Student Output and Publication Quality

In the 2021–2024 quadrennium, the Program awarded 96 master’s degrees, corresponding to graduates between 2016 and 2024 (nine years, including those graduating in 2024, considered in this calculation). These 96 graduates published a total of 49 scientific articles in Qualis A1–A4 journals, distributed as follows: 13 in 2021, 10 in 2022, 12 in 2023, and 14 in 2024 — representing an average of 0.57 articles per graduate.

These 49 articles involved 32 students from the program, reflecting important collaboration among students from the same laboratory (common advisor) and from different laboratories (due to co-advising or networked projects). Thus, 33.3% of graduates contributed to high-quality publications, showing a slight increase compared to the previous quadrennium (30%, according to the CAPES recommendation report).

Although all articles align with the PPG-BURN research lines, 18 of them are directly related to master’s dissertations, representing an average of 0.19 articles per graduate. In total, 17 students (18%) published Qualis A1–A4 articles directly linked to their dissertations.

It is important to highlight the positive trend observed at the end of the quadrennium: after a slight drop in 2022–2023, the number of publications increased again, reaching 14 articles in 2024. Therefore, it is expected that student production will continue to grow in both quality and quantity in the next quadrennium (2025–2029), especially with the consolidation of the first doctoral cohorts and the intensification of the follow-up of dissertations not yet published. To this end, the program has been promoting regular meetings with a proactive (rather than punitive) approach, aiming to mitigate this historical bottleneck in student publication.

Career Paths, Professional Activities, and Graduates Evaluation

Between 2015 and 2024, the PPG-BURN awarded 113 master’s degrees. Several search strategies were employed to locate the graduates: consultations with the Lattes and LinkedIn platforms, Google searches, and contact with former advisors and peers. Still, information could not be obtained for 16 graduates (14.2%). For these cases, the master’s degree was considered the highest known academic degree.

Among the located graduates (97), 11 (9.7%) work as independent professionals outside their field of training. Thirty-three graduates (29.2%) pursued an academic career, with 15 (13.3%) having completed their Ph.D. and 18 (15.9%) currently enrolled in doctoral programs. Another 23 graduates (20.3%) teach in basic education, five hold BDCTI scholarships, five work in environmental management in private companies, six are independent environmental consultants, and three work in public environmental agencies. Another six work in fields partially related to their training, and five work completely outside their area of specialization.

Overall, among graduates with available information (97), 38 (39.2%) are engaged in academic work, 23 (23.7%) in basic education, and 14 (14.4%) work as consultants, analysts, or environmental managers. These figures demonstrate good alignment between the training offered by PPG-BURN and the professional profile of its graduates.

Comparing the two periods (2015–2019 vs. 2020–2024), the number of degrees awarded decreased from 65 to 48. The proportion of graduates with untraceable information also dropped (from 18% to 8.6%). The proportion of graduates working outside their field of study increased from 10.9% to 18.4%, possibly reflecting the impacts of the pandemic or frustration with the academic career. Despite this, academic engagement among graduates increased slightly (from 32.8% to 34.6%).

The main changes observed include a decline in basic education teaching (from 23.4% to 16.3%) and growth in environmental consulting and management (from 1.56% to 10.2%), reflecting expanding demand in northern Minas Gerais. These changes are consistent with the program’s objectives, which include training qualified professionals for various sectors, including public and private environmental consulting and management.