The graduate Program in Forest Science

The graduate Program in Forest Science belongs to the University of Viçosa (UFV). UFV is considered one of the best universities in the country and, since its creation, has invested in three basic pillars for its consolidation and success: teaching, research and extension. Furthermore, the first School of Forest engineering  in Brazil began in Viçosa, Minas Gerais, through the creation of the National School of Forestry, on May 5, 1960, which was supported by FAO. The existence of dozens of Forest engineering  schools in the country and thousands of trained professionals is due to the pioneering spirit of the institution that saw the need for technological development in the forest sector in Brazil.

In March 1975, with its infrastructure in place and counting on a qualified faculty trained in foreign universities, as well as well-equipped laboratories, UFV began the graduate Program in Forest science (PPGCF), obtaining its accreditation in the Federal Education Council on November 6, 1986.

At that time, professor training became possible thanks to agreements with North American universities, mainly with Purdue University and North Carolina State University, which allowed professor exchanges, sometimes training Brazilian professors, sometimes sending American professors who were willing to teaching the first courses and implementing the laboratories, defining the Program's first lines of research. Subsequently, the University of Toronto, in Canada, joined the Program, giving it a new lease of life with the training of other new Brazilian professors recently hired from UFV and with the donation of various equipment for the laboratories.

On July 29, 1988, the Teaching, Research and Extension Commission (CEPE), the highest body of UFV, approved the creation of the Doctorate Course in Forest Science, beginning in March 1989 and its accreditation with the Council Federal Department of Education, on June 8, 1994.

Thanks to the determination of the pioneering professors and their successors, who knew how to maintain this important legacy, Brazil has dozens of Forest engineering  schools, many of whose professors were trained at UFV, thanks to the PPGCF. This program also enabled the training of countless masters and doctors who work in research activities at public institutions and forestry-based companies in Brazil and abroad, placing the country in the world leadership in productivity in the forest sector, contributing to the generation of wealth and social and environmental benefits for Brazil.

The program is divided into four areas of concentration: Forest Management, Environment and Nature Conservation, Silviculture and Technology and Utilization of Forest Products and is strongly involved in the training of human resources, with 883 masters and 310 doctors that have been awarded degrees since its creation. Professionals trained by the program work in several Brazilian universities and also occupy prominent positions in the country's main forest-based companies and industries. Currently, 101 students are linked to the program, 55 of which are enrolled in the doctorate and 46 in the master's degree.

The PPGCF currently has 26 (twenty-six) permanent professors and 5 (nine) highly qualified collaborating professors, most of them with post-doctorate degrees, who stand out for their technical-scientific production of books and articles in journals with a high quality impact factor. These professors also have a long history of working in synergy with the private sector, having carried out joint technological development during this period with more than 300 forestry companies and helping the country to be a leader and important player in the cellulose, paper, steel, sheet metal industries. , energy, among others.

In the last evaluation carried out by  CAPES in 2021, the Program received a score of 6,  which places it among the best Forest Resources programs in Brazil. At the moment, its permanent teaching staff is made up of 26 permanent members, the majority of which, 58%, are CNPq productivity fellows and a collaborating teaching staff made up of 5 members, 60% of which are CNPq productivity fellows.

The main funding sources for the Program are Capes, CNPq and Fapemig. In addition to these funding agencies, the Program also has the support of different national and international institutions and companies for the development of cutting-edge research for the forest sector. Furthermore, the PPGCF has agreements and collaborations with several international universities and research institutes, promoting an intense exchange of students and teachers abroad.

In the last four years, the supervisor professors approved, with the intervention of the Forestry Research Society, more than R$ 15,000,000.00 (fifteen million reais) in projects with the private sector. Due to its history in public-private partnerships and excellence in serving the production market with the development of innovative and disruptive technologies, the UFV Forest engineering  Department was accredited as one of the Embrapii units. The creation of this unit indicates that the department will receive financial contributions worth R$6 million (non-refundable) over the next three years for investment in RD&I projects in partnership with industries in the sector. The projects, which will be developed by the program's faculty supervisors, can involve everything from fiber production (nursery, breeding, silviculture, harvesting, environment,  management) to the conversion of fibers into products derived from cellulose or energy.

In the last Strategic Planning, the mission and vision of the PPGCF were changed in order to make it increasingly suitable to the realities of Brazilian research.