The Animal Science Graduate Program (PPGZ) at the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE) was the first Animal Science graduate program in Northeastern Brazil. The program is hosted at UFRPE main campus / Department of Animal Science located in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. Before starting the PPGZ, the UFRPE created and established in 1970 the third Animal Science undergraduate course in Brazil.
The program was created in 1978 and started the academic activities in March 1981. Initially, the PPGZ was named as “Graduate Program in Animal Nutrition", it was renamed "Graduate Program in Animal Production" in 1992, and finally, in 1998, as Animal Science Graduate Program (master’s level).
Our mission is to train ethical, critical, and highly qualified professionals to work in the Animal Science area. The general objective is to qualify professionals of Agricultural Sciences for undergraduate and graduate teaching and research, to address and solve issues related to animal science, proposing alternatives and solutions to improve animal production at the national level and, in particular, in the Northeast region.
The creation of the Graduate Program in Animal Science at UFRPE, and two other federal universities (Federal University of Paraíba - UFPB) and the Federal University of Ceará - UFC) in the early 1980s was the basis for the creation of the Integrated Doctoral Program in Animal Science (PDIZ), involving the three institutions (UFRPE-UFPB-UFC). The PDIZ was approved by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) in 1999 and started the activities in March 2000. During 18 years, the professors of PPGZ graduated 166 doctors (as PDIZ). At the master’s degree level, the PPGZ has trained 403 professionals throughout its history. From 2019 to 2020, the PPGZ graduated 32 doctors.
In 2018, PPGZ proposed the creation of the doctoral level to CAPES, which was approved, and in 2019, the doctoral students linked to UFRPE, who was part of the PDIZ, were migrated to the PPGZ. Now, the PPGZ offers master's and doctorate levels, starting a new era in the history of postgraduate studies in Animal Science at UFRPE. The program offers, on average, 20 master's and 20 doctoral degree spots per year, distributed in two admission processes.
Candidates are selected according to the institutional call and general rules established by the Office of the Graduate Studies (PRPG) and complementary rules of the PPGZ. The selection process of PPGZ occurs at UFRPE in Recife and other states in Brazil on demand. The PPGZ also welcomes students selected by international agreements, such as the Organization of American States (OAS) / Coimbra Group, of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD), and PEC-PG of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Scholarships from Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), and Pernambuco State Science and Technology Foundation (FACEPE) are available to PPGZ master and doctoral students on a competitive basis, since the number of available scholarships are usually smaller than the demand. The scholarships are usually distributed according to the criteria established by the Didactic Collegiate Coordination (CCD), based on an evaluation conducted by the Scholarship Committee of PPGZ.