PPGI-UNIRIO is comprised of the Master’s Degree in Computer Science and the Doctorate degree in Computer Science, both academic and in the area of Information Systems. The Master’s Degree course started in 2006, while the Doctorate degree course in 2014.
From the point of view of graduate education, according to the 2018 Census of Higher Education in Computing carried out within the scope of the Brazilian Computer Society (made available on 07-10-2020), in Brazil there are 562 undergraduate courses in Information Systems, which corresponds to 22.96% of computer courses in the country (Computer Science – 15.48%; Computer Engineering – 3.47%; Software Engineering – 1.59%; Technology Courses – 52.37%; Teaching Degree in Computing, 3.47%; and Others – 0.65%). Considering this scenario and projecting the evolution of this number in the coming years, PPGI-UNIRIO’S graduate education helps to fill a gap in the education of professors and researchers to work in these courses.
It is realized, in the country, a poorly defined market for the education of researchers-professors in the area of Information Systems, which contrasts with the demand for the existing education in the area. The evolution of PPGI-UNIRIO is also in line with the 2011-2020 National Graduate Plan, in which there is a concern with: the strengthening of education in the areas of Engineering and Exact Sciences, the service to the portion of the population that comes to the graduation and the rise of programs to higher levels of excellence. In addition, there is a strong discussion regarding the education of doctors to work in the industry, for innovation and entrepreneurship, in addition to academic education, traditionally aimed at working in universities and research institutes. Finally, PPGI-UNIRIO’S performance is also aligned with the Priority Technologies areas defined by MCTIC through Ordinances no. 1,122, dated 03/19/2020 and no. 1,329, dated 03/27/2020, more specifically: Enabling Technologies (in the sectors: Artificial Intelligence ; and Internet of Things), Production Technologies (in the following sectors: Industry; Communications; Infrastructure; and Services), Technologies for Sustainable Development (in the following sectors: Smart Cities; and Monitoring, prevention and recovery from natural and environmental disasters) and Technologies for Quality of Life (in the Assistive Technologies sector).
Thus, the Master’s and Doctorate’s Degree courses at PPGI-UNIRIO have characteristics that contribute to the actions planned as national strategies for graduation, especially with regard to strengthening graduation in the area of Exact Sciences, attention to quality graduate education with a primary focus on the education of doctors, attention to education for teaching and research in Information Systems, and attention to the strong and growing demand for researchers in the industry.
PPGI-UNIRIO has the Master’s and Doctorate degree Courses in Computer Science at UNIRIO their purposes are:
- i) Deepen the scientific and technical-professional knowledge of students in the area of Information Systems;
- ii) Train professionals with scientific, technical and organizational knowledge for the modeling, development, selection, deployment and management of Information Systems;
- iii) Enable students to develop skills for research and teaching in higher education in the area of Information Systems;
- iv) Contribute to the constant improvement of the academic community (national and international) in Information Systems, stimulating the articulation between teaching, research, innovation and extension; and
- v) Develop cutting-edge research in the area of Information Systems that can contribute to the development of the region in which UNIRIO operates.
The PPGI-UNIRIO Doctorate degree Course provides continuity in the education of professionals in the IS area, with the following purposes:
- i) Deepen the scientific and technical-professional knowledge of students in the area of Information Systems;
- ii) Train professionals in the state of the art of scientific, technical and organizational knowledge for the conception, development and deployment of Information Systems;
- iii) Develop in students skills for research and teaching in higher education in the area of Information Systems;
- iv) Develop in students skills for research and innovation in the area of Information Systems;
- v) Contribute to the constant improvement of the academic community (national and international) in Information Systems, stimulating the articulation between teaching, research, innovation and extension;
- vi) Develop cutting-edge research in the area of Information Systems that can contribute to the social and economic development of the country; and
- vii) Expand Brazil’s international insertion in the Information Systems area, through cooperation projects with institutions and companies abroad.
Student Profile
The constant evolution of Information Systems, applying techniques from different areas of Computer Science and knowledge from different application domains, requires professionals capable of monitoring such evolution and promoting the dissemination of knowledge. The complexity of Information Systems and their integration in organizations creates the demand for professionals able to deal with these systems, both observing and influencing the context in which they are applied, and analyzing the specificities of their components, in relation to their modeling, architecture of construction and execution.
The professional graduated by the Master’s and Doctorate degree courses in Computer Science at PPGI-UNIRIO will be able to analyze the several technologies available for information processing under multiple aspects, in order to select, apply, integrate, develop, improve and manage the most recent and appropriate technologies for sectors of society that require information processing mechanisms. Professionals will also be able to discuss the deficiencies of current technologies, being able to promote the development of new technologies, either through innovation, by combining existing technologies or by analogy with other areas of knowledge. Thus, PPGI-UNIRIO contributes to the insertion of qualified professionals in the labor market in the country and abroad.
Curricular structure
Master’s and Doctorate degree courses of Computer Science at UNIRIO are organized in lines of research, subjects and activities aimed at developing and deepening the education acquired by the student in view of the proposed objectives, as well as consolidating and evolving the research history of its faculty.
The set of subjects aims to submit students with content relevant to: (i) Computer Science and Information Systems; (ii) research problems and state-of-the-art in the thematic areas of the course’s research line; (iii) development of research on rigorous methodological bases; (iv) instrumentalization to teaching; and (iv) instrumentalization of the systematics and processes related to innovation.
