she presents comprobation of one full cycle of study (elementary school, high school or university), or at least one year of internship or course in an educational/research institution in a Portuguese speaking country.

The CCP will define the disciplines of the program based on paragraphs 68 to 71 of USP’s regiment.

The application for accreditation and reaccreditation of a discipline will be made by at least one accredited professor of the academic staff.

The proposals for discipline accreditation will be analyzed by the CCP, taking into account the importance for the general education of the student, the consistency with the research lines of the program and the competence of the faculty to provide the discipline. For the reaccreditation of a discipline the CCP will analyze the possible need for an update of the content of the program, the frequency with which the discipline is offered and the proposed changes.

Other than accredited professors, individuals who possess the title of doctor and are external to the program will be allowed to teach disciplines as long as this choice is justified by a professor who is accredited in the program and responsible for the discipline and after approval by the CCP.

The cancellation of a discipline can occur when it does not reach the minimum number of students required or when requested by the responsible professor by reason of force majeure with approval from the CCP. The cancellation by the CCP due to insufficient number of students should be accomplished before the classes starts. In the case of interruption by reason of force majeure, the cancellation is to occur until 30% of the duration of that discipline. The CCP will have a maximum of 30 days to deliberate on the matter.

The purpose of the qualifying examination is to assess the didactic and scientific maturity of the student, his knowledge on the topic investigated and progress achieved during the course of his/her studies.

The qualifying examination is mandatory for master and doctoral degree students. 
The student must register for the qualifying examination within 18 months for master’s, 24 months for doctoral and 30 months for direct doctoral.

The student must have obtained the credits from mandatory disciplines to enroll for the qualifying examination.

The qualifying examination will be requested by the mentor, with the consent of the student, to the CCP, which then will designate the examining board consisting of three members, including the student’s supervisor and two alternate members who possess at least the doctorate. Preferably, the mentor should not take part in the examining board as a main member. The examination must take place within 60 days after the CCP has defined the examining board members.

To register for the qualifying exam, the student must submit five copies of a detailed report of the research project under development (including literature review, methodology and preliminary results). The reports will be delivered to the members of the examining board with a minimum of 15 working days before the date of the qualifying examination.

The qualifying examination will consist of: a) public oral defense of the research project under development or b) submission of an article which has been previously published or has proof of acance in international journals (indexed in Medline, Web of Science, Scopus). The article must have connection with the thesis or dissertation project, which will be verified by the CCP. The student and his mentor should be listed as authors and the publication / acceptance must have occurred after enrollment in the program, at the level the student is in (master’s or doctoral).

If the student fails the qualifying examination he/she is entitled to repeat it only once within a period not exceeding 120 days from the date of completion of the first examination. The procedures for the second examination will be the same as described for the first.

The change from the master degree program to direct doctoral is subject to clear demonstration of the candidate’s scientific maturity and originality of his project. A candidate may request change from master’s to doctoral if he/she has had a satisfactory performance during the graduate program which is evaluated by annual reports, evidence of previous experience in research activity and evidence of publication or acceptance for publication in international journals.

The request shall be forwarded by the mentor, with the written agreement of the student, within 24 months from the beginning of the time period for submission of the dissertation along with the following documents:

• detailed opinion of the mentor justifying the request with emphasis on academic and scientific performance of the candidate.
• evidence of the scientific production of the student.
• detailed report with the results of the research project in development and a plan for future development of the project into a doctoral thesis.

The CCP will consider the request after considering the material presented and having the opinion from an advisor with no connection to the project and chosen by the CCP.

In addition to dismissal by Article 54, the student may be dismissed due to academic and scientific performance evaluated by the requirements here displayed.

The monitoring of academic and scientific performance of master’s and doctoral students will be performed through annual reports with a detailed description of academic and scientific activities developed in the period.

The reports will be reviewed by advisors indicated by the CCP. Appointed advisors may or may not be associated to the program.

The CCP is responsible for monitoring the student during graduate studies, based on the opinion issued by advisors. The student and his mentor should have access to annual opinions issued.

Under the approval of the CCP, the student will be dismissed from the program if: a) do not submit the annual reports of activities within the time stipulated by the CCP without proper justification, or b) if the report is not approved by the mentor or supervisor. In case of failure of the report, the student will have 30 days to plead.

The decision for the dismissal of the student is submitted to the CCP for approval.

The accreditation and reaccreditation of mentors will be valid for a period of three years. A professor may obtain accreditation/reaccreditation if he/she has published at least three full articles in journals indexed in Medline in the previous 3 years and at least one article with impact factor greater than 1.0.

