The Graduate Program in Food Science (PPGCA) of the Faculty of Food Engineering (FEA) celebrated, in a ceremony held on Friday (May 22), the maintenance of a grade of 7 in the four-year evaluation by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes) for the period 2021–2024. This is the highest grade awarded by the federal agency to Brazilian graduate programs and places the PPGCA among the leading centers for training and research in the country.
Held at FEA, the ceremony brought together faculty, students, researchers, staff, and institutional representatives to to celebrate the program's trajectory, which began with the master's course in 1969 and the doctorate in 1975.The event was attended by the Vice-Rector for Graduate Studies, Cláudia Morelli, representing Rector Paulo Cesar Montagner, and the Director of Scientific and Technological Development of the Financing Agency for Studies and Projects (Finep), Carlos Alberto Aragão de Carvalho Filho.
Professor Glaucia Pastore, representing the program's faculty, highlighted that the PPGCA has maintained the highest possible rating since the beginning of CAPES' evaluations. "We have always had the highest possible score. First with an A and then with a 7. This shows a trajectory built with enormous dedication and also many challenges," she stated.
According to Pastore, The program is now in a new phase, focused on expanding connections between the university, research, and the productive sector."The research developed in the program is cutting-edge and helps guide the development of food science in Brazil and Latin America. Now we want to further expand our connection with the industrial and technological sectors that use this knowledge," he explained.
The professor also emphasized that the food sector now occupies a strategic position in global discussions related to health, sustainability, and quality of life. "Food is at the center of global discussions. We are talking about survival, increased life expectancy, disease prevention, and technological development. It is an area as strategic as others considered central today, such as artificial intelligence and computer science," she said.
At the ceremony, the coordinator of the PPGCA, Juliano Lemos Bicas, emphasized that the recognition achieved by the program is the result of a collective effort built over decades. “These are achievements of our entire community: faculty, students, technical and administrative staff. It is also important to highlight the recognition and appreciation of those who came before us. After all, a program without history is a program without life,” he said.
According to Bicas, between 2022 and 2025, the PPGCA published around 500 scientific articles, which totaled approximately 6 citations. In the second half of the program's trajectory alone, 363 masters and 429 doctoral students were trained.
The event concluded with a performance by the Zíper na Boca Choir.
