ABOUT THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
The Graduate School Program in General Physiology (PPGFG, by its acronym in Portuguese) aims at produce independent-minded professionals who are well prepared for teaching, undertaking scientific research, and have a thorough understanding of the scientific methods. Guided by this vision, we aim training for: (i) critical reading, (ii) proposing questions and hypotheses, (iii) understanding the most relevant methods used in subareas of physiology, and (iv) understanding how scientific knowledge is produced. In addition, we believe that Ph.D. students need training in professional research skills, which include (i) ability to produce and disseminate science, (ii) knowledge of the state of art in the topic of interest, and (iii) ability to integrate topics of interest in a broader context, and therefore, to develop and disseminate their ideas to the international scientific community.
We target educating skilled students able to seed new and independent research groups, and to expand research horizons through those independent actions. To reach this goal, we provide students with the tools to understand: (i) Physiology as an integrative discipline, (ii) the interfaces of Physiology with other areas of knowledge, (iii) the approach and goals of Contemporary Physiology, (iv) the multiplicity of models and techniques in Physiology, and (v) the role of Physiology in the context of Brazilian Biodiversity. The four research lines of our Graduate School comprise multiple approaches, goals, and models. Hence, our Program offers invaluable and unique opportunities to produce human resources with a holistic vision.
Under the PPGFG biology converges with other areas of knowledge, a distinctive trait favored by unique characteristics of Brazil. We aim at working on interdisciplinary and even transdisciplinary questions, to develop original approaches in terms of concepts and methods. Some ongoing projects involving our students involve disciplinary convergences of Physiology with Mathematics, Ecology, Pharmacology, Evolution, Conservation Biology, Animal Behavior, Education, Molecular Biology, Microbiology, and Parasitology. Research interfaces require exchange of knowledge between disciplines, convergence of terms and concepts, and several other challenges. Those interfaces also lead to integrative problem solving, as they involve patterns, processes, and mechanisms. The multiplicity of research models is outstanding, including, for instance, humans, traditional laboratory models, cell lineages, and wildlife. In addition, our ongoing projects comprise not only understanding physiological processes per se, but also developing new techniques, improving Education in Physiology, solving biomedical problems, and applying Physiology to food production (e.g.: fish farming), and Physiology as a tool in Conservation Biology.
The PPGFG is located in the Department of Physiology. The department owns two animal facilities: one exclusively dedicated to laboratory rodents and the other suitable for the maintenance of non-traditional experimental models, especially amphibians, reptiles, fish, and arthropods. Together, our laboratories offer the necessary infrastructure to support high-quality research. In addition to basic equipment, our Graduate School also provides large multi-user equipment, such as liquid scintillation spectrometer, confocal microscope, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography (GC), and microplate spectrophotometer (ELISA). The participation of our professors in large-scale projects has been fundamental to obtain this equipment, with an additional and important contribution of individual research grants and other sources of support based at the Department. Finally, our laboratories benefit from the infrastructure provided by the Institute of Biosciences (IB): auditorium, computer support, videoconference, access to the CAPES Portal of Scientific Journals, vehicles (for excursions and fieldwork), and a mobile laboratory.
Most of the permanent professors at PPGFG work as ad hoc reviewers for funding agencies, including CNPq, CAPES, FAPESP, and other research foundations in Brazil. Some of our professors also work as ad hoc reviewers for foreign funding agencies in the USA, European Community, Chile, Argentina, and Portugal. The diversity of the Graduate School is reflected in the variety of scientific journals for which our professors act as reviewers, which possibly include over 60 areas as diverse as Immunology, Tropical Medicine, Bioinformatics, Biomedicine, Human Physiology, Comparative Physiology, Endocrinology, Pharmacology, Experimental Biology, Zoology, Parasitology, Ecology, and Neuroscience. Our faculties have active collaboration with many research groups in Brazil and abroad.