External Evaluation of Graduate Programs in Chemistry for CAPES

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CURSO DE PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO EM QUÍMICA
DEPARTAMENTO DE QUÍMICA - ICEX
32.270-901 - BELO HORIZONTE - MG
TEL.: (31) 3499-5732
FAX: (31) 3499-5700

In general each program provided us with detailed information about student numbers, faculty publications and other statistical data. An overview of research activities was provided and time permitted a tour of the laboratory facilities and major equipment installations We were provided copies of examinations and selected MSc and PhD theses to review. We met with graduate students in tile absence of faculty in order to freely solicit their assessment of the programs. In the case of UFRJ only three students were selected to meet with us while at UFPE and UFMG the majority of the enrolled graduate students were present. Time did not allow for a detailed discussion of research activities with individual researchers.

All three programs have a well-planned and rigorous course of studies for the MSc and PhD degrees. This includes all of the following.

In general the programs were found to provide a stimulating and scholarly environment in which to carry out research. There was evidence of extensive collaboration between groups , especially at the smaller program at UFPE and the larger one at UFMG. At UFPE this took die form of several groups contributing to different aspects of research involving luminescent lanthanide complexes.

Student Quality. The reviewers were especially impressed with the quality of the students. We must necessarily rely on those fluent in English although our Brazilian member was available to interpret responses in Portuguese for us. Students were enthusiastic about their programs and spoke highly of their professors. As in international institutions some of the best students were capable of significant independent contributions while others work much more closely with their supervisors. Additional evidence of student quality comes from the results of "sandwich" programs in which students spend some time at North American or European institutions. Some students have completed PhD degrees abroad following their MSc. These students in general are of a quality comparable to those in North American and Europe.

When asked about future plans almost without exception students intend to obtain employment within the Brazilian University system. This creates a problem which we address later in this report. Students are coauthors on about 70% of the publications. They told us they spend over 50 hours per week on their research and we found them actively engaged in the labs during our visit.

Faculty QuaIity. Overall the faculty quality is high. All have the PhD degree and about half have some experience abroad either as graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, as visiting professors or through collaborative arrangements. Many have continuing research collaborations with groups in the USA, Europe, and Canada. This is a very important feature of the chemistry departments in Brazil and is an effective way of maintaining international standards in the discipline as well as promoting Brazilian research abroad.

On the basis of discussions with students the faculty are readily available to help students both within and external to their groups. They appear to provide a stimulating and also friendly environment which is important to an efficient research group. Thesis topics are relevant sometimes to local themes. A good example is a project at UFMG directed toward analysis and restoration of local art with chemical methods. The majority of thesis topics relate to fundamental problems in chemistry. These are timely and relevant and are deemed to meet international standards.

Publication Record. The number of publications for each department is considered reasonable by international standards. This assessment takes into account the lack of postdoctoral fellows in the Brazilian system and a generally lower level of financial support. Considerable importance is placed on publications in international journals with high impact factor. The general pattern found was that some faculty had published extensively in such journals while others had the bulk of their contributions in lesser known journals. It appears that this trend is changing with an increasing number of younger faculty submitting their work to high quality journals of high international stature. These faculty are almost always those with foreign experience or collaboration.

Infrastructure. We found a considerable variation in the infrastructure of the three programs we assessed. In the case of UFPE there is a lack of equipment needed to mount a comprehensive chemistry program in all areas. It is clear that several research programs are directed towards what is possible. Several faculty mentioned projects of greater interest to them which are not currently feasible with the available resources. One area which is highly developed at all three programs is computational chemistry as the computational facilities are adequate for these studies. Libraries were visited at UFPE and UFMG. These had collections of most of the leading international journals but in several cases there were gaps in the holdings because of irregular funding. The number of textbook and specialized monographs is small compared to international standards and efforts should be made to remedy this. A computerized system which allows students to obtain copies of material not available locally seems to be working well at UFPE. Also each institution is well connected through the internet.

