One of the essential tools for those pursuing a Master's degree in Law or seeking admission to a good program is the Lattes Curriculum. However, many students still have doubts about how to fill it out correctly.
In this article, we'll give you tips on how to include the most important information to help you stand out in your ongoing academic journey.
If you are still planning to apply for a selection process, this text will help you submit a well-structured Lattes CV to the selection committee. It should contain the most important information about who you are as a researcher and your career path so far.
Interested in the topic? Then let's go!
What is the Lattes Platform?
The first big question: what is the Platform and what is the Lattes Curriculum used for?
In Brazil, the need arose to create a single information system in Science and Technology to integrate various curriculum databases maintained by the scientific community, including the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development – CNPq.
The Lattes Platform is the result of this demand. It integrates information from curricula and institutions in the field of science and technology into a single database. It is important not only for CNPq, but also for other federal and state funding agencies.
The platform's name is a tribute to the Curitiba-born physicist César Lattes, one of those responsible for the development of atomic physics in Brazil. In a span of five years, he was nominated seven times for the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Why the Lattes Curriculum?
The platform was developed so that researchers could register their CVs with information on scientific production and relevant academic activities.
In the academic world, it is very rare for a call for proposals or a selection committee to request a researcher's curriculum vitae. The document to be submitted is the Lattes Curriculum, and it is important that it is well-filled out to best demonstrate your past and present success in research.
But first, a little inspiration.
If you are not yet familiar with the Lattes Platform and Curriculum, that's okay!
We have included as an example for you to take a look at the Curriculum Vitae of Gilmar Ferreira Mendes, professor at IDP and Minister of the Supreme Federal Court. Access it here.
The structure of the Curriculum
Let's understand how it's structured.
Right at the beginning we have Professor Gilmar Mendes' name and his photo (which is optional). Two important pieces of information on the right are the link to access his Curriculum Vitae, and the date of the last update.
It's always important to keep your Lattes Curriculum updated. Anyone searching for your name will quickly notice if the information there is current or not, and this impacts their perception of your academic output.
Are you going to send your Lattes CV to a university? For a selection process? Update it beforehand and show that your publications are up-to-date.
Below you should insert your mini-resume:
The suggestion is to include at least your academic qualifications (degree and specializations, if any) and your current field of work or profession. It's also helpful to write a little about your current and past research experiences and areas of interest.
Next, you'll find a field for Identification and Address:
If you don't have a professional address, you can leave it blank. A tip is to include your email address in case someone searching for your name wants to get in touch.
In the academic background and qualifications section, you must indicate the start and end years of your undergraduate studies. If you haven't completed them, the Lattes platform will show them as "in progress." There is also a field for the name of the Higher Education Institution (HEI) where you studied or are studying.
For recently completed undergraduate degrees, there is a field to enter the name of the advisor and the title of the Final Course Project (TCC).
If you have a specialization, you should also include that information. The Lattes platform will ask you about the area of study, the higher education institution (HEI), the title of your thesis/dissertation (TCC), and your advisor. It will also ask about the specialization's workload, as it must have a minimum of 360 hours.
If you have already started your Master's degree in Law, please also include this information on the platform. You need to provide the institution, the title of your work (even if provisional), your advisor, and whether you have any funding grants.
In your specialization and Master's programs, you should indicate keywords related to your field of study. Think carefully about what these keywords should be, because it's a way for researchers to connect with each other based on their areas of interest.
In the supplementary training section, you include courses, professional development programs,
Extension activities, workshops, and language courses.
Don't have many supplementary training activities? A tip is to take a look at the events held by IDP . Every week there are cycles of debates, webinars, seminars and book launches, all free of charge and with a certificate, which you can add to your Lattes CV to enhance your profile.
In the professional activity section, you should list all paid and unpaid jobs and employment you have participated in. This includes university research as a scholarship recipient or teaching assistant, your internship, or whether you work or have worked for a private or public company.
In the research lines section, you register the one related to your research. In the Master's program, you are usually linked to a research line of the Program, and you should describe it here. Also indicate the area of knowledge and some keywords.
Research projects are also developed within your Program, usually with a supervisor and other colleagues. If you are involved in one, you should indicate the name, when it started, and the end date (if it is no longer active). Also indicate who is part of the group and who coordinates it.
In the area of expertise, briefly describe the broad field (Applied Social Sciences), the area (Law), and the sub-area (in which you specialize or delve deeper into during your Master's degree).
Next, you indicate if you have knowledge of any foreign languages. The four skills to be indicated are writing, reading, speaking, and listening.
On the Lattes Platform, you can indicate if you have received any awards or titles. Some examples include jury competition during undergraduate studies or essay contests.
Another important part is academic production. It is divided into:
(a) Full articles published in journals: if you have written scientific articles and they have been published, this is where you should provide this information, along with the journal name, volume, and page numbers;
(b) Published/edited books or editions: if you publish a complete book or edit one, enter here the name, edition, year, place, publisher and number of pages.
(c) Published book chapters: you can also write book chapters and publish them. If so, please provide the chapter title, the name of the book in which the chapter is located, the edition, the place of publication, the publisher, and the page numbers where your chapter is found;
(d) Texts in news/magazines: if you publish text in a newspaper or magazine, insert the title, the media outlet and the date here.
(e) Full papers published in conference proceedings: some conferences publish proceedings. If this is the case, and your presented paper is there, you should put in this field the name of the paper, the name of the conference and the year. Also indicate what type of event you participated in (congress, symposium, conference, lecture).
(e) Work Presentations: if you attended a conference and presented work, usually orally, enter here the name of the presentation, the year and the type of event.
(f) Other bibliographic productions: here you include productions such as essays and interviews, that is, everything that was not covered in the other fields.
Finally, in the relevant information section, you can include any details that didn't have space before but that you believe will make your resume stand out. Examples include receiving an honorable mention at an event, or being a top student in a particular subject.
Now that we're familiar with it, we can get down to business!
Creating your Lattes Curriculum Vitae
- To take the first step, let's access the Lattes Platform page at the following link: https://lattes.cnpq.br/
- Next, go to “Register new resume”. The page will redirect you to several fields that you must fill out.
Did you notice that these are the same fields we just discussed? Now that you're familiar with each field and know exactly what to enter and where to enter it, it will be easier to register your own data.
It also makes it easier to know exactly which fields make sense for you to fill out (because you meet the requirements for those fields), or not (because you don't yet have experience in that particular area).
Searching for Lattes Curricula
Now that I have registered my CV, how will I find it? And how do I search for the CVs of other researchers?
It's easy: go to the homepage and click on "Search resume".
You can search by person or by subject. You can filter by whether the researcher has a doctorate or not. You can also choose the nationality of the person you are looking for.
Then just click on "Search".
Updating your Lattes Curriculum
I've already created my Lattes CV and entered all the information, but I need to update it. How do I do that?
- Access the home page Click on “Update resume”. Enter your CPF (Brazilian tax identification number) and password, and you will be redirected to the page to enter new information or modify existing information.
- Modify what is necessary and click on the red warning:
- Next, click on “I have read and agree with the statement above” in the yellow box, and then “Submit to CNPq”:
And that's it! You now know how to navigate a Lattes Curriculum, create your own, modify it, and search for other researchers who share the same area of interest!
To improve it even further, be sure to participate in the free events offered by IDP and boost your resume and career!
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References:
BRAZIL. Lattes Platform. Available at: Accessed November 8, 2022
