Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

UFSC Oceanography program aims to qualify oceanographers for the identification and solution of problems to broadly meet the demands of the Brazilian society through a critical, creative and entrepreneurial spirit.

Studies cover several areas of ocean sciences in a comprehensive and integrated manner, seeking to prepare professionals with not only a solid conceptual background, but with thorough understanding of the methodological tools needed to analyze the interactions between physical and biological processes in the marine environment. The program aims to encourage students to pose questions and seek solutions for the understanding of the functioning of the oceans as a whole and of the coastal zone in particular. It is expected that graduates will be conscious, critical, as well as economically, socially and environmentally responsible in their work.

In accordance with the National Curriculum Guidelines for undergraduate degrees in Oceanography, the specific objectives of the program are to enable students to:

1. develop research projects for the understanding of components and processes acting in the marine environment, aimed at its sustainable use;
2. engage in activities related to the study and management of transition systems: coastal zone, mixohaline systems and watersheds;
3. work in leadership positions in different sectors and spheres of oceanography;
4. coordinate inter- and transdisciplinary activities concerning the marine environment;
5. develop mechanisms and strategies for the teaching of oceanography and environmental education;
6. perform their professional activities with ethics and responsibility.

UFSC Oceanography graduates should have scientific and technical qualification to understand and predict the behavior of the oceans and coastal environments and to be able to work in a transdisciplinary manner to ensure the rational use and exploitation of renewable and nonrenewable marine resources.

Learn more about the Oceanography program by watching this video (in Portuguese):

UFSC Nutrition program aims to prepare professionals who are committed to the improvement of people’s quality of life. The nutritionist applies knowledge of dietetics and considers nutrition as a fundamental factor influencing human growth and development throughout all life stages, from gestation to childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and late adulthood.

Students are trained to perform the following tasks: assessment and monitoring of the nutritional status of the population (preschoolers, children, adolescents, athletes, among others); evaluation of the quality of school meals; surveillance of the nutritional status of the population in schools and health units; elaboration of quality projects for the production of collective and commercial meals; disease prevention, recovery and health promotion of the population, through nutritional counseling and diet therapy; development of experimental research on food; and development of education actions on health and nutrition for individuals and communities.

Since the early stages, courses provide contact opportunities with the professional activities. From the third year on, theoretical-practical courses are offered in the fields of basic nutrition, clinical nutrition, experimental nutrition, public health, food service management and sports nutrition.

The University Hospital (HU) as well as other public and private partner institutions are learning settings for practical courses, short internships, and curricular and extracurricular internships. Students can develop activities at several well-equipped laboratories (Experimental Nutrition, Nutritional Biochemistry I and II, Dietetics, Anthropometry and Ergonomics, Means for Collective Feeding, Means for Nutritional Education) and at the HU’s outpatient nutrition clinics.

UFSC Nutrition program is the only one in Brazil that has a metabolic unit, located at the University Hospital, which enables studies on the absorption of food by the human body, and the only one to have a Junior Enterprise in Nutrition. Students can apply for scholarships in the Tutorial Education Program (PET), offered by the Ministry of Education, and for research, outreach or student tutoring scholarships, besides working as volunteers in projects of the Department of Nutrition. Graduates can follow a career in the fields of clinical nutrition, public health, experimental nutrition, food service management, and sports nutrition.

Nutritionists work across a variety of settings, including hospitals, clinics, spas, health units, child care centers, collective and commercial food service establishments, industries, sports centers, clubs, gyms, companies, and public institutions involved in food programs. They are also active in marketing and consulting, customer service, research on new food products, diet and low-calorie options, quality assurance in meal production, and programs promoting healthy eating habits in diverse populations, working in collaboration with multidisciplinary teams.

