NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE

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(in accordance with the Guidelines and Bases for National Education no. 9394/96 of 12/20/96 and with the CNE/CES Resolution no. 1 of 4/3/2001)

CHAPTER I
ON THE PURPOSES

Art 1. The Stricto sensu Graduate Program in Oncology of the Brazilian National Cancer Institute (INCA), accredited by CAPES in accordance with the report 256/2004/CTC, and organized according to the provisions of these rules of procedure, approved by Ordinance no. 1,919 of 03/06/2005 of the INCA´s Director-General and INCA´s Education Regiment, has the following goals:

I. To form investigators and professors qualified to produce and transmit knowledge in Oncology.
II. In accordance with the institutional mission of INCA, to promote the training of qualified professionals for the development of health research, according to the priorities and agendas of Brazilian Ministries of Health and of Science and Technology.

Art. 2. The activities of the Graduate Program in Oncology will be held at two levels:

I. Master’s Program, aiming at the scientific training and the improvement of theoretical and academic knowledge, enabling the formation of professors and qualified investigators in Oncology and related areas.
II. Doctoral Program, aimed at training of investigators able to independently develop research in Oncology and related areas.

CHAPTER II
ON THE GENERAL ORGANIZATION

Art. 3. The Faculty of the Oncology Graduate Program is composed by professionals of the Brazilian National Cancer Institute and national and foreign experts, accredited in accordance with the provisions of these rules of procedure and the guidelines of CAPES.

Art. 4º. The general management and planning of the Graduate Program in Oncology will be delegated to a Committee called the Committee of the Postgraduate Program in Oncology (CPGO).

§1º. The CPGO will consist of at least 06 (six) members, five professors and one student representative, with right of voting, representing the following areas: Basic, Clinical, Translational and Epidemiology Research, all part in the Program. The Research Coordinator may request the inclusion of up to three other professors to integrate the CPGO, provided that they have been part of a previous commission, adding up to a maximum of 9 (nine) members.

§2º. The Coordinator of the Graduate Program in Oncology will act as the Coordinator of the CPGO and another member of the CPGO will act as Adjunct Coordinator replacing its duties, in case of impediment.

§3º. The Coordinator, Adjunct Coordinator and the other members of the CPGO will be appointed by the General Coordinator of Education and Research of INCA, after consulting the group of professors of the Program, and appointed by internal ordinance issued by the Director-General of INCA.

I. The mandate of the Commission will be of 02 (two) years and may be renewed.
II. A CPGO member will be replaced in case of failing to attend, without justification, three consecutive meetings of the Board. 
III. Appointment of a new member will obey the rules defined in this paragraph.

§4º. The CPGO resolutions shall be taken by majority vote of the members present and shall be state in the minutes or reports. In the event of a tie, the Coordinator or his Adjunct will have the casting vote.

§5º. The quorum for ordinary meetings of the CPGO will be 50% of the CPPG members plus one.

CHAPTER III 
ON THE COORDINATION

Art. 5º. The CPGO will deliberate on:
I. Approving the contents and the programs of the courses and their credits;

II. Approving the prerequisites for the registration to the courses;

III. Elaborating the schedule of courses at the annual Schedule in line with the objectives and policies of the Graduate Program;

IV. Reporting the names of the professors responsible for the courses of the Graduate Program and the programatic contents of the courses to the Coordination of Teaching and Scientific Dissemination of INCA (CEDC);

V. Monitoring and evaluating the various activities of the Graduate Program;

VI. Propose the creation, modification, extinction and replacement of courses;

VII. Approving all Exam Boards for defense of dissertations, theses and Qualifying exams, suggested by the students´ advisors;

VIII. Approve the selection committees of candidates for entry into the Graduate program in Oncology;

IX. Proposin the composition of commissions for the monitoring of the courses and the progress of work on dissertations and theses, formed by at least three faculty members, and indicating, when necessary, a co-Supervisor for theses or dissertations;

X. Deciding on issues related to the application, selection, admission, advisorship, co- advisorship, registration, re- registration, change of advisorship, suspension of registration, cancellation of registration, exemption from disciplines, transfers, validation and revalidation of credits, providing full details of taken decisions to the Academic Secretariat of CEDC;

XI. Approving, through analysis of curriculum vitae, the admission and permanence (accreditation) of advisors who will join the Faculty of the Program;

XII. Budget planning of the Graduate Program;

XIII. Preparing all reports of the Program, forwarding it to INCA´s Council of Graduation for approval;

XIV. Proposing modifications of the Rules of Procedure to INCA´s Council of Graduation for subsequent approval by Ordinance, by the Direction General of INCA.

