Graduate Program in Sciences |
The Graduate Program in Science at CENA/USP (PPG-CENA) started in 1972 to meet the demand for professors, researchers and professionals specialized in the application of nuclear techniques in agricultural, forestry, and environmental sciences. It started with an MSc in Nuclear Energy in Agriculture. In 1990, the Graduate Program in Science was created including MSc and PhD courses, comprising a single area of concentration: Nuclear Energy in Agriculture.
In Brazil, CENA has become a renowned institute leading research on the application of nuclear techniques in agriculture and the environment, qualified for the training of masters and doctors in this area of knowledge. At present, research related to the application of nuclear techniques in agriculture and the environment is focused. CENA is involved in several agreements and cooperation with other universities and institutions, in Brazil and abroad.
CENA's Graduate Program in Science (PPG-CENA) aims to train scientists to work in the broad areas of Exact Sciences, Biological Sciences, and Environmental Sciences, organized in a single concentration area: Nuclear Energy in Agriculture. Dissertations and theses focus on the use and/or development of nuclear techniques and methods, highlighting food conservation with gamma radiation, the genetic improvement of plants with gamma radiation-induced mutations, the use of radioisotopes as tracers in studies regarding soil fertility, plant nutrition, and animal nutrition, the application of radioisotopes in analytical chemistry, the use of nuclear analytical techniques based on gamma radiation attenuation in soil physics and wood densimetry, among other examples. From its start in 1972 until the last update of this website (July 2021), 375 MSc dissertations and 228 PhD theses were defended. In the first decades, the PPG-CENA predominantly focused on Nuclear Energy in Agriculture. Since the 1990s, gradually, other techniques were incorporated into the developed studies.
In 2000, a reorganization of the PPG-CENA was performed, establishing three areas of concentration: Nuclear Energy, Chemistry, and Biology. The three areas have lines of research related to CENA's mission, focusing on agriculture and the environment.
With the evolution of several non-nuclear techniques that provided integration with other areas of basic and applied research, the PPG-CENA started to offer new disciplines and develop research lines related to biotechnology, development of analytical techniques, and environmental studies, reinforcing its multidisciplinary character.
One of the topics that stands out involves the so-called spectroanalytical techniques, including the development and application of plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICPOES), flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS), electrothermal atomization atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS), molecular absorption spectrometry (MAS), plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), mass spectrometry for special isotopic analysis (isotopes of nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, sulfur, carbon, and boron), in addition to gamma spectrometry, beta spectrometry, alpha spectrometry, and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry.
Part of the multidisciplinary nature of the PPG-CENA is the training of human resources in analytical automation. CENA is the cradle of analytical automation processes employing continuous flow injection analysis (FIA), and among its staff are scientists with high impact rates in chemistry, particularly in analytical chemistry. In this context, the PPG-CENA stands out in Brazil for offering qualification for complete training in automation that contributes to the analytical procedures by the development of new instruments.
The PPG-CENA also allows for integrated training in ecology, biogeochemistry, and ecotoxicology with renowned experts of international prominence, carrying out long-term research related to natural and altered ecosystems, especially in the Amazon, in the Pantanal, and in the Piracicaba River Basin.
Scholars have the opportunity to participate in the design of sampling strategies, sample collection, sample preparation with modern techniques, and determination of chemical species of interest, using advanced techniques.
Other areas of a special performance of the PPG-CENA involve biotechnology and genomics, in which several internationally renowned experts guide cutting-edge research in the areas of genomics and proteomics of pathogenic microorganisms and plants, molecular markers in studies of biodegradation, biodiversity conservation, and genetic resources; genetic manipulation aimed at plant improvement and studies on plant development, plant micropropagation, among others.
Due to its multidisciplinary characteristics, the PPG-CENA is unique in Brazil with respect to the training of human resources in an integrated manner in analytical, environmental, biological, geological, nuclear, and agronomic sciences. As a result, excellent professionals were and continue to be trained here, with a profile strongly outlined in scientific methodology for solving problems in the field of agricultural production and conservation of nature and the environment.