The curriculum structure of the Graduate Program in Physiological Sciences was planned to offer a general knowledge in Physiological Sciences, mandatory to all students, allowing them a more specific education in fundamental areas for the development of their dissertation/thesis through elective courses. Considering the basic knowledge for the student, every year the Program offers the following mandatory courses, which have 14 credits, and each credit corresponds to 15 hours:
Theoretical Aspects of Physiological Adaptation (1 credit)
Comparative Animal Biochemistry (2 credits)
Comparative Endocrinology (3 credits)
Excretion and Osmoregulation (2 credits)
Comparative Cardiovascular Physiology (2 credits)
Comparative Physiology of the Respiratory System (2 credits)
Nervous System (2 credits)
As a complement, in order to provide more specific knowledge in some areas, the Program also offers the following elective courses, which add up to 28 credits:
Cell Biology (3 credits)
Receptors and Intracellular Signaling (2 credits)
Molecular Biology Applied to Physiology (3 credits)
Endocrine Control of Animal Reproduction (2 credits)
Physiological Effects of Pollution (3 credits)
Biological Effects of Non-Ionizing Radiation (2 credits)
Pigmentation Physiology (3 credits)
Steroid Hormones (2 credits)
Experimental Statistics (2 credits)
Physiological Effects of Oxidative Stress (4 credits)
Multivariate Statistics (2 credits)
Besides those subjects, students can take courses from other graduate programs at FURG or other Universities, and ask for credit validation. Added to the offer of regular courses, either mandatory or elective ones, the curriculum structure of the Program enables other courses to be offered as Special Topics, as complementary courses. In general, they are offered based on specific needs of the Program, which are pointed out in internal assessments or by the interest of professors or researchers with an expertise in the proposed topic.
In order to defend their thesis, Master’s students must have 30 credits, of which 14 are from mandatory courses, at least 6 from elective courses, and 2 from teaching practice (mandatory to all students). They can obtain credits from more elective courses at the Program or other graduate programs, or even from complementary activities (papers presented in congresses, papers published in scientific journals, etc.) The thesis defense provides 2 credits, totalizing the 30 necessary for obtaining the Master’s title.
Doctoral students must have 40 credits to defend their dissertation, of which 14 are from mandatory courses, at least 10 from elective courses of PPGCF, and 4 from teaching practice (carried out during two semesters, also mandatory to all students). They can obtain other credits from elective courses at the Program or other graduate programs, or even from complementary activities (papers presented in congresses, papers published in scientific journals, etc.). The dissertation defense provides 5 more credits, totalizing the 40 necessary to obtain the Doctoral Degree.
For the Program completion, besides the credits mentioned above, Master’s students must present and defend their thesis projects within4 months after starting the Program, whereas Doctoral students must present and defend their dissertation project within 6 months after the start. Furthermore, Doctoral students must present an annual report on the dissertation progress to a Program Committee responsible for monitoring doctoral students, in addition to performing a Qualification Exam within 30 months counting from the start of the Program.