INTERNATIONALIZATION
The program still maintains regular but significant international engagement, given its size. The first aspect illustrating our internationalization is the international collaborations in publications. Of our permanent faculty members, eight maintain active international collaborations, as shown by the scientific publications co-authored with these foreign collaborators. In summary, we have interactions with researchers in the United States, France, Germany, Poland, Austria, India and Palestine.
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We also have occasional collaborations with researchers from the following institutions abroad:
- Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy-NY-USA (Professor Vincent Meunier)
- Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy-NY-USA (Professor Humberto Terrones)
- Department of Physics, The Pennsylvania State University, State College-PA-USA (Professor Mauricio Terrones)
- Institut Lumière Matière, Université Claude Bernard - Lyon 1 & CNRS (Professor Alfonso San Miguel)
- Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research, Wrocław, Poland (Professor Miroslaw Maczka)
- AGH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, al. Mickiewicza 30, Krakow, Poland (Professor K. Malaz)
- Cognitive Science Section, Department of Psychology, University of Graz (Professor Tarik Hadzibeganovic)
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The interactions with Professors Vincent Meunier and Humberto Terrones, both from the Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), in Troy-NY-USA, were further strengthened by their frequent visits to Teresina and our faculty's visits to Troy, in addition to American students coming to Teresina through projects funded by the APS and the Science Without Borders program. Although these specific funding sources have ended, the interaction with these professors continues through other financial means provided by UFPI (Pro-Missions program) and RPI.
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In addition to scientific collaborations, the program also seeks to promote visits from some of these researchers through participation in CAPES and/or CNPq internationalization calls, as well as through occasional support from UFPI and partner institutions. The program has had specific internationalization projects funded by both CAPES and the American Physical Society, which facilitated the exchange of not only professors but also American students visiting Teresina. With the recent launch of our doctoral program, we can now participate in calls for "sandwich Ph.D." programs, further strengthening our ongoing international collaborations and fostering new ones.
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The PPGF also hosted a foreign researcher (Dr. Anupama Ghosh – Indiana) who conducted a postdoctoral fellowship through the PNPD program, starting in October 2014 for over four years. Another foreign researcher (Dr. Yuset Guerra Davila – Cuban) began a postdoctoral fellowship through the PNPD program in September 2019.
Professor Bartolomeu Viana delivered an keynote presentation at the following international event:
- Carbon 2018 - The World Conference on Carbon: GRAPHITIZATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON OBTAINED FROM LOCAL BIOMASS (BABASSU) AND THEIR ELECTROCHEMICAL PROPERTIES, 2018.
The PPGF addresses a significant local demand for Physics graduates. This is illustrated by the fact that our master's admissions process typically attracts three times the number of available spots. The program, which launched its first doctoral cohort in 2019, also sends a large number of students to pursue Ph.D. studies at other Brazilian institutions. However, it is now entering a transition phase where it will become the final training institution. The program plays an essential local role, starting with its geographic significance. It is the only academic Physics program within a 500 km radius of Teresina, PI. This circle encompasses six cities in Piauí with public institutions offering undergraduate Physics courses (eight in education and one in research) and two additional locations in Maranhão (offering undergraduate Physics programs in public institutions) that are closer to Teresina than to São Luís - MA (Caxias – UEMA, São João dos Patos – IFMA). Imperatriz-MA is also about the same distance from São Luís and Teresina, where IFMA also offers a Physics undergraduate program. Our events and/or admissions processes have attracted students from various locations in Piauí and Maranhão (some of our students, although graduates of UFPI, IFPI, and UESPI, come from Maranhão cities).
Practically speaking, one example of the PPGF's social integration is the large number of our alumni working as professors in higher education institutions in Piauí. We have counted 25 professors in our records, not including those working as substitute professors in some of these institutions. Other alumni work as teachers in state education departments or as forensic experts.
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As mentioned earlier, the program also organizes events in Teresina and other cities in the interior, aimed at promoting scientific outreach and fostering interaction. These events also provide future teachers with exposure to advanced physics, potentially impacting elementary and high school education.
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Regarding the program’s interaction with other institutions within and outside of Teresina, it aims to promote scientific collaborations between its faculty members and professors from these other institutions, giving them the opportunity to participate in our graduate program activities. This is another strong element of our social integration since it allows us to involve productive researchers from campuses with limited infrastructure and human resources in graduate-level activities. This not only provides significant benefits to these external faculty members in the short to medium term but may also contribute to the future expansion of graduate education into rural northeastern areas in the long term.
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The program also maintained PROCAD-CAPES agreements with institutions such as UFC and UNIFRA during the past quadrennial period, aiming to strengthen and create new collaborations, while also providing national exchange opportunities for our students: Computational Modeling and Experiments in Nanomaterials, R$360,000 (2014-2017), with local coordination by Eduardo Costa Girão.
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Lastly, the program seeks to disseminate its work online, not only through its official website but also via social media profiles like Facebook and Instagram, which broaden access to information about our program and sometimes have a wider reach than the official UFPI site.
Official Website: http://leg.ufpi.br/fisicaposgrad/
Instagram: @ppgfufpi
https://www.instagram.com/ppgfufpi/?igshid=1opml6er46bxs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pgfisicaufpi/?notif_id=1618377174830551¬if_t=page_fan&ref=notif
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Additionally, several of our faculty members have been involved in teacher training activities through the EAD and PARFOR programs. Within UFPI, the program seeks visibility through seminars and events (our annual workshop being the main one), which are open to the entire university community, including undergraduate and graduate students and physics professors and those from related fields. These seminars and events are also held in the interior of the state, aiming to reach the various undergraduate Physics programs in Piauí (and nearby areas of Maranhão), as well as high school students (in the case of seminars and events held at IFPI). In 2017, PPGF faculty members conducted scientific seminars in Angical-PI, Parnaíba-PI, and Caxias-MA. In 2018, faculty members gave seminars in Oeiras-PI and Parnaíba-PI, as well as a short course in computational physics in Parnaíba. In 2019, the first SBF School of Piauí was held, fostering interactions with the broader Piauí community. We also have records of faculty members involved in the high school PIBIC program.
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Our program's research (related to biomaterials) has also been featured on TV. Recently, two reports aired on a local station, highlighting studies on babassu-based biomaterials (a topic with strong regional significance) and the use of Raman spectroscopy in skin cancer diagnostics (another topic with strong local appeal, given the characteristic climate of Piauí and the high incidence of this pathology in the state). The team involved in these studies was recently interviewed on a local TV talk show.
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The program aims to address regional and society issues. For example, faculty members are participating in studies involving fossils, a clear example of a regionally significant issue, as Piauí is home to important archaeological and paleontological sites. Additionally, a new research direction in biophysics has recently been initiated, spurred by the hiring of a visiting professor. Studies in this area are focused on using spectroscopic techniques to diagnose certain types of cancer. Many of these studies have received significant local media coverage, with numerous TV appearances.