The organization of the courses follows the view that research in Information Systems encompasses the identification of problems and the proposition of solutions related to:
- (i) Modeling – conception and representation of both the systems and the information and knowledge they manipulate;
- (ii) Development – application and management of the complexity of using technologies to build these systems; and
- (iii) Management – effective use of systems in business, organizational and social contexts.
Following this view, the courses are structured in three lines of research: Knowledge and Reasoning Representation, Distribution and Networks, and Business Support Systems, which intend to address topics, methodologies, techniques and technologies related to, at least, one of the mentioned aspects: Modeling, Development and Management of Information Systems.
The line of research Knowledge and Reasoning Representationfocuses on the Modeling aspect, in which alternatives for modeling and representing the knowledge of human and computational agents that interact in an Information System are studied. This line of research assumes the current trend of Information Systems when manipulating not only information but also knowledge. The data management component, inherent to Information Systems, and the recent advances in research and practice with regard to the transformation of data into information (including, for example, the Data Science subarea) and from this into knowledge (including subareas such as Heuristics and Applied Artificial Intelligence), indicate that the process of transforming data into knowledge constitutes a wide field of research.
The objects in the domains to which Information Systems are applied often need to be represented by complex data structures and cannot be analyzed separately. In this sense, this line of research investigates not only the alternatives for modeling and representing objects in the domain in which Information Systems are applied, but also the relationships between such objects (including Systemic View) and the methods for automatic reasoning based on this representation (including, for example, Web Science).
The Distribution and Networks line of research follows the Information Systems trend of adapting their structure and development to distributed architectures and organizational environments. The research carried out in this line studies the different contexts of application and use of technologies associated with the organization, construction, use and performance evaluation of distributed systems (including, for example, issues related to Smart Cities and Digital Security. The focus of this line is on Development aspect, focusing on issues related to the development and management of data in Information Systems (including, for example, Mobile Data and Ubiquity) and in data communication networks (including Modeling, Simulations and Protocols).
The needs for management, integration and globalized access to intra and inter-organizational information and the advent and consolidation of the Web as an infrastructure for the execution of Information Systems make the issue of distribution a broad space for research. In addition, the line aims to study new models of specification, programming and optimization of distributed applications aiming at advanced information systems that are robust, scalable and efficient in a network environment and the study and development of new tools for monitoring and assessment of the infrastructure used.
Business Support Systems is the third line of research of the course and focuses on the Management aspect, concerned with the impact that Information Systems represent in the several domains of current business (such as Education and Digital Government) and how its use can be continuously improved in organizations (involving, for example, Business Processes). The line of research studies the different contexts of application and use of Information Systems (involving topics asInteraction, Games, Collaborative Systems, Accessibility, Systemic View and Complex Systems), as well as the management of their development and deployment processes (including, Software Measurement and Analysis, Software Processes and Software Quality).
Considering that each of these aspects assumes a wide range of research, the courses adopt a less generalist view and focus on specific topics related to these aspects and that follow the trends and needs to solve the problems currently researched regarding Information Systems.
Thus, the courses are structured in:
- Compulsory subjects: they have fundamental contents of Computer Science and Information Systems, in addition to adapting to the profile of the student who wants to graduate. This profile includes a focus on Information Systems;
- Basic Core Subjects: with fundamental contents of Computer Science and Information Systems, and make up the set of fundamental knowledge for the specific subjects of each line of research;
- Optional Subjects of Line of Research: contain state-of-the-art content on research topics in Information Systems;
- Specific subjects for education in academic research and teaching; and
- Specific subjects for education for innovation, especially for the Doctorate degree course.
With this set of subjects, it is understood that students will be duly submitted to basic and conceptual contents relevant to Information Systems; contents relative to problems of research and state-of-the-art in the thematic areas of the course’s research line; to content related to development of research on rigorous methodological bases; to instrumentalization to teaching; and instrumentalization of the systematics and processes related to innovation.
Specific mechanisms for monitoring the research – Directed Studies, Research for Doctoral Dissertation and Master’s Thesis (with presentation of semiannual seminars) and Qualification to the Doctorate – aim to guarantee the satisfactory development of research over time.
Three aspects in the organization of the Doctorate degree course deserve to be highlighted, in view of the education expected for the student. Firstly, the deepening of the content related to scientific methodology, with the offer of two subjects: Scientific Methodology I, which presents the general concepts of scientific methodology, and Scientific Methodology II, in which specific methodologies and techniques are detailed, notably focused on the characteristics of the IS research. Secondly, the establishment of specific content on teaching practices for the domain of Information Systems through the subject Teaching in Information Systems (which aims to provide training in teaching, exploring concepts in the area of Education, as well as promoting the discussion on Computational Thinking and Computer/Information Systems Education). The third relevant aspect in the organization of the course is the introduction of the subject of Studies Directed to Innovation, the purpose of which is to present to the student not only the concepts related to the topic, but to serve as a laboratory for the exercise of innovation processes. The intention is to execute, within the scope of the subject, processes for the identification of innovation projects and/or patents based on ongoing research, as well as the design of projects and research exploration plans, whether in their original companies or companies with which the Program has articulations.