Profile of the graduate:

A Nutrition graduate should be a socially responsible professional with a well-rounded education. They should be autonomous in their pursuit of knowledge, sensitive and critical towards social, economic, political, and cultural realities, and have a holistic understanding of humanity and the world. Equipped to act as agents of transformation, they should work with commitment, ethics, sustainability, and interdisciplinarity across all areas where food and nutrition are pivotal to the promotion, maintenance, and restoration of health for individuals and communities.

UFSC Nursing Program prepares professionals who are committed to the needs of the population and concerned with public health policies. Nurses can work in the public or private health network, finding positions in hospitals,  outpatient  clinics, health clinics, homes and industries.

In the first year, students take core courses, and from the second year on, they enroll in specific and practical courses. The University Hospital (HU) is the program’s main laboratory, hosting the  majority  of  classes. Before degree completion,  students  are required to rotate through all departments of the  hospital,  gaining  comprehensive  hands-on experience in various healthcare settings. To develop awareness of the role of the nurse practitioner within society, students also take courses in Health and Society, Nursing in the Social Context and Psychology.

Another way to experience the practice of their future career is serving in heath centers’ outpatient clinics. Students can also participate in research and outreach groups. In the University Hospital, there are groups focused on diabetes, cancer, hypertension and pregnancy, among others.

The program also encourages extracurricular internships in research and outreach. Students can take internships at any place as long as there is a professional to supervise their work, such as in companies, clinics and nursing homes.

 The Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering program provides students with a systemic view of engineering, developed through a diversified curriculum, that prepares them for a career in planning, construction, maintenance and disposal of naval systems – including conventional and special vessels, as well as port and oceanic structures.

Graduates can also work in interdisciplinary engineering fields, such as mechanical, electrical, production, metallurgical, materials, transportation and logistics, infrastructure engineering, among others.

Naval  Architecture  and  Marine Engineering  is  emerging  as  a prominent  field  in  Brazil,  responding to  present  and  future  demands  in various  sectors.  This  includes shipbuilding for gas, oil, container, and cargo  shipping,  as  well  as  the construction  of  touring,  security,  and platform  support  vessels.  The  field extends  its  impact  to  coastal  and inland  navigation,  port  operations, and ocean exploitation, particularly in light  of  the  significant  deep-sea  oil (pre-salt)  exploration  activities  taking place in Brazil.

The job market for naval architects and marine engineers can be divided into four main sectors, each with its own subfields: offshore, focusing on oil platforms; structural, involving ship design and construction; logistics, centered on port management and operations; and academic, dedicated to research and development.

Learn more about the Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering program by watching this video (in Portuguese):

Considering the significant number of museums throughout the state of Santa Catarina and the shortage of professionals in the field, the UFSC Museum Studies program was established to prepare professionals capable of guiding education, conservation, and cultural policies related to heritage assets.

The museum professional is particularly concerned with cultural heritage and engages in the collection, conservation, preservation and exhibition of cultural assets in museums. In order to prepare graduates for this role, the Museum Studies program provides a comprehensive training on museology, emphasizing its interdisciplinary nature and fostering dialogue with the fields of history and anthropology, understood in their broad sense.

The program aims to contribute to: the growth of museum theory; the interweaving of related scientific and academic areas; the enhancement of national, regional, state and municipal museum policies; the development of initiatives in cultural and educational agencies, such as museums, historical memory centers, art galleries, government agencies concerned with cultural heritage, higher education institutions, research institutes, among others; and the advancement of methodologies and techniques for museum conservation, documentation and diffusion.

In addition to preparing graduates to excel in their professional roles, the program also offers a strong theoretical foundation and opportunities for advanced research in the field.

Meteorology is an applied physical science that studies the processes governing the behavior of the atmosphere and its interactions with the Earth’s surface, especially with the ocean. Its objective is to understand and predict atmospheric phenomena by using traditional physical equations as well as mathematical and computational tools.

Recently, several extreme weather and climatic events have affected the country and the state of Santa Catarina. Meteorologists have a central role in understanding and forecasting these events, which include floods, tornadoes, snow and hail precipitation, cyclones and hurricanes.

In the early stages, UFSC Meteorology students take general courses that give the basis for the understanding of complex atmospheric processes: Physics, Calculus and Computer Science. In the later stages, students acquire knowledge on thermodynamics (applied to the study of precipitation and cloud formation and development); physics of radiation (applied to the understanding of the atmosphere thermal structure and the establishment of methods for the observation and measurement of atmospheric phenomena); and the principles of fluid dynamics (applied to the understanding of the behavior of weather systems that shape weather and climate patterns across all scales). All these processes are diagnosed through an extensive use of computational techniques.

Meteorologists are needed across various sectors that rely on weather and climate information, such as civil defense, agriculture, civil and military aviation, navigation, energy and water resources management, environmental impact studies and pollution control, market and economic planning, the insurance industry, and support for the organization of sports, tourism, and entertainment events.

Learn more about the Meteorology program by watching this video (in Portuguese):

Aligned with the National Curriculum Guidelines, the UFSC Medicine program has developed a collaboratively designed educational project that centers on student-focused learning. In this approach, professors act as facilitators and mediators in the teaching and learning process. The program aims to deliver a comprehensive and well-rounded education by integrating teaching, research, outreach, and care.

Through integrated activities, student are capable of building a global theoretical-practical framework that is more significant and closer to the challenges they will face in the dynamic reality of the profession.

The integrated curriculum covers the first four years of studies, with an early introduction of the student into the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) and the surgical clinical practice. The next two years are dedicated to the medical internship, which includes practical activities and in-service training in the fields of internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, gynecology and obstetrics, and family health/collective health.

The learning settings include the University Hospital, the primary health care network of the Florianópolis Municipal Health Department, four state hospitals (Joana de Gusmão Infant Hospital, Carmela Dutra Maternity, Celso Ramos Hospital and Nereu Ramos Hospital), and laboratories within primary health departments and clinics.

The program’s modules encompass cognitive, attitudinal, and procedural knowledge, laying the foundation for a medical education centered on the health needs of the population and the Unified Health System, with a focus on comprehensive health care. The curriculum also includes complementary activities, allowing students to delve into specific areas of interest based on their preferences and aptitudes.

The Mechatronics Engineering program provides students with a systemic view of engineering, developed through a scaled and diversified curriculum and aimed at the design of embedded and control systems.

More specifically, mechatronics engineers will be able to design and develop embedded systems based on microcontrollers, including the assembly and maintenance of hardware structures and the development of the dedicated software.

Mechatronics Engineering graduates are highly sought after in the job market due to their multidisciplinary expertise. With a strong emphasis on embedded systems and comprehensive scientific and technological training in mechanical, electromechanical, and electronic processes, graduates are well-equipped to apply their knowledge to the development of systems for vehicles, as well as domestic, electronic, and medical equipment. They are also prepared to work in interdisciplinary engineering fields, including mechanical, electrical, production, metallurgical, materials, transportation, logistics, and infrastructure engineering.

Learn more about the Mechatronics program by watching this video (in Portuguese):

The UFSC Product Design program is structured to integrate various areas of knowledge, deepen expertise in product design, and synthesize acquired knowledge to address project challenges, fostering closer ties between students and the industry.

To complete the degree, students must fulfill 3,456 required class hours, which include mandatory courses, a curricular internship, a final project, and elective courses or complementary activities.

Product Design graduates will have a well-rounded education that equips them to understand and address the needs of individuals and society with ethical, critical, reflective, and humanistic perspectives. They will be skilled in the conception, development, and management of projects, balancing aesthetic considerations with technological, formal, and functional aspects. They will also be capable of engaging in creative problem-solving while considering the political, economic, social, environmental, historical, and cultural components of the market.

Additionally, the program is designed to help students develop the cognitive and motor skills necessary for excellence in product design.