Graduate Program in Chemistry

The Graduate Program in Chemistry (PPG-Chemistry)at the Federal University of Pernambuco was created in 1989 as part of the newly established Department of Fundamental Chemistry (dQF). Emerging from the Atomic and Molecular Physics group at the Department of Physics in 1982, the dQF had already an interdisciplinary vocation with numerous faculty members active in the interface between Physics and Chemistry. The PPG-Chemistry maintains alive this tradition through the formation and training of graduates from different areas of Physics, Engineering and Biology.

The PPG-Chemistry's Philosophy is to provide students with an integrated perspective of Chemistry through research in fields that connect the synthesis - characterization - computational modelling of molecular systems. This perspective takes place within a highly interdisciplinary context - in addition to the subjects specific to their topic of research, graduate students at PPG-Chemistry should also take subjects in fields that are distinct from their field of research. This differentiated training enables versatile and innovative professionals in different sub-areas of Chemistry and related sciences. The PPG-Chemistry also stimulates postgraduate mobility for conducting internships within Brazil and abroad through collaborations and institutional programs. Graduate students at PPG-Chemistry participate in scientific visits or doctorate scholarships in various national and international institutions (Portugal, Spain, England, France, Germany, Sweden and USA).

PPG-Chemistry in Brazil

Postgraduate programs in the country undergo a quadrennial assessment by CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel) since 1964. A national scoring scale was implemented in 1995with scores ranging from 2 to 7. The PPG-Chemistry has been evaluated as a Program of excellence with  concept 6 by CAPES. This has allowed the PPG-Chemistry from UFPE to become part of the select group of the best graduate programs in the country, and is currently the only postgraduate program in Chemistry in the North, Northeast and Centre-Western of Brazil with an evaluation concept of 6 (six) by CAPES.

Excellence of the Faculty

The PPG-Chemistry's success is the result of its faculty's scientific reputation acquired through training in diverse fields at prestigious institutions from diverse countries: Germany, Brazil, Canada, Scotland, USA, England, France, Italy and Switzerland.

Theoretical-Computational Chemistry

The DQF is nationally recognized through a long tradition of research in Theoretical and Computational Chemistry. Established and led until 2013 by Professor Emeritus Ricardo de Carvalho Ferreira (1928-2013), the Theoretical and Computational Chemistry Group at UFPE has 11 (eleven) professors operating in the fields of Quantum and Classical Chemistry of new materials and biological molecules, covering electronic, atomistic and mesoscopic scales. This is one of the largest Theoretical and Computational Chemistry groups in Brazil. It should further be pointed out that the first work in quantum chemistry in Latin America entirely conceived and developed on the continent was written by Professor Ricardo de Carvalho Ferreira (then a Researcher at CBPF) in collaboration with Professors Myriam and Mário Giambiagi (de Giambiagi, M. S.; Giambiagi, M.; Ferreira, R.; J. Chim. Phys. Phys.-Chim. Biol. 1964, 61, 697).

Funding and Financing for Scientific Projects at the DQF/UFPE

The PPG-Chemistry has several researchers on its teaching staff who are or have been coordinators of National Institutes of Science and Technology (INCT) and Centres of Excellence in Research (PRONEX). Until 2013, Professor Oscar Malta coordinated the INAMI - Nanotechnology for Integrated Markers, which included more than 100 people among researchers and students from 15 institutions in the Northeast and Southeast of Brazil. Professor Flamarion Borges Diniz coordinated the Remult network (Multitask Network of Special Materials in the North and Northeast), which included eight federal educational institutions in the states of Bahia, Sergipe, Pernambuco, Paraíba, Ceará, Maranhão and Pará. In addition to federal funding, Remult also received funding from its partnership with Petrobrás in order to develop research and provide services to the Oil and Gas industry. Thus, Remult held a scope of activity that attended to a number of industries that demand R&D activities in advanced materials. These funds led to the consolidation of existing groups as well as the formation of new research groups at the DQF.

In addition to the big projects, numerous medium-sized projects (CT-INFRA, MultiUsuário-FACEPE) and smaller projects (Universal-CNPq, PRONEM-FACEPE, APQ-FACEPE) are coordinated by professors from PPG-Chemistry.

