The Program

The Graduate Program in Gerontology (PPGGero) at the Federal University of São Carlos is an Academic Master's and Doctorate Program. It has Gerontology as area of concentration and two research lines:

• Line 1 - Health, Biology and Aging
• Line 2 - Operation, Technology and Innovation in Gerontology
  
  

Purpose

Strengthen research, formation and practice in Gerontology in Brazil, in order to promote substantial improvement in the field related to the human aging.

Conception

Arise as a Program that stimulates the consolidation of significant kinds of research with national and international impact.

Aims

Theoretically and methodologically, train the graduate student to perform as professor and to start the researching career, producing knowledge in Gerontology and making it accessible to the scientific community and the population. The course aims to enable professionals in the area of Gerontology to perform as:

• Research professors of undergraduate Gerontology majors in public and private institutions, including Medicine, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Nutrition, Physical Education, Psychology, Biology, Administration, Law, Education, Social Sciences, Social Service, among other majors;
• Researchers facing the elderly people’s reality, integrating scientific investigation and community action interdisciplinary groups;
• Managers able to assist specific demands in the area of aging, contributing to the formulation of public policies, development of assistive technology and management of health services aimed at the care of the elderly population.
  
  

History

The Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), founded in 1968, is a Federal Public Institution located in the interior of the State of São Paulo. It currently has four campuses, with its main headquarters located in the city of São Carlos, 235 km from the capital. In 2009, UFSCar established the first undergraduate course in Gerontology within the scope of federal higher education institutions, and in 2012, the first Academic Department of Gerontology in the country, under the leadership of Professor Sofia Cristina Iost Pavarini (link para o perfil), nurse, senior professor and post-doctorate in Gerontology from the Faculty of Medical Sciences at UNICAMP. Professor Sofia was also responsible for creating the Postgraduate course in Gerontology at UFSCar.

The Master's degree course of the Postgraduate Program in Gerontology (PPGGero) was approved by CAPES in 2016. It is the fifth Postgraduate Program in Gerontology, Master's level, in the State of São Paulo and the third offered by a public higher education institution. In 2023, the Doctorate course in Gerontology was approved, the only one in a Federal public institution in the State of São Paulo.