Art. 6º. Responsibilities of the Coordinator of the Graduate Program in Oncology:

I. Preside over meetings of the CPGO;

II. Implement CPGO decisions;

III. Supervise and oversee the implementation of the provisions of these Rules of Procedure, as well as ensure full compliance to them;

IV. Represent the CPGO in different institutional and administrative bodies.

Art. 7º. The CPGO Coordinator will be assisted in his duties by an academic secretary of the Graduate Program in Oncology, who will maintain all records of professors and students of the program organized and updated, as well as perform other tasks as assigned.

CHAPTER IV
ON THE ACADEMIC STRUCTURE

SECTION I
ON THE PROFESSORS AND ADVISORSHIPS
Art. 8. Faculty members interested in advising candidates should necessarily request accreditation by a by responding to a public notice call.

§1º. Accredited faculty must have a PhD degree or equivalent for at least 2 (two) years and must have scientific production in line with the standards by CAPES, in the area of Medicine I, and as dictated by CPGO, according to item XI of Article 5.

§2º. Faculty are required to present their curriculum data in the Lattes format, whenever feasible.

§3º. The accreditation of faculty will be valid for the composition of the Graduate Prorgam Faculty, as well as for the presentation of student candidates to the selection process.

§4º. Faculty who wish to supervise new students must apply for new accreditation by responding to the public notice call, even if they are already accredited as advisors to other students.

Art. 9º. At least 70% (seventy percent) of the faculty must have institutional positions as full-time or similar arrangements, with obligation to supervise theses and dissertations only in graduate programs of INCA, characterizing Permanent Faculty. The percentage of the remaining 30% (thirty percent) can be accredited at the discretion of CPGO, and will receive the denomination of Collaborating Faculty.

Art. 10. Upon evaluation of CPGO, professors and professionals not linked to the Program and/or from other institutions may be accredited as counselors or co-advisors, following the provisions of Arts. 8 and 9.

Art. 11. The proportion of faculty from outside the Brazilian National Cancer Institute will comply with the criteria by CAPES.

Art. 12. All advisors should coordinate or participate in research projects approved by CPGO and, when necessary, by the Ethics Committee of INCA.

Art. 13. Each advisor will be responsible for ministering at least one course every two years.

Art. 14. Professors without prior advisorship of dissertations/theses defended and approved in graduate programs recognized by CAPES, can advise a single Master's student. §. Professors can only advise PhD students after they have advise, as a primary advisor, a Master's student with dissertation defended and approved in a stricto sensu graduate course recognized by CAPES.

Art. 15. Advisors should, preferably, limit the number of candidates to be concurrently advised to a maximum number of 8 (eight) students, in research projects compatible with their research lines.

§1. The inclusion of a co-advisor must be requested by the advisor within the period corresponding to the first half of the maximum duration of the dissertation/thesis of his/her student (12 months for Master´s and 24 months for PhD), being approved and formalized by CPGO. Co-advisors of the Graduate Program must hold a PhD and must be affiliated with an institution of higher education.

§2. The acceptance of new candidates may be suspended for advisors with one or more students who are late for the completion and/or defense of Dissertation, Thesis or Qualifying exam.

Art. 16. The advisor is responsible for:

I. Overseeing and guiding their students in the organization of their study plan, as well as assisting in their training;

II. Assisting the students in preparing and implementing their thesis project;

III. Indicating, whenever appropriate, in agreement with the student and the needs of their project, a co-advisor, as stated in Art. 15, §1.

IV. Undertaking any other activity mentioned in these Rules of Procedure.
Art. 17. Each registered student will have an advisor, from the date of admission, which may be substituted with prior approval of CPGO as described in Art. 5º, item X.

§1º. The request to changing advisorship will be considered, provided that it occurs within the period corresponding to the first half of the maximum duration of the dissertation/thesis of his/her student (12 months for Master´s and 24 months for PhD).

§2º. The maximum time that a student can be enrolled in the Graduate Program in Oncology of INCA without an advisor is 30 days. The formal cancellation of the officially constituted advisorship can be requested by the advisor or by the student, through written letter to the Graduate Program in Oncology of INCA.

§3º. The request for change of advisorship should be done by the student and the new advisor within 1 (one) month from the official communication of the cancellation of the original advisor, by proividing a new project of up to 5 (five) pages with timeline and a letter of acceptance from the new advisor already accredited by the Program to the academic secretary of the Program.