Accreditation for co-mentors will be accepted only for doctoral students with justification of the mentor indicating the importance of co-orientation, which is then to be approved by the CCP.

Accreditation of external mentors, postdoctoral students and visiting professors will be accepted exceptionally as specific mentors after approval by CCP following the mentor accreditation criteria for the program.

Each accredited professor of the program can take on the maximum of 10 students, including master’s and doctoral. Accredited professors are also allowed participation as co-mentor of the maximum of 3 students.

To request public defense of dissertation, after mentor authorization, the student must submit the following documents to the CCP:

• 3 printed copies of the dissertation and one copy in electronic media
• mentor’s opinion on the dissertation work.
• Program submission form signed by student and advisor.

To request public defense of doctoral dissertation, upon mentor authorization, the student must submit the following documents to the CCP:

• 5 printed copies of the doctoral dissertation and one copy in electronic media
• mentor’s opinion on the dissertation work.
• Program submission form signed by student and advisor.

The titles granted by the program will be Master or Doctor of Medical Sciences – Concentration Area Mental Health, for physicians and Master or Doctor of Science – Concentration Area Mental Health, for non-physicians.

1 – Mandatory Disciplines

For Master’s , Doctoral and Direct Doctoral students it is mandatory to obtain 50% of credits in the program’s disciplines.

The required DISCIPLINES for Master’s are:
RSM5747 – Research Methodology I – Literature Review (8 credits)
RSM5766 – Research Seminars in Psychiatry, Neurosciences and Mental Health I (2 credits).

The required disciplines for doctoral are:
RSM5704 – Research Methodology II – Critical Assessment of Design (8 credits)
RSM5767 – Research Seminars in Psychiatry, Neurosciences and Mental Health II (2 credits)

2 – Credits awarded for scientific or teaching activities

By decision of the CCP, the activities described below may be counted in the total minimum credits required in disciplines. The activities corresponding to letters A through F must not exceed fifty percent of the minimum required credits in disciplines and the activity corresponding to letter G can not exceed twenty percent of the minimum credits required in disciplines.

• authorship of a complete work published in journal of international circulation (Medline, Web of Science, Scopus) – 4 credits
• authorship of complete work published in national magazine (Scielo) – 2 credits
• publication of complete work in annals (or similar) – 1 credit
• authorship of book or book chapter – 2 credits
• participation in scientific congress, organized by national or international scientific societies accompanied by presentation of work which abstract is published in the congress proceedings (or similar) – 1 credit
• patenting – 4 credits
• participation in the Teaching Improvement Program (PAE) – 3 credits

3 – Change of research project

The request for change of research project during master’s or doctoral shall be forwarded by the mentor with awareness of the student to the coordinator of the area, accompanied by a detailed justification and the new project.

It is the CCP’s responsibility to evaluate the change requested for the research project, based on an opinion issued by an advisor who is not related to the project and appointed by the CCP.

4 – Documents to be presented to the CCP in order to submit dissertation or thesis

When documents are to be sent to the CPG, the student must deposit in the CCP the following documents:

• printed copy of the dissertation or doctoral thesis accompanied by a copy in electronic media
• copy of the article to be submitted for publication, or article submitted or accep ted for publication or already published.
• copy of the mentor’s opinion on the dissertation work.
• copy of the referral form with the signatures of student and mentor.
• list of suggested names for the examining board:
  1. for Master’s Degree, consisting of the mentor, four professors belonging to the FMRP-USP or to the graduate program and four professors external to the FMRP-USP and the program.
  2. for Doctoral Degree, consisting of the mentor, eight professors belonging to the FMRP-USP or to the graduate program and four professors external to the FMRP-USP and the program.
• filled and signed form for permission to publish the work online in the Portal of Knowledge of the University of Sao Paulo.

Prof. Dr. Cristina Marta Del-Ben
Coordinator of the Mental Health Postgraduation Program

For students who entered until January 2009 and have not opted for the new Regulation:

The student must provide 5 copies of the proforma in spiral binding accompanied by a form with names indicated to compose the examining board, which must be filled and signed by the mentor. The form can be found in the documents link of this homepage.

The student must have obtained the discipline credits required in the program for inclusion in the qualifying examination.

For students who entered in July 2009 and others who chose the new rules:
To register for the qualifying exam, the student must deposit five copies of a detailed report of the research project under development (including literature review, methodology and preliminary results), together with a form suggesting names to compose the examining board which must be filled and and signed by the mentor. The form can be found in the documents link of this home page.

The student must have obtained the credits from mandatory disciplines for inclusion in the qualifying examination.