• Undergraduate students
All research groups in DFMA are engaged in mentoring undergraduate students, and is proud to attract the top talent at the University of São Paulo.
How to get started
It is never too early to start feeding your interest in science and research! If you are hungry for more, come talk to one of us!
There are several pathways to joining a research group and to start learning more advanced subjects under the supervision of one of our researchers. Typically, students before the 3rd year of their degree may find a mentor (i.e., a professor or a post-doc) to guide them through learning more, and learning faster. You can do this on your own time, or you may even get a small stipend. There is a program called "Pre-Scientific Initiation" (Pré-Iniciação Científica) that can support those early studies -- see this link for more information (in Portuguese).
Some guidelines for prospective students
We strongly recommend that, besides the mandatory Physics (Bachelor) courses, our students should also enroll in core advanced Physics courses such as Mathematical Physics II, Mechanics II, Quantum Mechanics II, General Relativity, etc. We often also recommend that students take some of the graduate courses that are offered to undergraduate students, like Advanced Quantum Mechanics, Electrodynamics, Quantum Field Theory, etc.
It is always a great idea to talk to present or former students of the group you are interested in, so that you can get a sense about the type of research they do and the dynamics of the group meeting and other interactions with your advisor.
Scientific Initiation (Iniciação Científica, IC)
An IC is a great way to get started on the research path -- learn by doing!
Most professor in our Department take students with an IC fellowship starting on their 3rd or 4th year of their Bachelor degree. These fellowships typically last for 12 months, and there are two main sources of funding: PIBIC/CNPq and FAPESP.
The brazilian federal agency CNPq funds PIBIC and other similar programs for IC students. These fellowships are managed by the Research Committee of the Physics Institute -- for more information see this link (in Portuguese). There are typically one or two deadlines per year, so pay attention!
The São Paulo state agency FAPESP also funds IC fellowships. There is no deadline, you can apply at any time -- but the process is very competitive, so you should make sure to have very good grades to enhance your chances of success. In most cases you will need your advisor to write a project (which may take a few weeks or months), and then the application is typically processed in 2-4 months. This means that the ideal time to apply for a FAPESP IC fellowship is around the 2nd or 3rd year of your undergraduate degree. For more information, see the FAPESP website.
• Graduate students
The Department of Mathematical Physics is extremely proud of its high-achieving students. We welcome applications for Master and Ph.D. students from USP, Brazil and abroad.
In order to apply you can start by looking at our research groups and identifying the topics you would like to pursue. Get in touch with one of the professors and check if they have availability for the year you want to start your graduate degree. If you get a match, the professor will help you with your application. We recommend that you start looking for an advisor many months before the start of the academic year, to give you time to prepare. Although having an advisor at the time of the application is not strictly necessary, it is highly recommended.
Prospective students interested in joining the Physics Institute graduate program should read carefully the instructions in our Graduate Program Guide -- click here for the Portuguese version, and here for the English version. In particular, all applications must have taken either the brazilian Unified Physics Exam (Exame Unificado da Física, EUF) or the GRE (Graduate Record Exam -- the Subject Test in Physics, not the General). You can use exams taken up to 24 months prior to the application. If you take the EUF in the semester prior to the semester you plan to start, the grades will be available by the time your application is judged. But pay attention to the timeline so you don't miss a semester!
Fellowships
More than 95% of the graduate students in DFMA are fully funded. There are two main sources of fellowships: the Physics Graduate Program federal grant, and FAPESP. Both are very competitive, so talk with your advisor about how to improve your chances. You can find more information about the Graduate Program fellowships here (in Portuguese) or here (in English). For information about the FAPESP fellowships, check out the FAPESP websites here (for Master) or here (for Ph.D.) .
