Objectives

Over the years, one of the most important goals of PPGF at UFSCar has been to maintain its compact characteristic as a program, while guaranteeing the highest quality in education. This involves not only the excellence in the research developed by the faculty members and students but also the strong foundation of its graduates. Over the last years — as can be confirmed from recent triennial evaluation from CAPES — PPGF has met with the highest competence and quality requirements. This is thus confirmation of its permanent contribution to the national scientific development, both from the standpoint of scientific production, as well as the qualification of human resources. Its faculty members have managed to keep their theoretical and experimental investigations attractive for national and international groups of renowned relevance, acknowledging their efforts in cutting-edge scientific research. A clear indication of such a prolific scenario is that a considerable number of professors registered in the program are recipients of the CNPq Research Productivity Grant.  

In the last few years, the Department of Physics at UFSCar decided to prioritize the hiring of experimental researchers. This resolution follows the national trend to modernize the Brazillian research environment, which already exhibits a hefty lineup of equipment for science to be performed at a world-class level. As a natural consequence of this hiring strategy, PPGF started to welcome an increasing number of experimentalists as registered supervisors, opening the way to a substantial volume of graduate work with experimental emphasis and, accordingly, a growing number of publications and scientific production.

Several faculty members registered in the Program participate in bilateral collaborations and international projects, many with an emphasis on Experimental Physics. The internationalization of PPGF is one of the prioritized policies of the program, adopted over the years. This not only translates into more visibility for the activities developed in the program but also helps in maintaining the high level of excellence of its graduate students. For many years now, PPGF is home to several projects that have been welcoming researchers and students from foreign institutions, including short-time visits, longer-term jobs, and internships in the Physics Department. 

The research projects developed by graduate students at PPGF are all of high quality. This has been systematically recognized through awards and honorable mentions in highly competitive contests, such as the Best PhD Thesis Awards by the Brazilian Physics Society (SBF) and the CAPES Thesis Awards.

Since its creation, PPGF has always explored the research categories of Condensed Matter Physics (theoretical and experimental) and Statistical, Atomic and Molecular Physics. These seminal topics reflect the profile of the founding researchers of the program. In subsequent years, the research topics had to be adapted, given the hiring of new faculty with diverse research interests, as well as the establishment of the Physical Engineering program in the Department of Physics at UFSCar. At the moment, the concentration areas are divided into "Fundamental Physics" and "Applied Physics". These areas encapsulate, in a simple and broad fashion, the projects and research topics developed by the registered faculty.  

Faculty members can be registered in the program following fundamental criteria, such as: having approved or ongoing projects, sufficient current scientific production, and experience in supervising students and young researchers. By the end of 2017, the Graduate Commission has approved new criteria, considerably more rigorous, for the registration of new faculty in the Program. 

PPGF offers a quota of 26 Master's scholarships, 20 of which provided by CAPES and 6 by CNPq. The quota for the PhD program is 37, 28 of which provided by CAPES and 9 by CNPq. Additionally, many of the students are beneficiaries of FAPESP scholarships, which are awarded via individual processes, without participation or influence from the Program.     

Since the first Master's defense in 1990 until 2018, there have been 197 dissertations defended. From the first PhD thesis in 1995 until 2018, there have been 196 theses defended. In 2017, in particular, 5 Master's dissertations and 13 PhD theses were concluded. In 2018, 8 Master's dissertations and 10 PhD theses were defended. 

The results from these graduate works are being published in international journals of renowned editorial policies, highlighting the quality of these works at an international level.  

PPGF has been participating in the Unified Physics Exam (EUF) over the last few years, using applicants' grades in the exam as part of the admission process for the graduate program.