History
The Graduate program in Zootechnics Science at the Federal University of Bahia (PPGZ-UFBA), located in Salvador, began in August 2011 (semester 2011.2) at the Master's and Doctorate level, with the CAPES Concept 4 at both levels. The Program's in its fifth year of existence and from its inception until the end of the year 2016 has received 86 doctoral students and 71 masters. The PPG Zootecnia UFBA, together with the UESB program in Itapetinga, are the only ones that offer PhD vacancies in the state of Bahia, and only in UFBA there is a research line related to the Production of Monogastric. This lower number of doctoral vacancies in relation to the master's degree in the State of Bahia contributes to the greater number of students of this level received by the PPG Zootechnics UFBA, most of which are graduates of the Masters Programs in Zootechnics or Animal Science of UNIVASF (Petrolina-PE), UFS (Aracajú-SE), UNIMONTES (Montes Claros – MG) and UFRB (Cruz das Almas-BA).
The PPGZ-UFBA operates in the area of Animal Production concentration and has as main objective the formation of human resources in the areas of knowledge that comprise its three lines of research, Animal Breeding, Production of Monogastric and Aquaculture, and Production of Ruminants and Foriculture, meeting the demand of professors and/or researchers for universities and Public Institutions of Education, Public and Private Research Companies, as well as the Private Initiative, besides contributing to the generation of new Knowledge and Technologies, with a view to solving the problems encountered by society in the area of animal production.
Within this theme the PPG Zootechnics UFBA stands out in the study of animal production in the Northeast, given its maintenance and commitment in the study of problems at the regional level, without leaving aside the internationalization of students and professors. Thus, it stands out in this PPG the important research work in aquaculture in partnership with Bahia Pesca (company associated with the government of the state), as well as in the genetic improvement and nutrition of small ruminants. In these areas of activity cited, Bahia presents with great impact and productive potential, being the fourth state of Brazil in fish production capacity in Union Waters (ANA, 2015), and is the state with the highest production of fish in the Northeast region, being the eighth placed in the national ranking (PEIXE BR, 2016), which demonstrates the impact that research in aquaculture can generate in this region, which has as strong tendency the expressive increase in total production. When it comes to small ruminants, Bahia gains prominence, being the second Brazilian state in number of sheep heads (17.2%), preceded by Rio Grande so Sul (21.5%), and followed by the states of Pernambuco (13.1%) and Ceará (12.5%). In Bahia there is still the largest goat herd (27.4%) Among the Brazilian states, followed by Pernambuco (25.3%) and Piauí (12.8%) (IBGE, 2015). This important herd is a key point in the availability of animals and resources for research, which, in turn, can subsidize the adoption of technologies by rural producers and development of public policies for the state. Thus, one of the main goals of this program is to elevate the quality of the studies produced, without, however, leaving aside its innate association with the agribusiness profile in the state in Bahia and in the Northeast.
The selection for Masters and Doctorate in this PPG occurs semiannually through four classificatory stages, as evidence of technical skills, proficiency in English language, quantitative score of the curriculum lattes and oral test. Our largest contingent of students enrolled for the semiannual selections is for the doctoral level, followed by the master's degree, because it is, for the most part, an internal demand from the graduates of the bachelor's degree in Zootechnics from UFBA or even from the bachelors in Zootechnics of UFRB, an institution near the city of Salvador. This scenario is set up as a reflection of that found in the Northeast region, which now has 16 programs that offer only Master's and only five offer Master's and Doctorate in full, which creates a bottleneck in the inclusion of many Masters, who often fail to be placed in the master's degree due to high competition for doctoral vacancies in the region.
Despite this, PPG Zootechnics was already responsible for the titration of 22 doctors and 41 masters, and most of the doctors, 17, finished their courses in 2016, when the Program completed five years of existence. By the end of the year 2015 5 doctors had defended thesis in PPG. However, at the beginning of 2017, we hope to begin to obtain more balanced doctor flow, since by the end of 2015 this flow was only 6.6%, and in 2016 the value rose to 20.9%, compatible with the Brazilian average that is 20.1% at the doctoral level. This flow remained reduced until the year 2015 due to a greater number of entries than the outputs of doctoral students with the opening of the program at the end of the year 2011. From the beginning of its activities until the end of the year 2016, 63 masters and doctors were titrated, contributing to the training of qualified professionals to work in different regions of Brazil, but especially to meet the demand of professionals in Northeast region, due to the opening of new vocational and higher education institutions promoted by the Federal government in recent years. Only in the state of Bahia two new federal institutions were inaugurated a few years ago, the UFOB (Federal University of the West of Bahia) created in 2014 and the UFSB (Federal University of South of the Bahia) created in 2011, which creates vast demand for the fixation of doctors in the State of Bahia, mainly in inland towns, where there is less demand.
PPG Zootechnics UFBA has a diversified professors team, with doctors who have obtained full title or experience in sandwich and post-doctoral doctorate abroad (Germany, United States, Spain and Holland), in addition to presenting productivity Scientific qualifications in the last four years. The number of professors who carry a scholarship of productivity in CNPq research, nine scholarship holders, three with level 1D and six with Level 2, demonstrates the technical capacity of the group in a general way, since the faculty composed of 16 members , 57% is made up of productivity scholarship holders. Still with regard to the faculty capacity, most of the group is composed of graduates from the major institutions of relevance in Brazil such as UNESP, USP, UFV, UFMG, UEM, UFPB, UFSM and foreign institutions such as Ohio State University (USA) and Universidad of Murcia (Spain), mostly composed of young researchers, which adds diversity in the scope of research lines and training in our graduates.
In this context, the graduates of the PPG Zootechnics UFBA are prepared to work in the area of teaching technical and superior, acting in science and technology in public or private companies, enabling them also to develop research of High scientific and technological standards, including partnerships and international integration, respecting the regional characteristics required for coherent and necessary action for the development of the region in which they are inserted.
