The Brazilian government has invested efforts in the search for technological innovation as a central activity of its economy. In this context, biotechnology emerges as one of the strategic sectors for the development of Brazil, consisting of the use of biological processes, whether microorganisms or multicellular beings, for human benefit, through the development of products or processes, which can be exploited commercially. or for the common good.
Considering the great potential of Biotechnology for regional sustainable development, the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) founded in 2011 the Biotechnology Graduate Program at UFPA (PPGBIOTEC), at the Master and Doctorate level, with the objective of contributing to training human resources, accelerating and directing the training process and increasing the use of existing laboratories, through the assimilation of new professors by groups already consolidated, with increased productivity to work in Biotechnology in the Amazon region. Today, the decent staff of the PPGBIOTEC was formed by 25 doctors, being 19 tenured and 6 invited.
The student graduated from the Program will be able to work with the basic tools of biotechnology and will be able to develop his project in one of the lines of research offered by the program. It is intended, therefore, to train professionals with an entrepreneurial profile, who can dialogue with the productive sector and provide services to the community.
The Program provides the theoretical basis for the development of projects in four lines of research, defined according to the competence and experience of orientation of the program's professors: Molecular Biotechnology and Bioinformatics Applied to Genomics, Molecular Biotechnology and Bioinformatics Applied to Proteomics, Biotechnology of Natural Resources Applied to Agribusiness and Biotechnology of Natural Resources Applied to Health.
At the end of 2017, after CAPES 'four-year evaluation, PPGBIOTEC moved to level 5 and the Faculty carried out the reform of the curriculum, updated the disciplines, areas of concentration and lines of research, adapting to the needs of students and professors. It made a reform in the internal evaluation criteria and in the entry form of the selection process. Coordination is currently working on reforming the bylaws. All in order to bring innovation and improvements.