§4º. The project will be analyzed by CPGO who will dispose to its direct approval, approval upon presentation of the project to the committe, or disapproval.

§5º.The student with a new approved project will continue his/her course as orginally set, and should conclude it within the time limit originally set.

§6º.The student whose new project is failing will be automatically cancelled from the Graduate Program.

SECTION II
ON THE ADMISSION TO THE PROGRAM

Art. 18. The number of vacancies offered will take into consideration the following elements, among others:

I. The ability of advisorship, which must be proven through experience of the faculty, the compliance with the obligations of the Graduate Program in Oncology of INCA, and time availability.

II. The flow of incoming and outgoing students.

III. The programs and objects of research in development.

IV. The capacity of the facilities, equipment and resources of the INCA's laboratories for the smooth progress of the research and teaching activities.

SECTION III
ON THE REGISTRATION AND SELECTION

Art. 19. The dates for the selection of candidates for Master's and PhD degrees will be announced by public notice calls, where the number of vacancies, deadlines, and the candidates requirements to be will be specified.

Art. 20. Candidates who hold an udergraduate diploma in biomedical areas, such as Medicine, Biology, Biomedicine, Nursing, Nutrition, Psychology, Pharmacy or any other area which knowledge is relevant to an Oncology Master’s or PhD Course as deliberated by CPGO are eligible to apply for the the MSc or PhD in Oncology of the Program.

Art. 21. Applications to the Master's program must be accompanied by:

I. A completed registration form, which includes:

a. Title and summary of the research project;
b. Accredited advisor´s agreement;
c. Agreement of the advisor´s immediate headship or head of unit where the project will be developed.

II. Proof of payment of the registration fee.

III. Photocopy of the University (undergraduation) diploma or declaration of College degree completion in the current period.

IV. Academic records.

V. Curriculum vitae of the candidate and of the advisor in Lattes format.

Art. 22. Applications to the PhD program should be accompanied by:

I. A completed registration form, which includes:

a. Title and summary of the research project;
b. Accredited advisor´s agreement;
c. Agreement of the advisor´s immediate headship or head of unit where the project will be developed.

II. Proof of payment of the registration fee.

III. Photocopy of the University (undergraduation) diploma.

IV. Photocopy of Master's degree diploma or equivalent or photocopy of at least 1 (one) original research paper, published or accepted for publication in and indexed journal (ISI) with impact factor equal to or greater than the equivalent to Qualis B1 stratum (area of Medicine I of CAPES), in which the applicant is the first author in the subject related to his/her research project. In exceptional cases, candidates who do not hold a Master´s degree or a published article, as described, will be considered to join the PhD program directly. In those cases, the relevance of exceptional situations will be evaluated and disposed by CPGO.

V. Curriculum vitae of the candidate and of the advisor in Lattes format.

Art. 23. Registrations will only be validated after reviewing the documents by CPGO, including candidate resumés and those from their accredited advisors, and considering the provisions of Arts. 8 to 15 of these Rules fo Procedure.

Art. 24. The candidates for the Master's program must participate to a selection exams of eliminatory and classificatory steps.

§1º. The selection process must assess the understanding and analysis of relevant topics in Oncology, selected from scientific papers published in indexed journals of international circulation, in English, by the candidate.

§2º. In addition, the process should necessarily comprise an interview to evaluate the candidate´s research project, knowledge in the area of the project, degree of maturity and professional intent in the career of research and teaching,

§3º. In addition, for classification criteria the candidate´s and the avisor´s resumés will be taken into account and analyzed for classification purposes.
Art. 25. Only applicants that fulfill the following conditions cay be enrolled in the Master's Program:

I. Have passed the written exam with the minimum score established by the Examination Committee and published in the selection call, and

II. Have been approved and classified in an interview according to the score system set by CPGO.

§. Registration in the Master's Program will be valid for the period defined by CAPES.

Art. 26. Applicants to the PhD program must undergo a selection exam of qualifying and classifying steps.

§1º. The selection process must include an eliminatory exam of English language proficiency.

§2º. In addition, the process must necessarily inlcude a project oral presentation by the candidate followed by an interview to evaluate the research project, knowledge in the area of the project, degree of maturity and professional inclination to the career of research and academy,

§3º. Moreover, the candidate's and the advisor´s resumés must br taken into account for classification purposes.

Art. 27. Only applicants that fulfill the following conditions cay be enrolled in the PhD Program:

I. Have been approved in an exam of English proficiency.

II. Have been approved and classified in an interview according to the score system set by CPGO.

§1º. Registration in the PhD Program will be valid for the period defined by CAPES.

