VIII-QUALIFYING EXAM

New Policies-approved in 2014

VIII. 1 The QE is required in both the Master and Doctoral courses.

VIII. 2 Registration for the qualifying exam is the responsibility of the student and must be done within the deadline established by the program.

VIII. 3 Registration for the exam should take place within 18 (eighteen) months for the Master’s degree, 24 (twenty-four) months for the doctorate, and 30 (thirty months) for the direct doctorate, after the beginning of the term. The QE must be taken no later than 60 (sixty) days after registration.

VIII. 4 The graduate student who does not take the exam in the period provided will be disconnected from the program, according to section V of Article 52 of the USP graduate guidelines.

VIII. 5 The student who fails the QE may register to repeat it only once and must re-register within 60 (sixty) days after the first exam. The second examination must be conducted within 60 (sixty) days of registration. If the failure persists, the student will be disconnected from the program and will receive a certificate of the disciplines studied.

VIII. 6 The Examining Committee shall consist of 3 (three) members appointed by the CCP, with a minimum Ph.D. degree. At least one member must be a program advisor. The advisor and co-advisor may not participate in the committee.

VIII. 7 The CCP shall appoint the chairman of The Examining Committee, obeying, whenever possible, the hierarchy among its members.

VIII. 8 The QE will be held twice a year, at the end of each semester in two stages, a written test and an oral test. The completion of the QE after the deadline established by the program will only be allowed by the CCP after analysis of reasoned justification offered by the advisor.

VIII. 9 Procedures for conducting the master’s QE.

The Graduate Program in Biochemistry considers the following requirements for the Master’s Qualification Examination: (1) knowing the fundamental concepts of Biochemistry, which are addressed in the mandatory disciplines for the Master’s degree; (2) being able to develop logical scientific reasoning, with the understanding of experiments and results; (3) being able to perform an oral presentation on a topic of Biochemistry; in addition to (4) being able to perform the experimental part related to the dissertation.

Written Exam: Analysis of a scientific paper or part of a scientific paper (involving basic knowledge of biochemistry addressed in the disciplines taught, from which the student should show capacity for experimental understanding and scientific reasoning).

Oral exam: presentation of a theoretical class, at the undergraduate level, on a topic of Biochemistry. In the evaluation of the class, the following aspects will be analyzed: (i) demonstration of knowledge in the subject, (ii) adequacy of the content for an undergraduate class, (iii) clarity of the concepts presented, and (iv) logical organization of the topics presented. The committee may make some considerations about the lesson, but there will be no interview.

For the written test, the student will receive the paper at the time of its completion. The topic for the oral presentation must be drawn 7 (seven) days before the presentation. The list of topics to be addressed will be disclosed to the student when they enter the course. Oral presentations should be from 30 to 45 minutes.

Of the 16 topics, the student will be able to select 10. The 16 topics are (1) buffer system; (2) amino acids; (3) proteins; (4) enzymes; (5) vitamins and coenzymes; (6) carbohydrates; (7) nucleic acids; (8) lipids; (9) biological membranes; (10) oxidative phosphorylation (respiratory chain); (11) carbohydrate metabolism; (12) fatty acid metabolism; (13) phospholipid and cholesterol metabolism; (14) protein and amino acid metabolism; (15) purine and pyrimidine metabolism; and (16) metabolic integration.

There will be no grade for the QE. The candidate who obtains a scale of 0 (zero) to 10 (ten), grades equal to or greater than 6 (six) in the two exams (written and oral) will be considered approved.

VIII. 10 Procedures for conducting the Doctoral QE.

The Graduate Program in Biochemistry considers the following requirements as necessary for the Doctoral qualifying exam: (1) in addition to the fundamental concepts, have extensive and up-to-date knowledge in biochemistry, which are addressed in the mandatory disciplines; (2) in addition to the abilities to develop logical scientific reasoning and interpretation of results, demonstrate critical ideas; (3) demonstrate intellectual independence, with the ability to formulate new scientific questions and experimental proposals.

Written Exam: the applicants shall demonstrate knowledge with the various topics of modern Biochemistry (widely discussed during the compulsory disciplines), and the maturity acquired during the thesis project, where they must demonstrate capacity for scientific reasoning, interpretation of results, critical opinion, and formulation of new experimental proposals.

Oral exam: the students must present a theoretical class, at the graduate level, on a topic of their choice within the area of biochemistry, but different from the thesis work. In the evaluation of the class, the following aspects will be analyzed: (i) adequacy of the content for a graduate class and (ii) logical organization of the topics presented. The committee may make some considerations about the lesson, but there will be no interview.

In the written test, the student will receive some problems and scientific questions to present different strategies for the solution.

The topic chosen for the oral presentation should be sent to the program office along with a written summary (maximum one page) containing the references considered essential, at least 7 (seven) days before the exam. Oral presentations should be from 40 to 50 minutes.

There will be no grade for the QE. The candidate who obtains a scale of 0 (zero) to 10 (ten), grades equal to or greater than 6 (six) in the two exams (written and oral) will be considered approved.