About

The Graduate Program in Science and Technology Education (PPGECT) at UFSC was approved in 2001 by the Ministry of Education (CAPES/MEC), beginning its activity in 2002.

It is a joint project of the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, the School of Education, and the School of Biological Sciences, with the support of faculty members from the School of Technology.

The PPGECT offers master’s and doctoral degree programs to develop research and teaching activities on the relationship between education and science, specifically on the understanding of the teaching-learning process. In other words, the mastery of the structures of thought required by science and technology, and their insertion in Brazilian society to promote an adequate education.

The fundamental space of these activities is formal education at various levels, with its primary concern being the dynamic and critical apprehension of scientific and technological knowledge by most of the Brazilian population.

The concern with formal education, although a priority, will not be exclusive, being complemented by studies that focus on the informal processes of acquiring scientific and technological culture.

The program highlights the training of educators and researchers capable of understanding and investigating: 

  1. a) the production of science and its forms of socialization through students’ productive appropriation of scientific and technological knowledge and
  2. b) the social dynamics of science and technology and the contextualization of their education.

Master’s Degree

Admission takes place every March through an annual selection process. The two-year program requires 26 credit hours: 12 in core and 8 in elective courses, and 6 for producing the dissertation, which is to be defended before an examining committee of three members, all of them holding a doctoral degree.

Doctoral Degree

Admission takes place every August through an annual selection process. The four-year program requires 48 credit hours: 8 in core and 12 in elective courses, 16-hour credit for the presentation of papers in congresses, seminars, and colloquia and the publication of at least one article in a peer-reviewed journal (6 credits per article), as well as other projects conducted in conjunction with the advisor. The thesis totals 12 credit hours; it must address a new problem and the candidate must defend the thesis before an examining committee of five, all holding at least a Ph.D. degree.

Faculty Members

PPGET faculty currently includes 26 professors, both permanent members, and collaborators, all accredited through an external evaluation process.