BIOTECHNOLOGY AND PLANT GERMOPLASM CONSERVATION
Summary: Fundamentals, techniques and applications of biotechnology in plant improvement and plant production. Environmental Applications of Plant Biotechnology. In vitro culture techniques, plant micropropagation, plant regeneration from cells. Plant transformation. Production of synthetic seeds. Environmental Application of Germplasm Conservation, types of germplasm banks, technologies for germplasm conservation and transfer.
PLANT MORPHOPHYSIOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Summary: study of plant morphology, its anatomy and functionality; stresses; morphoanatomical changes caused by the environment in terrestrial and aquatic plants; allelopathy and ecological overcoming.
PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE AND ETHICS IN RESEARCH
Summary: Scientific knowledge: nature and differences in relation to other forms of knowledge. Empiricism and Induction. Deduction. Popper’s philosophy of science. Theories, models and hypotheses. Ethical and moral considerations in the production of scientific knowledge at different levels.
ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMISTRY
Summary: Fundamental geochemical processes that affect the mobility and fate of organic and inorganic pollutants in the terrestrial environment.
LIMNOLOGY AND TAXONOMY OF PLANKTONIC AND BENTONIC COMMUNITIES
Summary: Structure, functioning and metabolism of aquatic ecosystems; Water cycle; Physical and chemical characteristics of water, Nutrient dynamics; Freshwater communities; Primary and secondary productivity; Interspecific interactions, Limnology of floodable environments; Eutrophication; Management and recovery of aquatic ecosystems; Sampling in Limnology. Aquatic communities: phytoplankton, zooplankton and benthos. Phytoplankton composition. Types of algae associations. Floating mechanisms. General characteristics of zooplankton and their interactions with fish. Horizontal variations in zooplankton distribution. Cyclomorphosis and predation. General characteristics of the benthic community. Trophic mechanisms and types of food. Influence of light, temperature and organic matter on community development. Seasonal succession and diurnal variations of planktonic and benthic communities. Productivity of phytoplankton, zooplankton and benthos. Molecular markers for taxonomic purposes. Molecular techniques applied to taxonomy: DNA extraction, RFLP, AFLP, RAPD, minisatellites, microsatellites, DNA fingerprinting, DGGE electrophoresis, DNA sequencing.
FUNDAMENTALS OF ECOTOXICOLOGY
Summary: Concepts in ecotoxicology, biomonitoring and environmental quality. Environmental stress: types and its effects. Present and discuss the use of ecotoxicological tests as a way of evaluating environmental compartments and preventing pollution. Assessment of the susceptibility of ecological systems to pollution. Diagnosis and prediction of industrial or organic effluents and solid waste effects. Toxicity assessment aiming at its reduction in the environment.
ENVIRONMENTAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
Summary: Introduction to Environmental Biotechnology. Characterization and Monitoring of Environmental Pollution. Fundamentals for soil quality analysis. Bioremediation. Phytoremediation. Biosorption and bioaccumulation. Study of Technologies for the Control and Recovery of Degraded Areas.
META-ANALYSIS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Summary: Discussion of problems in Environmental Sciences and contextualization of research themes. Application of meta-analysis for problem solving. Literature survey: bibliographical reference bases, gray literature, keywords. Coding of information: identification of variables of interest, opportunities for analysis, coding system and decision making. Effect size calculation: Effect size for continuous and categorical data, global effect size, fixed and random models. Data interpretation: sensitivity and diagnostic analysis, publication bias. Dissemination of results: visual and narrative explanation.
LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY APPLIED TO CONSERVATION
Summary: Threats to biodiversity at the landscape level (fragmentation, loss of habitat, extinction of species, invasive species). Introduction to landscape ecology covering the following aspects: theoretical concepts, structure, configuration and landscape dynamics. Patterns and consequences of these patterns for organisms. Sample design planning for studies involving landscape ecology. Conservation and species management. Selection of conservation areas. Restoration of landscapes. Landscape effects on ecosystem services. Introduction to GIS use, remote sensing, cartography. Acquisition and processing of spatial and biological environmental database. Manual and automatic classification. Calculation of metrics and landscape analysis. Spatial data analysis (spatial autocorrelation, aggregation analysis, hotspot and outliers). Spatial descriptive statistics.
SPECIAL TOPICS AND SEMINARS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES: INSTRUMENTATION IN PLANT ECOPHYSIOLOGY
Summary: Study of methodologies for measuring chlorophyll fluorescence and gas exchange in leaves; evaluation of plant water status and understanding of the interaction of environmental stimuli with the biological responses of plants.
SPECIAL TOPICS AND SEMINARS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES: SPECIES DISTRIBUTION MODELING
Summary: Study of methodologies for measuring chlorophyll fluorescence and gas exchange in leaves; evaluation of plant water status and understanding of the interaction of environmental stimuli with the biological responses of plants.
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Summary: The Environmental Issue and Education: concepts, history and perspectives. Fundamentals of Environmental Education as an area of theoretical, scientific-methodological and applied knowledge to environmental sciences. Principles and objectives of Environmental Education. Environmental Education as a Management Tool. Practices in Environmental Education.
SPECIAL TOPICS: MATHEMATICAL MODELING APPLIED TO ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS
Summary: Notions of elementary mathematics, functions, differential and integral calculus. Definition of mathematical modeling, steps to build mathematical models. Application examples.
FUNDAMENTS IN EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
Summary: Understand the differences between goals, hypotheses, predictions and how to develop these topics effectively. Explain the importance of experimental design and the value of the power of statistical testing in supporting empirical evidence in scientific research. Introduce some fundamentals of statistical methods, aiming to understand the conditions under which each of them are used and how to interpret them in the results. Critically evaluate experimental designs in different areas of science, identifying their limitations and how they could be improved. Critically evaluate the research project itself and what would be the suggestions to improve it.
SPECIAL TOPICS: TECHNOLOGIES IN RENEWABLE ENERGY – SOLAR ENERGY
Summary: Panorama of photovoltaic and thermal solar energy in Brazil and in the world. Solar radiation. Photovoltaic cells and modules. Photovoltaic systems.
Disciplines of other graduate programs for all students of UNIFAL-MG
INNOVATION, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND TECHNOLOGICAL INFORMATION
Faculty in Charge: Professor Márcia Paranho Veloso (Graduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences).
Summary: Definition and general concepts related to Innovation and Intellectual Property. Technological Information. The Patent Document. International Patent Classification. Search in Patent Databases.
BIOSTATISTICS
Faculty in Charge: Professors from the Institute of Exact Sciences (ICEX) who take turns throughout the year.
Summary: Introduction to the objectives and Importance of Statistics in Science. Descriptive statistics. Normal and Binomial Probabilities and Distribution. Statistical inference, construction and interpretation of Confidence Interval for Mean, Proportion; Sizing of samples; Hypothesis Test for Mean, Proportion, Variance and for Means difference. Introduction to Analysis of Variance. Correlation and Regression. Polynomial Regression Models. Model validation methods. Fisher’s exact test and chi-square. Estimation and Inference for Relative Risk and Odds Ratio.