Doctoral and Master Theses Competition

Overview

The Software Engineering Theses and Dissertations Contest (CTD-ES) aims to disseminate and recognize the best PhD theses and MSc dissertations in Software Engineering that were completed, defended, and approved in Brazil in 2025.

The contest will award theses and dissertations that make a significant, outstanding contribution to the scientific field of Software Engineering and have a relevant impact on society and the software industry.

II Showcase of Contest Papers (SBES)

During the event, the II Showcase of Contest Papers of the Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering will take place. In this session, the works selected for Phase 2 of the CTD-ES will be presented as posters.

Awards

The top three PhD theses and the top three MSc dissertations will be awarded.

Attendance is mandatory: the works must be presented orally by the student during the CTD-ES presentation session and in the poster session of the II Showcase of Contest Papers at the XXXX Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering (SBES 2026).

Target Audience

The CTD-ES accepts submissions from recent Ph.D. and M.Sc. graduates in Software Engineering who defended their theses or dissertations in Brazil during the 2025 calendar year (from January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025).

Submission Guidelines

Candidates must submit their work electronically via the JEMS3 system.

During submission, the candidate must choose the track corresponding to their work (MSc Dissertation or PhD Thesis). Only one submission per category per main advisor will be accepted.

Required Documents (to be submitted together):

1. Full Text: The complete text of the thesis or dissertation (PDF format).
2. Article/Abstract:
   • This may be an original article or one that has already been published/accepted.
   • If original: Maximum of 15 pages (including figures and references), in PDF format, following the SBC Article Template. It must include abstracts in Portuguese and English.
   • If already published/accepted: Submit the original PDF of the published paper.
3. Advisor's Letter: A letter from the main advisor.
4. Candidate's Letter: A letter from the candidate.

Content of the Advisor's Letter

The main advisor's letter must:

• Highlight the work's contribution to Software Engineering, the reasons why the candidate deserves the award, and a list of articles (published, accepted, or under review), indicating the most relevant one.
• Indicate the work's by-products, such as patents, registered software, public domain/free software, and datasets made publicly available (with URLs), as well as other pertinent information.
• Provide the name of the Graduate Program, the Program Coordinator's phone number, the defense date, the title of the thesis/dissertation, the candidate's name, and the names/emails of the advisors and examination board members.
• State whether the submitted article is (i) original, (ii) already accepted/published, or (iii) under review. If not original, indicate the venue where it is being reviewed/published.

Content of the Candidate's Letter

The candidate's letter must:

• Present the reasons why they consider their work should be highlighted among the best in Brazil in Software Engineering.

Publication Rules

The publication of the article in the SBES 2026 Extended Proceedings (SBC OpenLib - SOL) will follow these rules:

• Original Articles: Will be published in full.
• Previously Published Articles: If the article has already been published in another venue (including previous editions of SBES), the version to be published in the extended proceedings will be a 2-page abstract. This abstract must use the SBC Article Template, be prepared by the authors, and include the full reference to the original publication. It must include an abstract in both Portuguese and English.

Selection Process

Only works focused on Software Engineering (written in Portuguese or English) that expand or deepen knowledge in this area will be accepted. Works with only a marginal contribution to Software Engineering will not be accepted.

Advisor Constraint: During the selection process, only one work per category per main advisor will be accepted. Advisors must perform a preliminary selection and nominate only the work they consider the best thesis and/or dissertation of 2025, for which they served as the main advisor.

Evaluation Stages

The evaluation will be conducted by a committee of professionals from teaching and research institutions with recognized activity in Software Engineering. Committee members who advised candidates in one category (MSc or PhD) will only evaluate works in the other category.

Phase 1

Works will undergo an evaluation and selection process via JEMS3 to classify the best submissions in each category (PhD Thesis and MSc Dissertation).

Phase 2

Up to three papers per category will be invited for presentation at SBES 2026.

• The author who defended the work (and only s/he) must make an oral presentation (max. 20 minutes) to an examination board.
• The board will evaluate the presentation quality and ask questions.
• In special situations, CTD-ES presentations may be remote.
• Failure to participate in this phase implies elimination.
• The final classification will consider both the written text and the presentation.
• The board reserves the right to award only works considered suitable; no awards may be given in one or more categories.

Important Dates

Organization

CTD-ES Program Committee Chairs

Katia Romero Felizardo – Federal University of Technology – Paraná (UTFPR-CP)

Guilherme Horta Travassos – Systems Engineering and Computer Science Graduate Program, COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)

CTD-ES 2026 Program Committee

in formation