Cotutelle program

Cotutelle agreement

It is an international academic agreement between Unicamp and a foreign higher education institution (HEI), with the main objective of preparing the master's or doctoral student to obtain a degree that is valid and recognized by both institutions.

The agreement allows the student to prepare their dissertation or thesis under the joint supervision of two advisors: one from Unicamp and one from the partner foreign university. The dissertation or thesis shall be defended only once, either at Unicamp or at the partner higher education institution (HEI).

Upon successful defense of the thesis or dissertation, each university shall award the student the academic degree as specified in the agreement.

Both diplomas must state that the degree was awarded within the framework of a cotutelle agreement established between the parties.

Who can participate

The student regularly enrolled in a master's or doctoral course at Unicamp or in a foreign institution.

Legislation

The cotutelle agreements at Unicamp are disciplined in articles 57 to 60 of the Resolution CONSU-A-010/2015, transcribed below:

"Chapter XI - Cotutelle Agreements

Article 57 – Unicamp may establish specific agreements involving faculty members from the University and a foreign institution, under a co-supervision arrangement for graduate students enrolled in Stricto Sensu programs, provided that the activity is governed by Cotutelle Agreements. (Amended by CONSU Resolution A-022/2018)

The authority to execute Cotutelle Agreements entered into by UNICAMP shall vest in the President of the Central Graduate Studies Committee (CCPG).

Article 58 – Students involved in these agreements/agreements will carry out their work under the control and responsibility of two supervisors, one from each of the universities involved.

Article 59 – Each dissertation or thesis in co-supervision will be developed within the scope of a specific agreement, which associates the two interested institutions and which implies the principle of reciprocity. (Amended by Resolution CONSU-A-022/2018)

Sole paragraph – The agreement will recognize the validity of the dissertation/thesis defended within the scope of co-supervision, establishing the terms of reciprocity. (Amended by Resolution CONSU-A-019/2020)

Article 60 – The dissertation/thesis will have a single defense, recognized by the two institutions involved, a provision that must be the subject of a clause in the agreement signed between them. (Amended by Resolution CONSU-A-019/2020)

1st – The period of work to be carried out at UNICAMP will have a minimum duration of 06 months.

2nd – Preferably, students enrolled at Unicamp will defend their dissertation or thesis in a Teaching and Research Unit to which the Program is linked. (Amended by Resolution CONSU-A-022/2018)”.

Procedures

After the initial negotiations between the student, the Brazilian supervisor and the foreign supervisor, a draft of the agreement must be drawn up, preferably based on the cotutelle Agreement available at PRPG website.

After preparing this draft, it is suggested that, preliminarily, the electronic version of this document (in Portuguese) be sent to the email atd.prpg@reitoria.unicamp.br to verify that what is being agreed between the universities does not violate the provisions of Del. CONSU A-10/2015 – which provides for the General Rules of Graduate Programs at Unicamp.
After verifying the agreement of the terms of the draft presented, the following internal procedures must be followed:

1. The unit must initiate the digital joint supervision process via SIGAD and include the following information:

1.1 For Specific Agreements:

 – two versions of the Agreement (one in Portuguese and the other in English or the language of the foreign university);

– the approvals of the Postgraduate Program Committee, if any, of the Postgraduate Committee-CPG and of the Congregation of the Unit;

1.2 For cases of General Agreements:

– a copy of the general agreement signed by both universities;

– the approvals of the Postgraduate Program Committee, if any, of the Postgraduate Committee-CPG and of the Congregation of the Unit;

1.3 For cases of Specific Agreements where a General Agreement has already been formalized between the Universities (when there is a student linked to the already signed general agreement: open a new process in SIGAD, which must be named as: “Addendum No. … to the General Agreement – ​​Insert the names of both Universities that are part of the Agreement, as well as the name of the student, this being a descendant of the general agreement);

– a copy of the signed and actively valid General Agreement;

– the duly completed and numbered Addendum/Form to the General Agreement (Annex 01);

– the approvals of the Postgraduate Program Committee, if any, the Postgraduate Committee and the Unit Congregation;
 
2. The process should be forwarded to the Attorney General's Office for analysis and opinion;

3. If the PG raises any legal obstacles to the formalization of the Agreement or Addendum, the process will be returned to the Unit for action. If there are no obstacles, the process will be forwarded to the PRPG, which will send it to the CCPG;

4. Once approved by the CCPG plenary, the Cotutelle Agreement or Addendum will be returned to the unit so that all signatures from the members of Unicamp and the foreign university can be obtained.

4.1 The signing of the Agreement may be carried out preferably in two ways, physically or electronically through SIGAD;

5. After all signatures have been collected, the process will return to the PRPG, so that the secretariat can indicate to the Pro-Rector of Postgraduate Studies to sign the agreement.

6. Once all signatures have been collected, in all versions, these should be attached to the Cotutelle process, and the remaining copies will stay with the other interested parties.

7. Once the formalization of the process has been completed with the Co-Supervision Agreement signed between the parties, it must be forwarded to the Academic Directorate – DAC for the appropriate notes and arrangements. After the necessary procedures, the DAC will return the process to the Unit, which must keep it until the student defends the dissertation/thesis.

8. After the dissertation/thesis defense and its approval by the CCPG, the academic system will issue the diploma stating that the degree was obtained within the scope of a Cotutelle Agreement signed between Unicamp and the foreign University.

Agreement Templates