Art. 28. Apporved applicants will be registered according to the number of vacancies as determined on an yearly basis.

§1º. Simultaneous registration to more than one Graduate Program will not be allowed.

§2º. In the case of agreements with national or international institutions, the selection and registration of candidates will be subjected to the terms of the signed agreements.

Art. 29. In exceptional cases, the transfer of Master´s student directly to the PhD will be allowed, without a defense of the Master´s Dissertation, within 12-18 months from his/her entry into the Master’s Program, at the request of his/her advisor and upom approval by CPGO.

§1º. The applicant and his advisor must justify the reasons for that request.

§2º. Only candidates who meet the following conditions will be considered for that request:
I. Have coursed all the credits required for a Master's degree with an overall performance academic coefficient equal to or greater than 8.0 (eight) in the approved courses, and
II. Have published one paper or have it approved for publication as first author in the analyzed period. The paper must be an original research published in an indexed journal (ISI) with impact factor equal to the Qualis B1 of the stratum of Medicine I of CAPES, and
III. Have been approved in the English language proficiency exam.

SECTION IV
ON THE REGIMEN OF THE ACADEMIC GRADUATE PROGRAM

Art. 30. The student must devote full time to the Graduate Program, except for cases expressly authorized by CPGO.

§1. The student will be linked to the Graduate Program in Oncology from his/her registration to the defense of his/her Dissertation or Thesis.

§2. The graduate student scholarship will only be provided to a student upon exclusive dedication to the Program and with no other source of income.
Art. 31. The student can request to CPGO, with due justification, the temporary suspension of his/her status at the Graduate Program.

§1º. The suspension of registration can only be granted, at the discretion of CPGO, to students who have completed at least the first academic semester after the entry to the Graduate Program in Oncology, except for cases which clearly charcaterize the impediment of a student in participating into the academic activities.

§2º. The suspension of registration can be granted for a maximum period of six or twelve consecutive months for Master's or PhD students, respectively.

§3º. The suspension of registration must have the written consent of the Advisor.

Art. 32. The student that has his/her registration cancelled cannot plead readmission to the Program without being subjected to a new selection process, after at least two years of cancellation.

Art. 33. The registration to a course, as well as its withdrawal, will be carried out by the student upon completion of a specific form, signed by his/her advisor.

Art. 34. The registration to isolated courses is allowed to students enrolled in graduate programs accredited by CAPES of institutions with agrements with INCA.

Art. 35. A student can ask CPGO for the transfer of credits obtained in other institutions that maintain agreements with INCA, from graduate programs accredited by CAPES.

§1º. Courses obtained in other programs accredited by CAPES can be accepted upon approval by CPGO, to a total number of no more than 1/3 (one third) of the total credits in course required for obtaining the corresponding degree at the Graduate Program in Oncology.

§2º. Upon judgment of the CPGO, regular activities like seminars, conference cycles, journal clubs as well as monitoring in courses, scientific publications in the theme of the Thesis and participation in conferences may be validated as credits at the Graduate Program in Oncology.

Art. 36. The validation of each discipline will be judged according to specific regulations and expressed by a numerical grade.

§1º. For the purposes of approval, the minimum required frequency in each course will be 75 percent (seventy-five percent).

§2º. The student who obtains a grade of 7.0 (seven) or greater in each course will be considered approved

Art. 37. The possibility of granting an I (incomplete) grade is allowed, at the discretion of the professor, to a course in which the student has not completed the final work, but commits to complete it in a period not exceeding three months of the end of the course.
§. The I grade will lose the effect and will be replaced by 0 (zero) when the work is not delivered within the time limit set.

Art. 38. The withdrawal to any course, within the regular deadline, will involve in non-inclusion of that course in the student´s academic record.

§1º. The student can only withdraw to a course before 1/4 (one fourth) of the activities programmed in the course is completed, with the consent of his/her advisor and formal notification to the Office of Graduate Studies, under penalty of a grade 0 (zero) score being computed to that course.

Art. 39. The granting of a T (Transfer) grade will be assigned to courses considered in Art. 34.

Art. 40. A course will automatically lose its validity after 4 (four) years for the Master’s Program and 6 (six) years for the PhD Program, counting from the date of registration of the student.

§only. The courses which validity has expired are deleted from the Academic record of the student.

