CALL FOR PAPERS

SOFTWARE QUALITY THESIS AND DISSERTATION CONTEST

SBQS 2025: The 24rd Brazilian Symposium on Software Quality

November 4th to 7th, 2025, São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil

SBQS

The Brazilian Software Quality Symposium (SBQS) is the main Brazilian forum dedicated to research on Software Quality. Software quality manifests itself in two complementary and dependent aspects: Software Process Quality and Software Product Quality. With the dependence of today's society on software and aggregated services, research on software quality and its application in products and services is both a necessity and a differentiating factor in providing value to organizations and their business. Over the years, SBQS has excelled in the exchange of experiences between academia and industry, where researchers, educators, and practitioners of Software Quality and Software Engineering meet to present and discuss ideas, experiences, and discoveries, aiming at innovation to improve the software industry.

Objective

The Software Quality Thesis and Dissertation Contest (CTDQS) aims to publicize and reward the best Doctoral Thesis and Master's Dissertation in the area of ​​Software Quality. The thesis or dissertation must have been concluded, defended, and approved in Brazil in the last year. The theses and dissertations awarded should have a relevant impact on society and companies, as well as a significant and outstanding contribution to the scientific area of ​​Software Quality.

Awards

Up to three best Doctoral Theses and the three best Master's Dissertations will be awarded. These works must be presented by the author (former student) at the 23rd Software Quality Brazilian Symposium (SBQS 2025). It should be noted that, since 2008, the best Master's Dissertation has received the “Prof. Arnaldo Dias Belchior” award, in honor of the aforementioned researcher, in memoriam. Moreover, since 2020, the Best Doctoral Thesis has received the award called “Prof. Ricardo Falbo”, a special tribute from SBQS to the distinguished researcher and significant contributor to the Brazilian Software Quality community, in memoriam.

Target Audience

Those who hold Doctorate Degree and Master's Degree in the area of ​​Software Quality and who have defended their theses or dissertations in Brazil between January 1 and December 31, 2024.

Manuscript Preparation and Submission

Authors must carefully read the Instructions for Manuscript Preparation and Submission.

Candidates must submit their work electronically and choose the category that corresponds to their work (Doctoral Thesis or Master's Dissertation). The following documents must be submitted together:

• The full text of the Thesis or Dissertation, in PDF format;
• A paper presenting the Thesis or Dissertation, which can be an original work or might have been published or accepted for publication. If the paper is original, then it must be up to 10 pages (following the submission instructions presented below), in PDF format. If the paper has already been published or accepted for publication, the original paper in PDF must be sent;
• A certificate of completion and approval of the Thesis or Dissertation, issued by the Course Coordination, containing the name of the Graduate Program, the date of the defense, the names of the advisor(s) and members of the Committee Board, the email and the name of the candidate, and the title of the Thesis/Dissertation, in PDF format;
• A signed letter from the advisor highlighting why he/she believes the candidate deserves the award, in PDF format:

Accepting a paper implies that at least one of the authors must register to SBQS to present it during the symposium and that authors must provide extra files required by the general chair (for example, the previous presentation video following the requested format by SBQS). Additionally, for the purpose of speeding up the publication process, authors of accepted papers must fill out some forms requested by the proceedings chair on specific dates.

Link for submission on JEMS3: https://jems3.sbc.org.br/sbqs_ctdqs2025.

Presentation

CTDQS 2025 will be held in a hybrid format, allowing for remote presentation/interaction. We encourage authors to attend CTDQS 2025 in São José dos Campos, but remote participation will be possible. All CTDQS 2025 presenters, whether remote or in-person, must register for the event.

Instructions for Publication

All works, either full or short versions, will be published at the CTDQS section in the proceedings of SBQS, following the same template of the files submitted to CTDQS. Publication in the proceedings of SBQS requires the CTDQS paper to be original. If the work has already been published in another venue (journal or conference, including SBQS itself), a short version up to 3 pages, containing the metadata, title, abstract, and keywords ONLY IN ENGLISH (even if the text is written in Portuguese), together with the other sections of the paper, will be published. The short version must be prepared by the authors and must contain a reference to the complete, published version of the paper. If the short version presents an overview of the work, the previous publications and the thesis or dissertation must be cited and included as references.

