Courses and Curriculum Structure

The master’s and doctoral degree programs offered by the Graduate Program in Communication at the Fluminense Federal University consists of core courses and courses that are specific to the fields of interest of the program’s concentration areas. Also, the fulfilment of degree requirements includes mentoring assignments provided by faculty and an academic internship for scholarship students with the overall goal of fostering teaching skills.

Once enrolled in the program, students must take 5 (five) courses, but it is recommended that they take 3 (three) courses on the first semester and 2 (two) on the second semester. However, students may reverse this order and take 2 (two) courses first, and 3 (three) courses on the second semester.

Course Credit Requirements

Successful completion of, at least, two core courses or two courses specific to the concentration of the student’s research project;
Successful completion of three courses to be chosen freely among the ones offered at PPGCOM-UFF. Students can take one course outside the department, also counting towards required credit.
Research Methods is a mandatory course to all master’s students and is offered on an yearly basis.
Besides coursework, students must pursue mentoring activities related to the development of their research projects.
Scholarship students further their academic experience through an internship program. Teaching an undergraduate course is mandatory (more information bellow).
The program ensures that students complete all requirements for a master’s degree accordingly to the deadline set up by CAPES, that is, 24 months, considering that the minimum length is 12 months. When the advisor sees fit, it is possible to request an extension limited to six months for the defence of the thesis, which necessarily must be completed in maximum 30 months after enrolment for the master’s degree program.

In order to meet these deadlines, students must select a faculty advisor until the closing of the first semester.

Qualifying examination must be completed after 12 months attendance and before the eighteenth month.

Total credits: 52

Academic Internship
This activity is mandatory for all master’s students, who must teach an undergraduate course for one semester, at least, while enrolled in the program at PPGCOM-UFF. Besides, the program encourages all students to pursue this activity (including non-scholarship students), with the possibility of teaching more than one undergraduate course until the fulfilment of degree requirements.

Internship planning and activities must be supervised by faculty advisors. Students who complete these activities receive a notation on their graduate transcripts.

Scheduling the oral defense
In order to schedule the defense, students must submit the title of the thesis and the full name of each member of the defense committee (along with their respective affiliation) by email to PPGCOM’s administrative office, including intended date and time of defense.

To confirm the schedule, the advisee must submit a .pdf file of the penultimate draft of the thesis and the completed defense form no later than two days before the chosen date, filling the data fields on committee external examiners.

On the date set for the defense, the advisee must report to PPGCOM-UFF’s administrative office at least 30 minutes earlier to receive the defense report form, which must be signed by all committee members and returned to the office soon after the defense. Subsequently, advisees must file a petition to order the diploma from the Office of the Registrar at Gragoatá, and, finally, submit the .pdf file of the final version of the thesis, with its library catalogue already included.

Master’s qualifying examination and defense committees composition:

Qualifying examination: the adviser and two other tenured members from UFF, holding that at least one of them must be a member of PPGCOM-UFF.

Defense: the adviser and two other members – one from a different university and one tenured member of UFF; the latter doesn’t have to be a faculty member of PPGCOM. Also, it is necessary to appoint two surrogate members – one external member and one tenured member from UFF.

Generally, this is the basic composition of committees, but it is possible to appoint more professors (either from or outside UFF), as long as the minimum criteria are fulfilled. It is mandatory that all committee members must hold an earned doctorate from an accredited institution. Finally, PPGCOM doesn’t provide qualifying examination committee members with travelling expenses, so it is recommended to appoint professors who live in Rio de Janeiro or nearby areas.

While enrolled in the program, students must complete 4 (four) courses, taking at least 1 (one) or up to 2 (two) courses per semester, besides attending the doctoral seminar, which is only available on the second year of studies.

Courses are distributed as follows:

Two core courses or two courses related to the student’s concentration;
Two courses to be chosen freely among the ones offered at PPGCOM-UFF. Students can take one course outside the department, also counting towards required credit.
Doctoral seminar, an exclusive, mandatory course for doctoral students, which must be taken on the fourth semester of the doctoral program.
Also, students must participate in mentoring activities related to the development of their dissertations.
The mandatory academic internship complements the degree requirements. Students must teach an undergraduate course, besides pursuing other extracurricular activities, such as organising internal or external seminars (more information bellow).
The program ensures that students complete all requirements for a doctoral degree accordingly to the deadline set up by CAPES, that is, 48 months, considering that the minimum length is 24 months. When the advisor sees fit, it is possible to request an extension limited to two months for the defense of the dissertation, which necessarily must be completed in maximum 50 months after enrolment in the doctoral degree program.

In order to meet these deadlines, students must select a faculty advisor until the closing of the first semester.

Qualifying examination must be completed after 24 months of attendance and before the thirtieth month.

Total credits: 83

Academic Internship
This activity is mandatory for all doctoral students, who must teach an undergraduate course for one semester at least, while enrolled in the program at PPGCOM-UFF. Internship planning and activities must be supervised by faculty advisors. Students who complete these activities receive a notation on their graduate transcripts.

Scheduling the oral defense
In order to schedule the defense, and until 15 days earlier, students must submit the title of the dissertation and the full name of each member of the defense committee (along with their respective affiliation) by email to PPGCOM’s administrative office, including intended date and time of defense.

To confirm the schedule, the advisee must submit a .pdf file of the penultimate draft of the dissertation and the completed defense form no later than two days before the chosen date, filling the data fields on committee external examiners.

Doctoral qualifying examination and defense committees composition:
Qualifying examination: the adviser and two other members, holding that one of them must be from a different university and the other must be a faculty member at PPGCOM-UFF.

Defense: the adviser and four other members – two external and two tenured professors from UFF, holding that at least one of them must be a faculty member of PPGCOM. Also, it is necessary to appoint two surrogate members – one external member and one tenured member from UFF.