Art. 44. The overall performance academic coefficient will be calculated by the weighted grades averaged by the working hours, being assigned the following grades:
A = 3 (three)
B = 2 (two)
C = 1 (one)
D - 0 (zero)

§1º. The overall performance academic coefficient will be calculated at the end of each academic semester.

§2º. Disciplines with “T" grade will not enter into the academic performance calculation.

Art. 45. A student must attend again one basic course in case of non-approval in any course in this category. In this case, both dispositions will appear on the academic record and will be part of the evaluation of the academic performance referred to in Art. 44. In the case of a non-disapproval, the student will be considered for termination upon CPGO decision. Non-approval in any two courses in a single semester also lead the immediate termination of the student in the Program.

Art. 46.A student will be terminated from the Graduate Program in Oncology when:
I. Holding an overall performance academic coefficient of less than 2.0 (two) in one academic semester; 
II. Failing a single course for the second time, as in Art 45;
III. Lacking to comply with his/her working regimen;
IV. Not following ethical and disciplinary rules;
V. Non-approval in the Qualifying process as requirements of Chapter VI of the present Rules of Procedure;
VI. Not having defended his/her Dissertation or Thesis within the maximum allowable time limit, as set out in Art. 66.
VII. Failing to comply with the stipulated in Art. 17 for advisor changing norms.
VIII. Not respecting the present regiment.

Art. 47. Any dispute arising between the Advisor and the student should be assessed by CPGO, hearing both parties, and is eligible to an appeal to the Superior Council of Graduation of INCA.

Art. 48. In exceptional cases, the Thesis work can be carried out in whole or in part in other units or institutions, upon approval by CPGO.

CHAPTER V
ON THE REQUIREMENTS FOR OBTAINING THE DEGREES OF MASTER AND PHD IN ONCOLOGY

Art. 49. Requirements for the Master's degree:
I. Having been admitted to the Graduate Program in Oncology for at least 12 (twelve) months before its completion, unless under exceptional circumstances at the discretion of CPGO;
II. Having been approved in the courses enrolled in the Master´s level corresponding to a minimum of 20 credits (1 credit is equal to 15 hours of activities), with 75% of those required to be obtained in courses, while the remaining can be obtained from other activities regulated by CPGO;
III. Having obtained approval of a Master´s Dissertation in accordance with the requirements laid down in this rules of procedure;
IV. Delivering the final copies of the approved Dissertation within 2 (two) months after the defense.

Art. 50. Requirements for the PhD degree:
I. Having been admitted to the Graduate Program in Oncology for at least 18 (eighteen) months before its completion, unless under exceptional circumstances at the discretion of CPGO;
II. Having been approved in courses that match a minimum of 30 credits (1 credit is equal to 15 hours of activities), being 25 credits equired to be obtained in courses, while the remaining can be obtained from other activities regulated by CPGO. Credits corresponding to courses taken during a Master's program accredited by CAPES can be validated upon approval by CPGO;
III. Having been previously approved in the Qualifying exam;
IV. Preferably having published a work of original research in an indexed journal with impact factor equal to or greater than the Qualis B1 stratum of the Medicine I area of Capes, on the subject of his/her thesis, where the candidate is first author, or a definitive proof of unambiguous acceptance of such a manuscript by the Journal Editor. The work of the publication must been developed during the period in which the student was enrolled in the Graduate Program in Oncology;
V. Having obtained approval in the defense of a PhD Thesis;
VI. Delivering the final copies of the approved Dissertation within 2 (two) months after the defense.

CHAPTER VI
ON THE PROCESS OF QUALIFYING FOR THE PHD

Art. 51. The qualifying process will test the feasibility of the project of Thesis and the candidate's knowledge in the respective area of expertise.

Art. 52. The student must carry out an oral presentation, in addition to providing a written document to the Secretariat of the Program between 24 and 30 months from the time of the registration in the PhD.

§1º. The written document must follow the procedures for Thesis defense, including the items “Perspectives" and “Schedule of remaining activities" to be performed within the 48 months from the time of registration.

§2º. The Advisor should provide a defense scheduling form for the qualifying to the Secretariat of the Program, including the suggestion of 3 (three) faculty as potential examiners, being preferably at least one external and one internal member of the Faculty of the Graduate Program in Oncology.

§3º. The student who defend the Thesis before 30 months of registration in the PhD is exempted from defending a qualifying exam.

Art. 53. The lack of providing a written document within the time limit set will result in automatic suspension of the student´s scholarship and may result in his/her termination of the Program. 
§. The scholarship may be renewed only after the document is provided and the exam is carried out and is subject to approval by CPGO.

