Scientific Initiation at Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo: graduates and evolution

Abstract

Introduction: The scientific initiation aims to incentive the scientific career of undergraduate students, preparing them for graduate school and for a better professional performance. Objectives: Analyze the academic performance (admission to graduate school or not) of students who did scientific initiation in relation to students who did not participate in any edition of scientific initiation. Methods: It is a survey based on the total number of students graduating from undergraduate studies, who participated in scientific initiation in the 2012/13 edition and of a convenience sample of students matriculated in 2013/1, who did not undertake scientific initiation at UFES. Students were separated into groups and checked for it entry to postgraduate courses. Results: The students who participated in scientific initiation were separated into scholarship and volunteers. Results: Students who participated in scientific initiation stand out in terms of entering graduate courses when compared to students who did not pursue scientific initiation. In the cohort of those who participated scientific initiation, the fellows presented the best percentage of entry into master’s and doctoral degrees (47.2% and 22.7%, respectively). There has also been an increase in the number of approved subprojects in recent years. Growth occurs in practically all Knowledge Areas. The area with the largest number of subprojects in this moment is the Health Sciences. Conclusion: The data reinforce that having a scientific initiation scholarship increases the chance of entering master’s and doctoral programs, and that the growth of scientific initiation significantly impacts in the growth of graduate studies.