General Orientations / Specific Criteria

Proposals for masters and doctorate programs submitted to evaluation will only be approved if they meet the following requirements:

• general requirements – essential requirements established within the scope of the Scientific and Technical Council for Higher Education (CTC-ES) and which apply to all new course proposals submitted for evaluation, regardless the area of evaluation.
• specific criteria and parameters – requirements defined according to characteristics and stage of development specific to each area of evaluation.

General Requirements (CAPES Ordinance nº 195/2021):

Proposals for master's and/or doctorate courses must meet the general requirements defined by CTC-ES for all areas of evaluation and the specific criteria and parameters of the area of ​​evaluation to which they are attached. Information on the subject is available in the APCN Guiding Document on the website.

The following are general requirements applicable to new course proposals submitted to CAPES for evaluation:

• proposal alignment with Institutional Strategic Plan (access here the document prepared by the Department of Evaluation with additional information on this topic);
• proposal projection in the Institutional Development Plan (PDI) and in the institutional evaluation process of the Self Evaluation Committee (CPA – acronym in Portuguese) of the Higher Education Institution (HEI);
• proposal adequacy and justification for regional or national development and its socioeconomic importance;

• clarity and consistency of the proposal and of the criteria adopted for student selection, vacancies, justifications for the intended training profile and alumni profile;

• proof that the faculty proposing group has academic, didactic, technical and/or scientific competence and qualifications towards the objective of the proposal;
• tenured professors that, in terms of numbers dedication to the program and qualifications, ensure the high level of teaching, research and academical mentoring;
• indication of up to five intellectual productions (bibliographic, artistic and/or technical) from tenured professors, published in the last five years prior to the presentation of the proposal, as established in the APCN Guiding Document;
• teaching and research infrastructure, IT equipment and physical space suitable for the development of the planned activities.

Proposals for the professional modality (master's or doctorate) or for online education (master's only) must respect the particular requirements and characteristics set out in specific legislation.

For the online modality, the criteria established according to the document approved by the Scientific and Technical Council for Higher Education (CTC-ES)  must also be observed.

Proposals for new courses in associative forms must also follow the general requirements established in the previous article and the particularities listed in current legislation.

Specific Criteria and Parameters for the Areas of Evaluation:
The specific criteria and parameters of each area of evaluation, both for master's and doctorate degrees, are described in the documents on the pages of the areas of evaluation.