Art. 54. The candidate failing the qualifying exam will have his/her registration at the Program automatically cancelled.

CHAPTER VII
ON DISSERTATIONS AND THESES (PRESENTATION AND DEFENSE)

Art. 55. The Master´s Dissertation does not necessarily need to be an original work, and can only show the candidate's ability to performing experimental or analytical techniques in his/her area of research.

Art. 56. The PhD Thesis must be an original work, and must demonstrate intellectual independence of the candidate and his/her ability to conduct experimental and/or critical analysis in his/her area of research.

Art. 57. Only candidates who have obtained the minimum course hours dictated in these rules of procedure, who have reached reaching the academic performance required and, in case of a PhD, who have also been approved in the Qualifying exam, can submit their Dissertation or Thesis for defense, except for cases listed in paragraph 3, article 52.

Art. 58. Dissertationd and Theses must comply with the format established by CPGO.

§1º. A statement certifying and specifying the involvement of third parties in obtaining data and/or analysis should be included in the Dissertation or Thesis, when applicable.

§2º. All the organizations that contributed directly or indirectly to the conduction of the work should be referred in Dissertations and Theses.

Art. 59. Dissertations and Theses should be provided to the Secretariat of the Graduate Program in Oncology by the advisor of the candidate, with a minimum of 30 (thirty) days prior to the suggested date for the defense, to follow the proceedings established by CPGO.

Art. 60. For the purpose of presentation of the Master's Dissertation or PhD Thesis to the Exam Committee, 6 (six) copies of the Dissertation or 7 (seven) copies of the Thesis are required to be deposited by the candidate at the Secretariat of the Graduate Program in Oncology.

§1º. After the candidate´s hearing by the Exam Committee, he/she should include in the final version of the Dissertation or Thesis the corrections indicated by the Committee in order to obtain the final approval by CPGO.

§2º. Two (02) copies of the final version of the Dissertation or Thesis must be delivered to the Secretariat of the Graduate Program in Oncology, along with an electronic version recorded on a CD, in PDF format, containing all the modifications noted by the Exam Committee, within a maximum of 60 (sixty) days after the defense.

§3º. The Advisor will be responsible for the compliance to the requirements mentioned above.

§4º. Failure to comply with these requirements will constitute an impediment to obtaining the respective diploma and for issuance of any similar certificate.

Art. 61. The act of defense of Dissertation or Thesis will be held in an open session, in place and date disposed by the CPGO.

Art. 62. The act of defense of Dissertation or Thesis and its final disposition will be registered in a minute, in compliance with the instructions disposed by CPGO.

Art. 63. The Examining Board of dissertations should be formed by 3 (three) titulars and 2 (two) substitutes, with at least 1 (one) external titular and 1 (one) substitute, and at least 1 (one) internal titular and 1 (one) substitute faculty of the Graduate Program in Oncology.

§ only. The advisors will not be part of the Exam Committee regarding their candidates.

Art. 64.The Exam Committee of PhD Theses will comprise 4 (four) and 2 (two) alternates, being composed of 2 (two) and 1 (one) external alternate, and 2 (two) and 1 (one) substitute teachers of the Oncology Graduate Program.

§ only. The counselors will not be part of the Exam Committee of their candidates.

Art. 65. The candidate must present his oral defense within 30 (thirty) minutes for Master´s Dissertations and within 45 (forty-five) minutes for PhD Theses.

§1º. Each Examiner will have 30 (thirty) minutes to discuss with and inquiry the candidate, who will have the same time for his/her reply.

§2º. After the end of the inquiry, each Examiner will give to the candidate the degree of Approved or Failed.

§3º. Once the candidate is evaluated, the final disposition of the Exam Committee will be issued as "approved" or "failed", according to § 2. The failure of the candidate only occurs when the results of the final assessment are shared by the majority of members of the Committee for a Master´s (two among the three members) or PhD (three out of the four titular members).

§4º. The Exam Committee may decide by rejection in limine of the Dissertation or Thesis.

Art. 66. The maximum period allowed for the defense of the Master's program will be 36 (thirty-six) months, and for the PhD will be 72 (seventy-two) months. After this time, and in the absence of justification of the candidate, he/she will have his/her registration cancelled at the Program.

CHAPTER VIII
ON THE GENERAL PROVISIONS

Art. 62. The modifications in these Rules of Procedure will become valid after approval in minutes by simple majority of the CPGO members.

§. The omissive cases, depending on their nature, will be judged by CPGO, and potential appeal to the Superior Council of Graduate Studies of INCA.