The doctoral thesis must be developed under the supervision of an advisor until its final draft.

The doctoral thesis must be an original investigation that shows the applicant’s scientific maturity and contributes with new knowledge in the field.

The PhD student who have met all regulatory requirements will request for the appraisal of the thesis, with advisor’s permission and approval of the Program Coordinator.

The title page (as well as the cover of the copy) should include:

1) Tese apresentada à Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, para obtenção do título de Mestre/Doutor em Ciências.

2) Área de concentração: complete name of the program (Cirurgia Torácica e Cardiovascular).

3) Title of the thesis: exactly the same as the catalog.

4) Co-advisor, who should be mentioned only if his/her entitlement was approved by the Graduate Committee, check in Ficha do Aluno, in the Janus system.

5) Instructions for preparation of the catolographic form.

The request should be accompanied by:

• statement of the advisor, with the agreement of the coordinator, that the work is in conditions of being appraised;
• volumes + CD, with a signed authorization for disclosure, in PDF, Res._CoPGr_5401-17.04 (pdf)  Diffusion of Theses on USP Portal
• article from the thesis, in conventional format, for publication in a national Qualis A or higher scientific journal;
• response letter from the journal to the advisor, acknowledging receipt of the article;
• in order to meet the article 98 of USP bylaws, changed by Resolution CoPGr 5.140 of September 20^th, 2004, the Graduate Committee deliberated that: all graduate students enrolled in doctoral courses after the 1^st semester of 2005 should submit, when depositing their doctoral thesis in FMUSP, one copy of:

1. proof of submission of at least one article related to the thesis for publication, or
2. proofs of submission that will be accepted: correspondence from the journal publisher or electronic submission receipt;
3. editorial regulation of the chosen journal;
4. copy of the offprint of the submitted paper.

The article should mention that it is the product of a doctoral thesis defended in the Graduate Program in Sciences – Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery of the School of Medicine, and the name of the advisor should be included in the list of authors.

On September 16^th, 2011 the FMUSP Graduate Committee approved the regulations for the presentation of dissertations and thesis in the form of a compilation of articles, according to Of.0278-11-CPGE_-_Dissertações_e_teses_com_compilação_de_artigos, and on November 21^st, 2011 the Program Coordinating Committee endorsed these regulations.

If the article is not published in the period of 6 (six) months and the student is not interested in publishing it anymore, the advisor can do that as the first author.

The board of examiners of the doctoral thesis will be formed by five examiners indicated by the Graduate Commission (5 full members and 5 alternates).

The indicated members should have at least a doctoral degree and at least one of the examiners should be associate or full professor.

The advisor, a natural member, will be the president of the board of examiners.

At least three of the members of the board of examiners, as well as their alternates, should be external to the Program, the Department, and the School of Medicine respectively.

Advisors and professors responsible for disciplines, entitled by the Graduate Committee and/or by CoPGr in the program, will be considered members of the Area.

In case of advisor’s absence or impediment, the Graduate Committee will designate a substitute, who can be the co-advisor, if applicable, or collaborator.

The board of examiners should not include relatives, either blood-related or not, of the student.

The appraisal of the thesis will be performed in a public meeting, whose duration should not exceed five hours.

The public thesis defenses can be held remotely by video conference, expediting the formation and execution of the boards of examiners Circ._CoPGR_24_2011.

The thesis defense will be conducted as follows:

• the student will present the content of his/her work in the maximum period of 60 minutes, previously to the defense;
• each examiner will have 20 minutes to argue the student, and  the latter will have the same time to reply, or, if both parties agree, to establish a dialogue. Total duration should not exceed 40 minutes.
• each examiner will assign a pass or fail grade, in a private meeting performed immediately after the defense, not taking into account the presentation mentioned in the first item.
• the applicant will be considered qualified if he/she obtain a pass grade from most examiners.
• the board of examiners will send the Term of Appraisal of Defense to the Graduate Committee for official recognition.

The applicant considered qualified in the thesis defense will be awarded the degree of PhD in Sciences - Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. The list of issued diplomas is available on http://www2.fm.usp.br/posgrad/mostrahp.php?origem=posgrad&xcod=Diplomas%20Prontos&dequem=Senso%20Estrito, senso estrito; later, students can take them at the FMUSP Graduate Service.