Selection

Only works that expand or deepen the knowledge about the subject of Software Quality will be accepted. Works that only use or mention Software Quality will not be considered. The selection will be based on the evaluation of the full text of the thesis or dissertation.

In the first phase, theses and dissertations submitted to CTDQS will undergo an evaluation process by a committee composed of professionals from universities and research institutions with recognized research achievements in ​​Software Quality. Members of the Evaluation Committee who supervise candidates competing in one category (Doctorate or Master's) will only evaluate works in the other category.

In the 2nd phase, up to three works in each category (Doctorate or Master's) will be invited for presentation at SBQS. Only the author who defended the Doctoral thesis or Master's dissertation shall present it. A board of experts with no competing interests will evaluate the presentation as well as the quality of the work, and may also ask questions. The board members will have access to the full texts of the Doctoral theses and Master's Dissertations prior to the symposium. As such, the classification of CTDQS will consider the evaluation of the full texts of the works and the presentation held during the symposium as well.

In the 3rd phase, only the board members will meet in a private room to reach a consensus on classifying the awarded works in each category. Next, the board will inform the CTDQS chairs of the consolidated result so they can announce it at the opening ceremony of SBQS.

In all three phases, the evaluation committee or the examination board members will use the following criteria as a basis: (i) originality, with a clear identification of the innovative and original nature of the work, that is, the recognized technical-scientific contributions and the level of advancement concerning state of the art; (ii) research methods, considering the scientific rigor applied in the studies included in the theses and dissertations; (iii) relevance, especially to the practice of the Software Quality field, based on the potential for applicability and technology transfer; (iv) publications, assessed by the quality and quantity of publications resulting solely from the context of the thesis or dissertation; (v) awards and distinctions, those granted as a direct result of the thesis or dissertation

Important dates

• Abstract Submission: July 20th, 2025 July 30th, 2025 (11:59 PM Brasilia time)
• Submission via JEMS, including all documents mentioned above: July 20th, 2025 July 30th, 2025 (11:59 PM Brasilia time)
• Notification of the finalists (1st Phase): August 26th, 2025 August 26th, 2025 September 02nd, 2025
• Camera-ready version: August 31st, 2025 September 15th, 2025
• SBQS - CTDQS: to be confirmed
• CTDQS Awards: at SBQS 2025 opening ceremony

CTDQS Chairs

Edna Dias Canedo (UnB) - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Breno Bernard Nicolau de França (UNICAMP) - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

SBQS Steering Committee

Adriano Bessa Albuquerque (UNIFOR)

Davi Viana (UFMA)

Edna Canedo (UnB)

Gleison Santos (UNIRIO)

Ismayle de Sousa Santos (UECE)

Ivan Machado (UFBA)

José Carlos Maldonado (ICMC-USP)

Monalessa Perini Barcellos (UFES)

Rodrigo Santos (UNIRIO)

Sheila Reinehr (PUCPR)

Tayana Conte (UFAM)

Program Committee

Alexandre Marcos Lins de Vasconcelos (Universidade Federal de Pernambuco)

Davi Viana (Universidade Federal do Maranhão)

Genaina Nunes Rodrigues (Universidade de Brasília)

Heitor Augustus Xavier Costa (Universidade Federal de Lavras)

Jéssyka Vilela (Universidade Federal de Pernambuco)

Maria Istela Cagnin (Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul)

Paulo Meirelles (Universidade de São Paulo)

Roberta Souza Coelho (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte)

Rodrigo Bonifácio (Universidade de Brasília)

Sandro Ronaldo Bezerra Oliveira (Universidade Federal do Pará)

Uirá Kulesza (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte)

Waldemar Pires Ferreira Neto (Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco)