Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

The Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) has 41 researchers ranked among the top-cited scientists in the world, according to the publishing company Elsevier. The database, developed jointly with Stanford University, provides standardized information on citations and other impact indexes. Two lists are available: one based on career-long data, and the other based on single recent year data (2023). There are 30 researchers from UFSC cited in the first list and 27 in the second list – 16 are present in the two lists.

The databases can be accessed here.

Scientists are classified into 22 scientific fields and 174 sub-fields according to the standard Science-Metrix classification. Career-long data are updated to end-of-2023 and single recent year data pertain to citations received during calendar year 2023. The current version is based on the 1 August 2024 snapshot from Scopus, updated to end of citation year 2023. The work uses Scopus data provided by Elsevier through ICSR Lab.

Check out the UFSC scientists ranked by Elsevier:

Career-long (in the order they appear in the ranking)

1. Bernhard Welz, Department of Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)
2. Nicolas Garcia
3. Diego Augusto Santos Silva, Department of Physical Education, School of Sports (CDS/UFSC)
4. Rui Daniel Schröder Prediger, Department of Pharmacology, School of Biological Sciences (CCB/UFSC)
5. Ruy Exel, Department of Mathematics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)
6. Ivo Barbi, Department of Electrical Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
7. Enedir Ghisi, Department of Civil Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
8. Jeffrey Beall
9. Danilo Wilhelm Filho, Department of Ecology and Zoology, School of Biological Sciences (CCB/UFSC)
10. Eduardo Carasek da Rocha, Department of Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)
11. Antonio Luiz Braga, Department of Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)
12. Newton C. A. da Costa, Department of Philosophy, School of Philosophy and Human Sciences (CFH/UFSC)
13. Christian Johann Losso Hermes, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
14. Dachamir Hotza, Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
15. Mauricio Laterça Martins, Department of Aquaculture, School of Agricultural Sciences (CCA/UFSC)
16. Rosendo Algusto Yunes, Department of Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)
17. Afonso Celso Dias Bainy, Department of Biochemistry, School of Biological Sciences (CCB/UFSC)
18. Alexandre Trofino Neto, Department of Automation and Systems, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
19. Marcelo Farina, Department of Biochemistry, School of Biological Sciences (CCB/UFSC)
20. Hazim Ali Al-Qureshi, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
21. Adilson Jose Curtius, Department of Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)
22. Carlos Brisola Marcondes, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, School of Biological Sciences (CCB/UFSC)
23. Jamil Assreuy Son, Department of Pharmacology, School of Biological Sciences (CCB/UFSC)
24. Cláudia Maria Oliveira Simões, Graduate Program in Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences (CCS/UFSC)
25. Denizar Martins, Department of Electrical Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
26. Débora de Oliveira, Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
27. Jader Barbosa Jr., Department of Mechanical Engineering (CTC/UFSC)
28. Maique Weber Biavatti, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Health Sciences (CCS/UFSC)
29. Moacir Geraldo Pizzolatti, Department of Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)
30. Maria Jose Hötzel, Department of Animal Science, School of Agricultural Sciences (CCA/UFSC)

2023 (in the order they appear in the ranking)

1. Diego Augusto Santos Silva, Department of Physical Education, School of Sports (CDS/UFSC)
2. Jeffrey Beall
3. Enedir Ghisi, Department of Civil Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
4. Paulo Augusto Cauchick Miguel, Department of Production and Systems Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
5. Dachamir Hotza, Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
6. Lucila Maria de Souza Campos, Department of Production and Systems Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
7. Rafael Cypriano Dutra, Department of Health Sciences, School of Sciences, Technologies and Health – Araranguá Campus (CTS/UFSC)
8. Christian Johann Losso Hermes, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
9. Graziela De Luca Canto, Department of Dentistry, School of Health Sciences (CCS/UFSC)
10. Rui Daniel Schröder Prediger, Department of Pharmacology, School of Biological Sciences (CCB/UFSC)
11. Marcelo Farina, Department of Biochemistry, School of Biological Sciences (CCB/UFSC)
12. Tiago Olivoto, Department of Plant Science, School of Agricultural Sciences (CCA/UFSC)
13. Selene Maria Arruda Guelli Ulson de Souza, Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Engineering (CTC/UFSC)
14. Ruy Exel, Department of Mathematics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)
15. Eduardo Carasek da Rocha, Department of Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)
16. Antonio Luiz Braga, Department of Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)
17. Débora de Oliveira, Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
18. Danilo Wilhelm Filho, School of Biological Sciences (CCB/UFSC)
19. Ione Jayce Ceola Schneider, Department of Health Sciences, School of Sciences, Technologies and Health – Araranguá Campus (CTS/UFSC)
20. Fabiane Barreto Vavassori Benitti, Department of Informatics and Statistics, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
21. Maria Jose Hötzel, Department of Animal Science, School of Agricultural Sciences (CCA/UFSC)
22. Ivo Barbi, Department of Electrical Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
23. Bruno Alexandre Pacheco de Castro Henriques, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
24. Mauricio Laterça Martins, Department of Aquaculture, School of Agricultural Sciences (CCA/UFSC)
25. Carlos Brisola Marcondes, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, School of Biological Sciences (CCB/UFSC)
26. Fabio Rau Akashi Hernandes, Department of Ecology and Zoology, School of Biological Sciences (CCB/UFSC)
27. Louis Pergaud Sandjo, Department of Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)

Translated by SINTER/UFSC.

Read the original article here. 

The 2024 Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) places the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) as the 10th best university or research institute in Brazil and the 5th best federal university in the country. The result places UFSC among the universities at the top of the list, in the 3.5% excellence range, out of a total of 20,966 institutions worldwide. The official publication was released on 13 May 2024, on the CWUR website.

See below UFSC’s ranking positions (universities only, excluding research institutes):

• Brazil – 9th best university and 5th best federal university.
• Latin America and the Caribbean – 14th best university.
• Global Ranking – 722nd best among the 20.966 institutions.

See the list of the 10 top Brazilian institutions:

1. Universidade de São Paulo – USP (global position: 105)
2. Universidade Estadual de Campinas – Unicamp (347)
3. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro – UFRJ (360)
4. Universidade Estadual Paulista – Unesp (421)
5. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul – UFRGS (474)
6. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais – UFMG (503)
7. Universidade Federal de São Paulo – Unifesp (607)
8. Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro – UERJ (620)
9. Fundação Oswaldo Cruz – Fiocruz (697)
10. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina – UFSC (728)

See full details on the CWUR  website. Despite certain distinct features, the set of indicators used by the CWUR is similar to those adopted by other world university rankings, such as teaching quality, student training, faculty reputation and research relevance.

About CWUR

The Center for World University Rankings (CWUR), started in Saudi Arabia, is an organization providing policy advice, strategic insights, and consulting services to governments and universities to improve educational and research outcomes. CWUR publishes academic  rankings of global universities.

Translated by SINTER/UFSC.

Read the original article here.

Drone view of the Amazon River and the Amazon rainforest, in Peru (Photo by André Dib)

An unprecedented and holistic approach to the Amazon forest resilience, developed by a team of scientists from the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) and other institutions, is featured in the Nature journal, one of the most relevant scientific journals in the world. The research carries out a comprehensive data review and draws up scenarios based on the mapping of five major drivers of water stress affecting the region: global warming, annual rainfall, rainfall seasonality intensity, dry season length and accumulated deforestation. In addition, it points out possible ways of changing the scenario to avoid collapse. The estimate is that in the next 25 years, 10% to 45% of the Amazon could reach a tipping point, with unexpected transitions in the landscape.

The research is conducted by scientist Bernardo Monteiro Flores, postdoctoral researcher in Ecology at UFSC, supervised by professor Marina Hirota, co-author of this study. Along with them, Catarina Jakovac, from the Department of Plant Science, and Carolina Levis, from the Graduate Program in Ecology, also signed the article, which includes renowned scientists such as one of the most cited Brazilian experts in climatology in the world, Carlos Nobre.

Study is on the cover of Nature

The detailed analysis, which was the subject of a report released in 2021 that brought updated data from new perspectives, presents evidence of the Amazon forest approaching the critical threshold – what scientists call the “tipping point”. Using satellite images, climate observation data, climate models and paleoecology, researchers were able to understand the forest main stress factors and how the interaction between them can further accelerate the destruction of an ecosystem.

“All the effects of stress are water related. For each of these five major drivers there are critical thresholds. And the interaction between the stress drivers can have a synergistic effect”, the researcher points out. “We used all available knowledge to understand the thresholds at which the forest could cease to exist”.

Boundary of deforastation is 10% of the original forest biome cover

The group of scientists suggests that the temperature must not fluctuate above 1.5 °C,

with annual rainfall up to 1,800 mm. The cumulative water deficit must not be above -350mm, as well as the dry season must not last more than 5 months. Lastly, the safe boundary of deforastation is 10% of the original forest biome cover, which requires restoring at least 5% of the biome.

Flores explains that rainfall is essential for the forest life. Every day, the forest trees pump a huge amount of water – up to 500 liters for a single tree – from the ground to the atmosphere, which increases the atmospheric moisture. Besides eliminating water, the trees also release volatile organic compounds that contribute to cloud formation. “The trees are natural rain factories”, he explains.

Drone view of an Area of Relevant Ecological Interest (Photo by André Dib)

In addition, winds in the Amazon region flow predominantly from east to west, carrying clouds and moisture, which increase rainfall along the way. This mechanism, called “positive feedback”, results in the forests’ ability to increase rainfall, which contributes to their resilience. This is considered “the main reason for which the Amazon remained covered by forest throughout 65 million years (Cenozoic era), despite climate change”.

The scenario now is starting to change, especially as a result of climate change and soil use. Warming temperatures, extreme droughts, deforestation and fires affect internal parts of the system. “The feedback mechanisms that increase forest resilience are losing strength and are being replaced by novel feedbacks that increase the risk of a critical transition”, they point out in the article.

“The most important mechanism which has been keeping the forest alive all this time is the recycling of rainfall. Therefore, the forest needs the rain that falls and which is recycled by the forest itself in order to exist”, explains the researcher. “The forest has never experienced what it is experiencing now in terms of climate, when the effects of drought and high temperatures are combined”.

Global risk

 The idea of a collapse in the Amazon forest is disturbing for a number of reasons, but one in particular has caught the world’s attention – the risk of disrupting the global climate system. “The Amazon stores huge amounts of carbon. Forest loss will result in carbon emissions that may accelerate global warming within 15 to 20 years”, the scientists indicate.

Recent observations of the forest’s carbon flux revealed that the southeastern Amazon has turned from a carbon sink into a carbon source, probably due to disturbances in soil use. “Moreover,  forest loss in the Amazon not only reduces the atmospheric moisture flow in the region but it can also affect precipitation conditions in other parts of the world, such as Asia or the Antarctica.”

Drone view of a recent illegal deforestation in the indigenous territory Uru-eu-wau-wau in Roraima, in 2019 (Photo by Andre Dib)

The study also addresses another aspect of preservation, discussing the role of biodiversity and indigenous peoples and local communities in shaping the Amazon forest resilience. “These elements of the system have contributed to increasing the ecosystem adaptability, providing different strategies to deal with climate change”, the researchers point out. “Today, the changes in soil use in the region are destroying the biodiversity and the ancient ecological knowledge of the Amazonian  peoples who have maintained healthy and resource-rich forests for thousands of years”, said Caroline Levis, who holds a doctoral degree from UFSC and is one of the authors of this study.

Professor Marina Hirota highlights that the Amazon is a complex system, which makes it extremely challenging to predict how the different types of forest will respond to global change. “If we want to avoid a systemic transition, we must follow a precautionary approach and take actions which will maintain the forests resilient for the next decades”, she stated.

The authors also indicate that in order to maintain the Amazon forest resilience, it is necessary to have a combination of local and global efforts. They also point out that, locally, Amazonian countries need to cooperate to end deforestation and degradation and to expand restoration, which will reinforce forest-rainfall feedback.

Intentionally-set forest fire (Photo by Andre Dib)

These actions, according to the researchers, can benefit from a strong governance within indigenous territories and protected areas. “All countries need to cooperate to stop greenhouse gas emissions, mitigating the impacts of climate change. Both fronts are crucial to maintain the forest system for future generations”.

According to Flores, the holistic approach of the research is relevant and unprecedented, since it deals with a complex system, also taking into consideration the human factor. “To be able to maintain the forest more resilient, we must monitor all the stress drivers and their interactions. We use the precautionary principle: since we cannot tell what is going to happen and the consequences are dreadful, the threshold idea is to keep us away from a disaster”.

From savannas to grasslands, with only a few species: what would be the end of the Amazon forest?

Among its findings, the study outlines the scenarios and landscapes which could occur after the Amazon collapse. Forest degraded areas already have their landscape altered as a result of the interaction between stress drivers. “These alternative trajectories may be irreversible or transient depending on the strength of the novel interactions”, point out the researchers in the article.

For instance, in the ‘degraded forest’, feedbacks often involve competition between trees and other opportunistic plants, as well as interactions between deforestation, fire and seed limitation. Secondary forests are more likely to be cleared than mature forests.

Degraded areas can take over the forest. Igapó forest in the middle of the Amazon, mid Rio Negro, after catching on fire twice (Photo by Bernardo Flores)

In another degradation scenario, the feedbacks involve interactions between low tree cover and fire, soil erosion and seed limitation. Therefore, the landscape would be invasive grasses and opportunistic plants. Far from agricultural areas and pastures, the savanna landscape can also be the outcome of interactions between stress elements from the forest, which can occur after repeated fires, for instance.

What may happen is that the Amazon will not necessarily cease to be a forest, but will have very different areas, with less diversity, dominated by one or few species that self-perpetuate, like forests dominated by lianas and bamboos”, Flores summarizes.

Biodiversity is threatened by forest collapse (Photo by Andre Dib)

“We discuss how the inherent complexity of the Amazon adds uncertainty about future dynamics, but also reveals opportunities for action. Keeping the Amazon forest resilient in the Anthropocene will depend on a combination of local efforts to end deforestation and degradation and to expand restoration, with global efforts to stop greenhouse gas emissions”, the experts say.

How to prevent the Amazon forest collapse, according to the study:

Global warming: to avoid large-scale ecosystem transitions, scientists indicate a safe-boundary for the Amazon forest at 1.5 °C for global warming above pre-industrial levels, in concert with the Paris Agreement goals.

Annual rainfall: experts suggest a safe boundary in annual rainfall conditions at 1,800 mm.

Rainfall seasonality intensity: satellite observations of tree cover distributions across tropical South America suggest a critical threshold in rainfall seasonality intensity at −400 mm of the maximum cumulative water deficit.  To avoid local-scale collapses due to compounding disturbances, it is suggested a safe boundary at −350 mm.

Dry season length: satellite observations of tree cover distributions across tropical South America suggest a critical threshold at 7 months of dry season length.  To avoid local-scale ecosystem transitions, scientists suggest a safe boundary at five months.

Accumulated deforestation: the scientists suggest a safe boundary of accumulated deforestation of 10% of the original forest biome cover, which requires ending large-scale deforestation and restoring at least 5% of the biome.

Translated by SINTER/UFSC.

Read the original article here.

The Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) is the eighth best university in Latin America and second among Brazilian federal universities, according to the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities for 2024. Among the Brazilian federal institutions, UFSC is only behind Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG).  The study is an initiative of Cybermetrics Lab, a research group belonging to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), in Spain.

See the full ranking for Latin America on the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities website.

In addition to UFSC, other Brazilian institutions – state and federal – are also among the top ten in the Latin America ranking: Universidade de São Paulo (USP) is ranked first; Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp) is ranked third; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) is in the fourth position; and Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (Unesp) is in the sixth position. Considering all Brazilian universities, UFSC is ranked fifth. In the global ranking, our university is in the 403^rd position.

See the full ranking for Brazil on the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities website.

The  Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, created in 2004, ranks around 31 thousand HEIs from more than 200 countries. It analyzes webometric and bibliometric indicators, considering factors related to visibility (web contents impact); excellence (top cited papers); and transparency or openness (top cited researchers).

Translated by SINTER/UFSC.

Read the original article here.

Photo by Henrique Almeida (Agecom/UFSC).

The Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) has 40 researchers ranked among the top-cited scientists in the world, according to the publishing company Elsevier. The database, developed jointly with Stanford University, provides standardized information on citations and other impact indexes. Two lists are available: one based on career-long data, and the other based on single recent year data (2022). There are 28 researchers from UFSC cited in the first list and 26 in the second list – 14 are present in the two lists.

The databases can be accessed here.

In both lists, UFSC is the eighth Brazilian institution in the number of researchers cited and the fourth among Brazilian federal universities.

Scientists are classified into 22 scientific fields and 174 sub-fields according to the standard Science-Metrix classification. Career-long data are updated to end-of-2022 and single recent year data pertain to citations received during calendar year 2022. The current version is based on the 1 October 2023 snapshot from Scopus, updated to end of citation year 2022. The work uses Scopus data provided by Elsevier through  ICSR Lab.

Check out the UFSC scientists ranked by Elsevier:

Career-long (in the order they appear in the ranking)

1. Bernhard Welz, Department of Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)
2. Peter Wolf, Graduate Program in Medical Sciences, School of Health Sciences (CCS/UFSC)
3. Nicolas Garcia
4. Ruy Exel, Department of Mathematics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)
5. Daniel Schröder Prediger, Department of Pharmacology, School of Biological Sciences (CCB/UFSC)
6. Ivo Barbi, Department of Electrical Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
7. Diego Augusto Santos Silva, Department of Physical Education, School of Sports (CDS/UFSC)
8. Enedir Ghisi, Department of Civil Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
9. Danilo Wilhelm Filho, Department of Ecology and Zoology, School of Biological Sciences (CCB/UFSC)
10. Eduardo Carasek da Rocha, Department of Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)
11. Antonio Luiz Braga, Department of Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)
12. Christian Johann Losso Hermes, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
13. Rosendo Algusto Yunes, Department of Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)
14. Alexandre Trofino Neto, Department of Automation and Systems, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
15. Afonso Celso Dias Bainy, Department of Biochemistry, School of Biological Sciences (CCB/UFSC)
16. Mauricio Laterça Martins, Department of Aquaculture, School of Agricultural Sciences (CCA/UFSC)
17. Dachamir Hotza, Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
18. Adilson Jose Curtius, Department of Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)
19. Jamil Assreuy Son, Department of Pharmacology, School of Biological Sciences (CCB/UFSC)
20. Hazim Ali Al-Qureshi, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
21. Carlos Brisola Marcondes, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, School of Biological Sciences (CCB/UFSC)
22. Cláudia Maria Oliveira Simões, Graduate Program in Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences (CCS/UFSC)
23. Denizar Martins, Department of Electrical Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
24. Débora de Oliveira, Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
25. Jader Barbosa Jr., Department of Mechanical Engineering (CTC/UFSC)
26. Moacir Geraldo Pizzolatti, Department of Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)
27. Maique Weber Biavatti, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Health Sciences (CCS/UFSC)
28. Maria Jose Hötzel, Department of Animal Science, School of Agricultural Sciences (CCA/UFSC)

2022 (in the order they appear in the ranking)

1. Diego Augusto Santos Silva, Department of Physical Education, School of Sports (CDS/UFSC)
2. Guilherme Luz Tortorella, Department of Production and Systems Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
3. Enedir Ghisi, Department of Civil Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
4. Dachamir Hotza, Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
5. Paulo Augusto Cauchick Miguel, Department of Production and Systems Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
6. Daniel Schröder Prediger, Department of Pharmacology, School of Biological Sciences (CCB/UFSC)
7. Lucila Maria de Souza Campos, Department of Production and Systems Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
8. Ruy Exel, Department of Mathematics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)
9. Marcelo Farina, Department of Biochemistry, School of Biological Sciences (CCB/UFSC)
10. Peter Wolf, Graduate Program in Medical Sciences, School of Health Sciences (CCS/UFSC)
11. Danilo Wilhelm Filho, School of Biological Sciences (CCB/UFSC)
12. Sergio Ricardo Floeter, Department of Ecology and Zoology, School of Biological Sciences (CCB/UFSC)
13. Christian Johann Losso Hermes, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
14. Selene Maria Arruda Guelli Ulson de Souza, Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Engineering (CTC/UFSC)
15. Antonio Luiz Braga, Department of Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)
16. Mauricio Laterça Martins, Department of Aquaculture, School of Agricultural Sciences (CCA/UFSC)
17. Graziela De Luca Canto, Department of Dentistry, School of Health Sciences (CCS/UFSC)
18. Fabiane Barreto Vavassori Benitti, Department of Informatics and Statistics, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
19. Maria Jose Hötzel, Department of Animal Science, School of Agricultural Sciences (CCA/UFSC)
20. Ângelo Paggi Matos
21. Débora de Oliveira, Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
22. Ivo Barbi, Department of Electrical Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
23. Ione Jayce Ceola Schneider, Department of Health Sciences, School of Sciences, Technologies and Health – Araranguá Campus (CTS/UFSC)
24. Eduardo Carasek da Rocha, Department of Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CFM/UFSC)
25. Marcia Barbosa Henriques Mantelli, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)
26. Roberto Francisco Coelho, Department of Electrical Engineering, School of Technology (CTC/UFSC)

Translated by SINTER/UFSC.

Read the original article here. 

The Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) is among the five best Brazilian higher education institutions according to the  Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2024, published on Wednesday, 27 September 2023. UFSC was ranked among the 801-1000 best in the world.

Universities are evaluated based on 13 performance indicators which are grouped into five pillars: Teaching, Research Environment, Research Quality, Industry and International Outlook. UFSC stood out in the Industry (64.2) pilar.

The Times Higher Education (THE) is a British magazine that publishes news and articles on higher education and prepares, annually, a set of rankings considered one of the most comprehensive, balanced, and reliable in the world. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024 includes more than 1.904 universities from 108 countries/regions.

 Access the full rankings results here.

Translated by SINTER/UFSC.

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The results of the QS World University Rankings: Latin America & The Caribbeam 2024 were published last Wednesday, 13 September, and ranked the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) among the 23 best universities in Latin America. UFSC occupies the 8^th position among the Brazilian universities and the 4^th among the federal education institutions in Brazil.

These rankings are produced annually by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a British company specialized in education. They analyzed 430 institutions in 25 Latin American and Caribbean countries and at the top of the list is the Universidade de São Paulo (USP). The overall score of each institution is calculated using eight metrics, each with a different weight: Academic Reputation (30%); Employer Reputation (20%); Faculty Student Ratio (10%); Faculty Staff with PhD (10%); International Research Network (10%); Citations per Paper (10%); Papers per Faculty (5%) and Web Impact (5%). The strongest metrics for UFSC in this edition were Faculty Staff with PhD (99.7 score), International Research Network (98.1 score) and Web Impact (97.4 score).

In terms of UFSC articles and external citations between 2017 and 2022, the major subject for UFSC was Life Sciences & Medicine.

Check out the full rankings results here.

Translated by SINTER/UFSC.

Read the original article here.

UFSC has been standing out in various international rankings. Photo by Amanda Miranda.

The Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina stood out once again in the global ranking Research.com, that recognizes researchers based on the number of articles and citations for each discipline – among a total of 26 disciplines. The institution had 26 scientists ranked in the disciplines of Veterinary, Chemistry, Ecology, Electrical Engineering, Engineering and Technology, Mathematics, Medicine, Microbiology, Neuroscience and Agronomy.

UFSC was also recognized as the eighth best institution in the national ranking. In the Chemistry discipline, ten scientists were cited among the most relevant in the world. In the Electrical Engineering discipline, professor Ivo Barbi figured as the second most cited in Brazil.

The total number of citations by leading academics at UFSC in 2022 was 159,046, with a mean value for citations per scholars of 6,117.15. This result places UFSC at the 387^th position in the global ranking. According to the Research.com platform, the purpose of the ranking is to offer leading researchers better exposure of their achievements. The rankings of scientists are based on transparent procedures based on well-established metrics collected from trusted sources of data, with more than 12,000 scientific journals grouped by disciplines.

Check out the list of scholars ranked by Research.com.

Animal Science and Veterinary

Maurício Laterça Martins
Maria José Hötzel

Chemistry

Bernhard Welz (in memoriam)
Rosendo A. Yunes
Antonio L. Braga
Adilson J. Curtius
J. Vladimir Oliveira
Moacir Geraldo Pizzolatti
Debora de Oliveira
Ademir Neves (in memoriam)
Eduardo Carasek
Adailton J. Bortoluzzi

Ecology

Sergio R. Floeter

Electronics and Electrical Engineering

Ivo Barbi
Julio E. Normey-Rico

Engineering and Technology

Roberto Lamberts
Enedir Ghisi

Mathematics

Ruy Exel

Medicine

João B. Calixto
Adair R.S. Santos (in memoriam)

Microbiology

Álvaro José Romanha  (in memoriam)

Neuroscience 

Reinaldo N. Takahashi
Roger Walz
Peter Wolf

Plant Science and Agronomy

Miguel Pedro Guerra
Marcelo Maraschin

Translated by SINTER/UFSC

Read the original article here.

UFSC Trindade Campus (Photo by Amanda Miranda)

The Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina is the fourth best federal university in Brazil, according to the Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), which ranks the best colleges and universities in the world. Each year, the list shows which institutions have achieved high scores in the global rankings.

In 2023, UFSC is ranked in the same range as the Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp) and Universidade de Brasília (UnB), behind only the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) and the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS),  ranked in the highest score range among the federal universities, and Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), ranked in second place.

Among the national universities in general, the state universities of São Paulo stood out in the overall ranking – Universidade de São Paulo (USP), in first place, and Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), in second place. UFSC was among the ten best universities in Brazil and among the 800 best in the world. In total, 24 Brazilian universities are listed in the ranking, all of them public universities. In the global ranking, the highest scores are from Harvard University and Stanford University, both from the United States.

The ARWU is a ranking published since 2003. Universities are ranked based on various academic or research performance indicators, including the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, number of highly cited researchers, number of articles published in journals of Nature and Science, number of articles indexed in the main citation indexes, and per capita performance of a university.

UFSC stood out in particular academic subjects such as Food Science & Technology, Medicine and Dental Sciences. It also obtained high scores in the Mechanical Engineering, Public Health and Ecology subjects.

Translated by SINTER/UFSC.

Read the original article here. 

Photo by Lethicia Siqueira / Agecom / UFSC.

Artistic dance performances of samba and kuduro excited the audience present at the UFSC international community welcome day for the semester 2023-2. In addition to the welcome speeches by UFSC authorities, students received information about the University and the services available, participated in a coffee break – with pão de queijo (cheese bread),  paçoquinha (peanut sweet) and guaraná (soft drink) – and also received specific guidelines for undergraduate exchange students, graduate students, and immigrant and refugee students admitted at UFSC through a special selection process.

The welcome event for the international students, held in the Rectorate Building Auditorium, was organized by the Office of International Relations (SINTER), with the support of the Prorectorate for Undergraduate Studies and Basic Education (PROGRAD) and the Prorectorate for Graduate Studies (PROPG).

Photo by Lethicia Siqueira / Agecom / UFSC.

UFSC’s international student community is currently made up of more than a thousand people, of which about 30% are graduate students. At the undergraduate level, there are 75 students in the PEC-G Program – UFSC is the second Brazilian university that admits the most PEC-G students.

The Secretary for International Relations, Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho, was the host. In addition to him, the Rector Irineu Manoel de Souza, the Prorector for Undergraduate Studies and Basic Education, Dilceane Carraro, and the Internationalization Coordinator of PROPG, Amália Borges Dário, joined the stage. Prorectors, secretaries, school deans, members of the Rector’s Office, students, course coordinators and UFSC staff members were present in the audience.

After the presentation of UFSC institutional video, with English subtitles, the floor was opened to the participants at the table. Amália Dário invited those present to build together a respectful and enriching environment.

Professor Dilceane Carraro said that the event was the first welcome activity of the semester and that several other actions would be carried out over the next few days. She mentioned a panel discussion on harassment in the academic environment and the semester’s inaugural lecture, which will focus on mental health in higher education. The complete schedule of welcome activities for students can be accessed on the website calouros.ufsc.br.

Rector Irineu Manoel de Souza greeted everyone present and welcomed the students. According to the rector, each year there is a growth of the international student community at the University, and he credited this achievement to the work developed by SINTER. “You are entering one of the best universities in the country,” he said, citing UFSC’s positions in national and international rankings. He invited students to take advantage of the full potential of the University, which in addition to academic and professional qualification provides training for citizenship. He said that entering a university is a happy moment in people’s lives and urged students to get involved in research, outreach projects and also in student associations.

Photo by Lethicia Siqueira / Agecom / UFSC.

Professor Pinheiro Machado delivered a presentation with information about UFSC and  about the internationalization process of the University. He mentioned that UFSC maintains more than 390 cooperation agreements with universities on five continents and offers various support services to international students, such as a free self-instructional Brazilian Portuguese course, offered by the Institutional Center for Languages and Translation (NILT).

The event closed with artistic presentations. Dancers André and Sofia, from Desterro Escola de Arte, performed a samba dance, while Max and Bonifácio, from the Mangolé dance group, from the Association of Angolans in Florianópolis, presented a kuduro dance. Both were greatly appreciated by the audience.

In the afternoon, the international students were able to participate in dance workshops of samba, sertanejo, kuduro, in an integration activity to get to know the University, called “Sintegra around UFSC”, or in a visit to the São José da Ponta Grossa Fortress in the Santa Catarina Island.

Translated by SINTER/UFSC.

Read the original article here.