 

Approved Projects (2009-2013)

• National Institute of Integrated Molecular Markers: headquartered at DQF-UFPE, its mission is to develop molecular markers based on nanostructured systems with the most diverse applications: molecular disease diagnosis, paper money security, environmental indicators.
• Pronex - Centres of Excellence in Luminescence with Lanthanides: Theory-Experiment Integration.
• Pronex - Structural Design and Strategies for the Synthesis of Molecular Prototypes.
• Pronex - QSAR Studies to Obtain Efficient Larvicides to Combat Aedes aegypti and an Anti-Fouling for Use in Vessels.
• Analysis of Grapes and the Analytical and Chemometric Distinction of Wines Prepared in the Lower Middle São Francisco Valley.
• MultiUsuário-FACEPE - Neumann Multiuser Cluster II: Laboratory of High-Performance Hybrid Processing of Modelling and Simulation Complex Systems, Image Processing in Biomedicine and Assisted Medicine through Scientific Computation.
• CT-INFRA - Quiminfra 3: Chemistry for Integrated Materials, Photonic Nanodevices and Analytic Resolution: Development of Border Chemistry in the Northeast Region.
• CT-INFRA - Development of Border Biological Chemistry in the Northeast Region: Structural Resolution of Macromolecules and Bio-images.

 

PPG-Chemistry and other Centres of Excellence at UFPE

The DQF and the PPG-Chemistry are physically located in the Centre for Exact and Natural Sciences (CCEN), which has other graduate programs that have been highly evaluated by Capes, such as the Graduate Programs in Physics (Concept 7) and in Mathematics (Concept 5). Also geographically located next to the PPG-Chemistry/UFPE is the CETENE (Centre for Strategic Technologies in the Northeast), which has a wide range of state-of-the-art tech equipment for conducting advanced research in the fields of Biotechnology, Nanotechnology, Electronic Microscopy and Microelectronics. This proximity facilitates the development of research projects in close collaboration with researchers from these other major departments and research centres at UFPE.

Infrastructure

The PPG-Chemistry offers a suitable infrastructure for conducting research in the fields of theoretical and experimental chemistry. The Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry and its subgroups have four laboratories with personal workstations and several clusters for parallel processing. In addition to these computers, UFPE is part of the network of high-performance computing centres established by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MCT). There are eight (8) units, known as the National Centres of High-Performance Processing (CENAPADs), operated respectively by UFRGS, UFMG, UFC, UNICAMP, UFRJ, UFPE, INPE and LNCC.  In addition to their own laboratories, the experimental groups (in organic, inorganic, physicochemical, analytical and materials) have an Analytical Centre with technicians trained to operate a variety of equipment (NMR-1 (300 MHz), NMR-2 (400 MHz , GC-mass, HPLC-MS, GPC, Atomic Force Microscopy, FT-IR, UV-VIS, DSC, TGA, Elemental Analysis). The experimental studies also include the support of the hialotecnia (preparation of special glass). The Analytical Centre has benefited annually from CT-INFRA funding approved by professors at PPG-Chemistry.

Social Impact

Aside from teaching and research activities, PPG-Chemistry's faculty participates in numerous activities with a broad social, political and scientific impact and promote interactions between academia and industry. Some examples include:

