Pós-graduação na Amazônia Legal: uma análise sobre a estrutura dos PPGs no interior

Abstract

This research, which originated from the Scientific Initiation Project (PIBIC 2024/2025), code PIB-SA/0094/2024, analyzes the structure of graduate programs in the interior of the Legal Amazon, a region where advanced academic offerings have historically been concentrated in state capitals, leaving municipalities in the interior at a structural disadvantage. Given this scenario, the overall objective of this study is to analyze the structure of graduate programs in the interior of the Legal Amazon. This study is exploratory and descriptive in nature, employing a qualitative and quantitative approach, and uses data collected from official platforms such as the Sucupira Platform, the National Research Infrastructure Platform, and the CNPq Directory of Research Groups, with data referring to the base year of 2024. The results show that the vast majority of graduate programs in the Legal Amazon remain concentrated in the state capitals, while programs in the interior are unevenly distributed across the region, with Pará, Mato Grosso, and Tocantins leading the process of expansion into the interior and states such as Amapá and Roraima having no programs outside their capitals. Laboratory infrastructure and faculty are concentrated in a few municipal hubs home to well-established federal universities. It is concluded that the expansion of graduate education into the Amazon’s interior is a real process, though still in its early stages and deeply asymmetrical, the success of which depends on regionalized policies, infrastructure development, and the retention of researchers in inland municipalities. This study contributes to the debate on scientific disparities in the Legal Amazon, providing insights for public policies aimed at strengthening graduate education in territories historically neglected by the national scientific system.