Human resources, research and scientific production of Brazilian Graduate Programs in Nutrition, 2007-2009

Abstract

Objective
This study described the profile of graduate nutrition programs for the years 2007-2009 in Brazil.
Methods
Data was obtained from the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel) website. The following indicators were used to analyze 17 programs: number of newly enrolled students, total number of completed supervisions, median time to graduate, and total and average number of tenured supervisors per program. Research papers were analyzed according to the Qualis-Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior criteria available for the years 2007-2009. The 35 journals with the highest number of articles published by supervisors in the area were listed.
Results
During the period there were 618 masters and 241 doctoral students. A total of 596 dissertations and 178 theses had been completed. The number of tenured supervisors increased from 163 in 2007 to 224 in 2009, an increase of 37.4%. A total of 2,168 research articles were published, 10.9% in journals A1 and A2, 48.8% in B1 to B3, and 40.3% in B4 and B5. The British Journal of Nutrition (n=12, level A2), Food Chemistry (n=12, level A2), Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (n=11, level A2), Revista de Nutrição (n=100, level B4), Cadernos de Saúde Pública (n=63, level B3) and Ciência e Saúde Coletiva (n=63, level B3) had the largest number of articles published by supervisors in the programs analyzed for international and national journals, respectively.
Conclusion
The growth of nutrition programs was notable, especially regarding the number of graduates and tenured supervisors. There is room for improvement in publication profile.