Program History
The Federal University of Mato Grosso was created more than 35 years and has maintained as a priority the generation of knowledge about the state of Mato Grosso and the major ecosystems that compose it, ie , the Pantanal , the Cerrado and the Humid Tropical forest . After that a quarter century , there has been a lack of professional training device to master and doctoral level in the field of natural sciences at the institution. This has made the training at the Institute of Physics ( IF) has is effected , over the years , without an overall design , that is, the teacher usually has enabled developing thesis and dissertation topic chosen according to their own discretion.
Moreover, the lack of post -graduate program on the physical aspects of the environment implies a gap in production professionals with genuinely local training . Masters and PhDs in other states are not fully able to develop problematic research really adapted to the needs of Mato Grosso and more specifically to the environmental problems of this state regarding the change of land use in three major ecosystem present . This is due to the fact that the guiding Masters and Mato Grosso doctors , do not live these problems in their daily life , with a partial view of these .
Even today has a ratio of doctors more than the other institutes UFMT , IF , due to the characteristic of multidisciplinary approach pointed above , it is one of the only institutes of the institution that has not deployed post- graduate studies courses. The most important research of these doctors are linked to graduate from other institutes and schools programs and this makes the emphasis of research and oriented theses are delimited to the research lines of these programs. There is thus a gap to be filled with regard to the production of theses and dissertations with a deepening in the areas of natural sciences.
Attempts to bring together researchers around a theme aimed at creating a master did not succeed, over the years, precisely because of the wide dispersion of the specialties of such professionals. However, despite this difficulty, some groups were formed in the period and were able to get approval from the funding agencies, major projects within the regional context. This achievement was repeated by some researchers individually. However, the approval of such projects is a relatively recent development within the Institute, and mainly occurred in the last seven years. The equipment and facilities offered by these projects include, among others, analysis equipment materials and substances (such as NMR and infra-red), anemometers, radiometers, CO2 sensors, photosynthesis sensors, electrical conductivity meters, vehicles for field work, gravimetric sensors, workstations, plus dozens of computers and other smaller equipment.
In a way, spontaneously , most projects have as a theme the study of the environment . This fact is combined with a certain tradition of Mato Grosso Federal University in this area, since other sensu other institutes programs , such as " Ecology and Conservation of Biodiversity " and the " Tropical Agriculture " address the issue . However, the focus of these programs is not aimed at the study of the physical aspects of the environment or their transformation over time.
As is well known , however , in the state of Mato Grosso is there a human intervention on the particularly intense environment from a few decades ago , characterized by the removal of the original ecosystems to make way for agriculture and pasture , as well as extensive exploitation of native wood . It is also known that human occupation in the state has been without a policy which is based on scientific studies on the impact of human activities on ecosystems.
Therefore, there is a need to promote actions in order to improve knowledge about the physical aspects (physical -chemical, biophysical and geophysical ) the environment , as well as the impacts of unplanned occupation has had on ecosystems and the corresponding effects on the issue of climate change globais.Tal knowledge can lead not only to a better understanding of ecosystem functioning , but also to establish conditions for the definition of best sized public policy within the perspective of a more rational use of natural resources of the region.