• Nucleation of new Graduate Programs in Chemistry in the Northeast, notably at the Federal Universities of Paraíba (UFPB) and Sergipe (UFS).
• Collaborations and agreements with the Moura Company allowed the business to become competitive and a leader in the national battery market. This activity resulted in economic and social development for the region, along with generating jobs.
• Consultancies and courses for the improvement of industrial production and quality control for companies in the state.
• Foundation and coordination of the Science Space. Coordination of the Science and Education Interaction Program: Generation of New Educational Spaces for Chemistry. This project puts forth the creation of innovative educational experiences, putting graduate students in contact with the realities of Brazilian basic education, preparing them for their future as teachers and stimulating high school chemistry teachers to develop graduate programs.
• Creation of a preparatory course for 3rd. Millennium Teachers, a high-impact social education program that has led to an almost 40% pass rate in college entrance exams. It is the oldest uninterrupted pre-entrance program in Brazil (12 years). Several graduates of the preparatory course are part of or have spent time at PPG-Chemistry-UFPE.
• Creation of the preparatory course Towards the University of the State Government of Pernambuco, which serves a large number of high school students and prepares them for entry into UFPE.
• Coordination of the Institutional Scholarship Program (PIBID), which offers scholarships so that undergraduate students can practice teaching while attending higher education. The internship for the scholarship is supervised by university professors (coordinators) and high school teachers (supervisors). Scholarship holders use experimental practices in the laboratory and classroom to teach theoretical concepts. In addition, the scholarship students also operate as monitors, aiding in the supervision of exercises to establish the contents taught.
• Additionally, several professors from PPG-Chemistry participate in CNPq, FINEP and CAPES advisory committees, as well as playing an active role in local and national scientific policy. This is the example of Professor Mozart Neves Ramos, who was an Academic Dean (and later Dean of UFPE for two consecutive terms). He was also the Secretary of Education for the state of Pernambuco and is currently a member of the Steering Committee of the All For Education Program, an alliance between civil society, private initiative, social organisations, educators and public education managers, that seeks to make quality basic education a Right for all Brazilians by 2022. Professor Alfredo Arnóbio de Souza da Gama is another example. He functioned as an Academic Dean and as a consultant at several National Graduate Program evaluation committees from CNPq, CAPES, FINEP/PADCT and was Scientific Director of Foundation of Science and Technology Support for Pernambuco State (FACEPE).

 

Coordination of Graduate in Chemistry

Coordinator

Professor Thereza A. Soares
E-mail: thereza.soares@ufpe.br
Tel.: +55 (081) 2126.7472
 

Vice Coordinator

Professor Janaína Versiani dos Anjos
E-mail: janaina.anjos@ufpe.br
Tel.: +55 (081) 2126.7411
 

Secretariat

Mr Maurílio Souza
email: maurilio@ufpe.br
Ms Patrícia Santa Rosa
email: patricia.rosa@ufpe.br
Tel.: +55 (081) 2126. 8402
Tel.: +55 (081) 2126. 8448
 

Commission of the Graduate Collegiate Body

Professor Thereza A. Soares (Coordinator)
Professor Severino Alves Jr. (Ex- Coordinator)
Professor Maria Fernanda Pimentel - Analytics
Professor Roberto D. Lins - Analytics
Professor Joanna Kulesza - Inorganic
Professor Janaína Versiani dos Anjos - Organic

Counsellors of the Graduate Collegiate Body

Professor Alfredo Arnóbio da Gama
Professor Ricardo Longo 
 

Entrance Exam Evaluation Committee (2016)

Professor Roberta Ayres Jr. (Coordinator 2016.2)
Professor Alfredo Arnóbio da Gama
Professor Claudete Pereira
Professor Giovannia Pereira
Professor Joanna Kulesza
Professor Paulo Menezes

Professor Severino Alves Jr. (Coordinator 2016.1)
Professor Alfredo Arnóbio da Gama
Professor Claudete Pereira
Professor Giovannia Pereira
Professor Joanna Kulesza
Professor Roberta Ayres

Entrance Exam Evaluation Committee (2015)

Professor Flamarion Borges (Coordinator)
Professor Eduardo Falcão
Professor Gustavo Seabra
Professor Janaína Versiani
Professor Jorge Neves
Professor Roberta Ayres

Entrance Exam Evaluation Committee (2014)

Professor Thereza A. Soares (Coordinator)
Professor Eduardo Falcão
Professor Giovannia Pereira
Professor Janaína Versiani
Professor Jorge Neves
Professor Madalena Areias
Professor Roberto Lins

 

Rules for Faculty Accreditation

Accreditation of New Faculty in the Program

For accreditation as a COLLABORATOR in the UFPE's Graduate Program in Chemistry, the professor must demonstrate scientific production and experience, evaluated according to the following criteria:

1. Be a PhD researcher with qualified scientific production (QUALIS A or B) above the national average in the field of Chemistry in the triennium. The current value (triennium 2004-2006) corresponds to 07 articles in the triennium;

2. Have a student selected with interest in guidance;

3. Demonstrate a physical and financial infrastructure capacity for executing projects related to the dissertation or thesis;

4. Have guided a Scientific Initiation Fellow for at least one year, or have co-oriented dissertations or theses;

5. Propose a collaboration in courses or offer a graduate course;

6. In the case of a professor from outside the Department of Fundamental Chemistry, have consent from a permanent accredited faculty member as a co-advisor for orienting students.

