Prospective Students

Universidade Federal do Amazonas (UFAM), Departamento de Biologia, ICB, 69077-000 Manaus, AM, Brasil

Biology Department, University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras (UPR-RP), San Juan, PR, 00931, Puerto Rico

We are always interested in talking to students who share similar research interest as us and who are interested in pursuing their degrees in our laboratories. In any given year, we get requests from more students than we can accept, and therefore it is vital that students contact us early on and in advance to commencing their graduate school applications. Pursuing your graduate degree, whether it is a Masters or a Ph.D. is a serious business that requires motivation, dedication, and hard work. It is something that you really want to do. If this is so, then pursuing your degree will be a learning experience for you as well as other members of the lab, including us. Our hope is to provide our students with the environment and opportunities to develop themselves as professionals, and to foster high quality research in the process.

Studies pursued in our laboratories broadly center on the patterns and processes of diversification in the Neotropics. Approaches range from phylogenetic, to phylogeographic and quantitative genetic, and geometric morphometric. We and our students work primarily with aquatic vertebrates ranging from fishes to crocodiles and manatees, but our students also work on frogs, birds, butterflies and even corals. Students that do not work on fish are almost inevitably co-advised.

We always provide guidance, and Masters projects tend to be less frequently initiated by the student, however, we expect our Ph.D. students to come up with their own ideas and decide what they want to study. This is especially important at the Ph.D. level. With some students we are actively involved throughout their graduate career, with others we act more as consultants. The level of our participation in any particular project largely depends on the needs of the student and our active interest in the question and/or organism. Ultimately though, students have to be independent, and be the leaders in their projects.

We can advise students in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Manaus, Brazil. The nature of the project will largely determine which is the best place to pursue your project. In Manaus we advise students within the joint INPA/UFAM Genetics, Conservation and Evolutionary Biology (GCBEV) program, in the UFAM Biological Diversity program or the UFAM Biotechnology program. In San Juan students enroll in the UPR Biology program. Admission into all programs is competitive. Important factors in admission are standardized tests, undergraduate grades, letters of recommendation and research experience. And additional important factor for admission into the lab is a reasonable knowledge of English, sufficient to read and understand scientific literature.

Short description of the different graduate programs

UPR - Biology program: The University of Puerto Rico has a standard US school system. The University is officially bi-lingual (Spanish and English). Applications are due first week of February (for foreign students first week of December), and decisions are made by the end of March. Students commence in August. Masters students are required to take 24 credit hours, while Ph.D. students need 42 hours to graduate. There is no required set of course. Masters students take 2-3 years to finish, while Ph.D. students take 5-7 years. Students are normally supported by departmental teaching assistantships (TAs). Qualifying US citizens or permanent residents may also qualify for CREST-CATEC or RISE research assistantships (RAs) or any student may be supported from a funded grant. To find out more about the program, go to the Biology graduate website which provides detailed information about the program. Applications to the program are online, and are handled by the office of the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research where one can find all pertinent information as well as application deadlines. Additional supporting material must also be sent to the Biology Graduate office.

INPA/UFAM - GCBEV program: INPA is a research institute and not a degree granting institution, and therefore its graduate programs are joint with the Federal University in Manaus (UFAM). The official language is Portuguese. Students applying for the Masters program are selected into the program by a series of tests administered in Manaus and other major cities in Brazil in early November. Semester begins in March. Prospective Ph.D. students can apply to enter the program at any time, and selection is dependent on evaluation of a Ph.D. proposal. All students are required to take a set of four core courses and two (Masters) or three (Ph.D.) required seminars, plus additional elective disciplines. Courses are intensive full day affairs taught over 1-2 week period. Students are supported by research fellowships from CNPq, CAPES or FAPEAM, there are no teaching fellowships. Students are expected to defend Masters degrees within two years of admission into the program and within four years of admission to the Ph.D. program. To find out more about the program, go to the GCBEV graduate website which provides detailed information about the program. Information about application to the program including specific requirements and deadlines is provided on the main graduate program website.

UFAM - Biological Diversity program: The Federal University of Amazonas has recently created a graduate program in Biological Diversity. The official language is Portuguese. Students applying for both the Masters and Ph.D. programs apply to and are selected to the program by a test administered in Manaus. Selection into the Ph.D. program requires an evaluation of a Ph.D. proposal. There are eight required classes and additional elective classes required for a Masters and a Ph.D. Courses are intensive full day affairs taught over 1-2 week period. Students are supported by research fellowships from CNPq, CAPES or FAPEAM, there are no teaching fellowships. Students are expected to defend Masters degrees within two years of admission into the program and within four years of admission to the Ph.D. program. To find out more about the program, see the UFAM Biological Diversity website.