Another problem cited by both faculty and students is the difficulty in obtaining chemical reagents. In many cases several months are required to obtain essential reagents. These limitations serve to extend the time required to complete degree programs.

Having assessed features common to all three programs we now turn our attention to the specifics of the three programs we visited.

Our visit to Pernambuco was nicely planned and very well organized locally. This is a relative new program which graduated its first PhD in 1996. It has grown to produce seven PhD graduates in 1999. The chemistry program relies heavily on close collaboration between different groups across a range of subdisciplines including physical, inorganic, computational, organic chemistry. There also is cooperation between chemistry, physics, and biology. The program draws students mostly from the northeast region and serves as a center for the region. The advantage of the small program is the close collegiality it produces. Students spoke favorably about this aspect of the program. A disadvantage is that the students have a more limited range of research topics to choose from. The faculty quality is high but not uniformly so. There are 23 permanent faculty two of whom are members of file Brazilian Academy of Science. The more senior faculty have the greatest international reputation and these provide file majority of high quality publications. This program could benefit greatly from greater infrastructural support. A new building is under construction and this along with additional equipment would greatly strengthen the program.

The assessment of this program differs from the others in that only the organic chemistry program was viewed. Three different aspects of the program were presented to us. These include the basic organic program which includes groups involved in organic synthesis, natural products, and molecular modelling. These areas complement each other well. A second component is an analytical facility for drug analysis and doping control. A third component located in a separate building involved more applied projects in organic geochemistry, polymeric and ceramic materials, industrial waste utilization, and catalysis.

Strong points of the program include a well organized NMR lab and an active molecular modelling group. We are not clear on file relationships between the more applied projects of "Polo de Xistoquimica" and the core organic program and these parts did not seem to be well integrated with the rest of the program. The equipment we viewed within this applied facility seemed to us antiquated.

The presentation of this program was the best by far of the three. Several faculty made brief but informative outlines of a wide range of research topics covering all of the subdisciplines of chemistry. We were also provided with a wealth of well organized documentation supporting the strength of the program including course descriptions, publications, seminar lists, and collaborations. Our visit with students was stimulating. During our tour of the labs students were engaged in experimental work and most equipment was being operated. A range of research areas were active. Topics include chemical and microbiological transformations of natural products, organic synthesis, bioinorganic chemistry. Mossbauer spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, materials science, coordination chemistry, theoretical and computational chemistry. In our view the broad range of research topics available within this program provides an excellent education for graduate students. The program is further strengthened by cooperations with local industry which contribute research funding as well as scholarship support. The applied aspects of the program are better integrated and more appropriate than was the case at UFRJ. The instrumental facilities were excellent. The NMR facility has two highly trained technicians and provides service both inside and outside the university. The same can be said for other analytical services. In addition to centralized instrumental Iabs, most of the research labs were also well equipped with modem instrumentation. Technical support was in fact superior to that found at most North American and European institutions.

It is difficult to incorporate all of the complexities of these different programs within a single number but we have been requested by CAPES to do so. We are aware of the previous evaluations of these programs and largely agree with the evaluations made independently by CAPES. We also concur with the criteria used by CAPES which places an emphasis on international standards.

UFPE - We rate this program a 6 on the CAPES scale. while it is a smaller program and lacking somewhat in resources, it has a solid base of faculty and has developed significantly in the short period since it began. It requires some investment in equipment and funding in order to broaden the focus of the program.

UFRJ - We rate this program a 6 on the CAPES scale. We would prefer that the entire chemistry department be more closely integrated in order to provide a comprehensive chemistry program and that this larger entity be evaluated by CAPES. This department is relatively well equipped and has a large number of students.

UFMG - We rate this program a 7 on the CAPES scale. It is a well equipped., and efficiently organized department. Research areas cover a broad range of topics with excellence in several of them. It has made effective use of collaborations with local industry as well as internationally with other universities.

Below we highlight a few of the weaknesses we find and some recommendations.