For accreditation as PERMANENT in UFPE's Graduate Program in Chemistry, the professor must demonstrate scientific production and experience, evaluated according to criteria 1 to 5 established for a COLLABORATOR, as well as:

1. Being a Fellow in Research Productivity (PQ) or Productivity in Technological Development and Innovative Extension (DT) or an equivalent profile.

2. In the case of a professor from outside the UFPE, have the consent of a permanent professor accredited as a co-advisor for the orientation of students. A professor who is not part of the Department of Fundamental Chemistry, but belongs to the UFPE, can be accredited as Permanent without the consent of a Permanent Co-advisor, provided that this person has already oriented at least one dissertation or thesis in the Program.

Required documentation for professor accreditation (collaborator, permanent or specific).

The professor must deliver the following documentation to the Program Coordination:

a) A curriculum vitae in the Lattes format updated with emphasis on scientific production, resource acquisition, and personnel training (at any level);

b) Research projects that will be developed, with emphasis on the project that the student must develop. The projects should focus on the originality, topicality, primarily the viability of them being developed with the real conditions (physical and financial), in particular;

c) Indication of a selected student with interest in the orientation;

d) In the cases provided for in the accreditation criteria through the written consent of the permanent professor who will be a co-advisor.

Procedure

The Program Coordination will establish an accreditation process that consists of verifying the required documentation and submitting it to at least three consultants from the Program, two of which are in the related field and one outside the field. The opinions of these consultants will be submitted to the Graduate Program Committee, which will then issue an opinion. Final approval or unapproval of this opinion will be done by the Collegiate of the Program. If necessary, the Graduate Committee or the Collegiate of the Program may request an opinion from a consultant(s) outside the Program or the presentation of a seminar and/or interview with the candidate(s) for accreditation.

 

Academic Plagiarism

The Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes) recommends, based on guidelines by the Federal Council of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), that Brazilian public and private educational institutions adopt policies on the awareness and information pertaining to intellectual property, adopting specific procedures with the intention of restraining the practice of plagiarism in the writing of theses, monographs, articles and other texts by students and other members of their communities. The guidance stems from the proposal by the National Commission for Institutional Relations and the OAB/Ceará Cross-Industry (n.120.19.07379-01) approved by the aforementioned Council in a plenary on October 19, 2010. The text emphasises that technological tools from information systems and the advent of the Internet provide unrestricted access to many official and private databases and that some distortions arising from this ease of electronic access have generated concerns regarding the harmful practice of copying and pasting texts. “In addition to the illegal practice of appropriating the work of others without authorization and without proper citing, the nefarious procedure infects the research, producing irreparable damage.” The OAB recommends the use of software that electronically reads texts (article, monograph, dissertation or thesis). They can then perform a comparative screening on various Internet and database search sites, verifying whether the author has copied a sentence or paragraph by, for example, identifying the database and the copied text. The OAB also advises that, because it is not an absolute program, internal procedures in academic institutions must be adopted to determine whether or not there has been a case of plagiarism. One of these, cited as necessary, is for the institutions to create a commission that objectively evaluates the results obtained by the software, gauging the degree of severity in the case of copied texts. Capes agrees with the guidelines of the Brazilian Bar Association and reinforces the need to combat plagiarism wherever it manifests itself.

To verify cases of plagiarism in a thesis, dissertation or other academic work, the student should look for the solution through the hierarchical paths of the institution in which the work was originally presented. Under the guidance of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), CAPES reinforces the need to combat plagiarism wherever it may manifest itself. To this end, a document was prepared by the Coordination guiding higher education institutions on the adoption of specific procedures aimed at restraining the practice of plagiarism in the IES themselves.

The various types of plagiarism and academic code of conduct published by FAPESP are available via the links below. Remember that it is the responsibility of every student from PPG-Chemistry to know the rules and regulations that govern it.

Pamphlet on academic plagiarism

Code of good scientific practice published by FAPESP

Quim. Nova, 2011, 34: 371

Quim. Nova, 2008, 31:197

Quim. Nova, 2006,29: 185