The Federal University of Rio Grande – FURG is a university focused on coastal and oceanic ecosystems, and expresses its socio-environmental commitment and its alignment with local, regional, national, and global development, involving all areas of knowledge. The definition of the University's philosophy as focused on the coastal ecosystem has the virtue of understanding it as immediately committed to the community, thus exercising its relevant social function developed in the most diverse activities promoted by the Institution, whether its undergraduate courses, lato and stricto sensu graduate courses, or even research and extension activities.

FURG's strategic planning, instituted through the Institutional Pedagogical Project - PPI 2011-2023 and the PPI 2024-2033, establishes its philosophy; mission; vision; guidelines; guiding principles for teaching, research and extension; staff profile; student profile; assessment and planning; and strategic objectives, guiding the University's actions for periods of more than a decade. This long-term vision presupposes a periodic assessment every four or five years, summarized in the Institutional Development Plan – PDI, which expresses the guiding axes, objectives, strategies, and programs through which the different areas of activity of FURG seek to fulfill the mission, vision, and strategic objectives set out in the PPI.

The strategic planning of the postgraduate programs is linked to the Institutional Development Plan (PDI), which for the period 2019-2023 defined the following as its Mission: “to promote the advancement of knowledge and comprehensive education with excellence, training professionals capable of contributing to human development and improving socio-environmental quality” and as its Vision: “to consolidate its national and international image as a reference in education, technological development and the study of coastal and oceanic ecosystems”. The 2019-2023 PDI was built based on the process of institutional self-assessment collaboratively between staff, students, outsourced workers, and the external community, presenting a set of indicators in order to better direct and evaluate the University's actions in the current local, regional, national, and global scenario. In its Axis II - Postgraduate Education, the PDI defines three objectives: “1. Seek excellence in stricto sensu postgraduate courses; 2. Expand the offer of stricto sensu postgraduate courses; 3. Expand and qualify lato sensu postgraduate courses”. Thus, the university has among its goals the expansion of high-quality postgraduate courses, focusing mainly on stricto sensu courses.

Both the institutional Mission and Vision were evaluated and maintained under the same terms in the PDI 2024-2028, in order to guarantee the horizon of excellence desired for the development of the University as a whole. The objectives were broken down into numerous strategies that support and regulate the preparation of the annual action plans of the Pro-Rectory of Research and Graduate Studies (PROPESP) and the Academic Units responsible for managing the courses.

In this context, the Strategic Planning of the Programs is also aligned with PROPESP's Strategic Planning, established by its Normative Instruction No. 01/2020, which has among its objectives to systematize the Pro-Rector's Office's planning in the short, medium and long term, as well as to subsidize and equip the program coordinators to prepare and qualify their strategic plans.

In line with FURG's PDI and the ninth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of the United Nations (UN) - building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and fostering innovation - PPGComp listed targets and indicators annually, for the period from 2021 to 2024. These targets and indicators were prepared by the coordination and the scientific committee. The main targets and results achieved each year are listed below.

2021

Goals:
- To promote technological innovation through postgraduate studies;
- To monitor changes in the Brazilian postgraduate evaluation system;
- To encourage increased productivity of new faculty members in the program;
- To strengthen scientific production at FURG;
- To qualify PPGComp for the creation of a doctoral course in Computer Engineering;
- To write and submit the doctoral course proposal (APCN);
- To promote actions to publicize the program within the computing community, increasing its visibility and demand.

Results:
- One professor was sent abroad for postdoctoral studies (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg / Germany);
- An addendum to the iTec/FURG and EMBRAPII contract was signed, updating the maximum total value of the project portfolio to R$10,300,000.00 (ten million and three hundred thousand reais);
- Approval of the Institutional Collaboration Plan - PIC between the EMBRAPII iTec/FURG unit and the FURG Computational Science Center, which approves in advance PPGComp professors to work on iTec's RDI projects, establishing a weekly hour limit, without the need to consult the Academic Unit Council;
- Within the scope of iTec, PPGComp professors prepared 27 technical proposals for research, development and innovation projects, all of which included the participation of students from the program;
- Organization of the Brazilian Symposium on Intelligent Automation - SBAI 2021, the largest national event in the area of ​​Automation.
- Participation in the meeting of the forum of coordinators of Postgraduate Studies in Computing at CSBC;
- Decision to update the program's research lines: (1) Fundamentals and Applications of Artificial and Computational Intelligence; (2) Robotics, Intelligent Automation and Computing Systems.

2022

Goals:
- To promote technological innovation through postgraduate studies;
- To monitor changes in the Brazilian postgraduate evaluation system;
- To encourage increased productivity of new faculty members in the program;
- To write and submit the doctoral course proposal (APCN);
- To promote actions to publicize the program within the computing community, increasing its visibility and demand.

Results:
- Removal of a professor for postdoctoral studies abroad (Universidad Pública de Navarra - UPNA, Spain);
- Signing of an addendum to the iTec/FURG and EMBRAPII contract, updating the maximum total value of the project portfolio to up to R$20,000,000.00 (twenty million reais);
- Amendment of the Institutional Collaboration Plan - PIC between the EMBRAPII iTec/FURG unit and the FURG Center for Computational Science, inserting new researchers, professors, and technicians;
- Submission of a doctoral proposal APNC 102/2023;
- Participation in the meeting of the forum of coordinators of Postgraduate Studies in Computing at the CSBC;
- Preparation of the proposal to organize the Conference on Graphics, Patterns and Images - SIBGRAPI 2023, SBC;
- Preparation of the proposal for organizing the Symposium on Virtual and Augmented Reality - SVR 2023, SBC;
- Preparation of the proposal for organizing the Brazilian Symposium on Games and Digital Entertainment - SBGames 2023, SBC;
- Carrying out the annual self-assessment workshop, with presentation of scientific production and planning of the actions of each teacher in the PPGComp.

2023

Goals:
- To promote technological innovation through postgraduate studies;
- To monitor changes in the Brazilian postgraduate evaluation system;
- To encourage increased productivity of new faculty members in the program;
- To write and submit the doctoral course proposal (APCN);
- To promote actions to publicize the program within the computing community, increasing its visibility and demand.

Results:
- Removal of a professor for postdoctoral studies abroad (Austrian Institute of Technology - AIT, Austria);
- Signing of an addendum to the iTec/FURG and EMBRAPII contract, updating the maximum total value of the project portfolio to up to R$35,100,000.00 (thirty-five million and one hundred thousand reais);
- Amendment of the Institutional Collaboration Plan - PIC between the EMBRAPII iTec/FURG unit and the FURG Computational Science Center, inserting new researchers, professors, and technicians;
- Submission of a new doctoral proposal APNC 615/2023;
- Participation in the Mid-Term Seminar meeting at CAPES, where comparative results of all PPGs calculated by CA-CC were presented (see ANNEX 10 - Comparative analysis - SMT Capes.pdf), which places FURG's PPGComp in an excellent position;
- Holding of the Conference on Graphics, Patterns and Images - SIBGRAPI 2023, of the Brazilian Computer Society;
- Holding of the Symposium on Virtual and Augmented Reality - SVR 2023, SBC;
- Holding of the Brazilian Symposium on Games and Digital Entertainment - SBGames 2023, SBC;
- Elaboration of the proposal for the organization of the Regional School of Computer Networks - ERRC 2024, of the Brazilian Computer Society
- Holding of the annual self-assessment workshop, with presentation of scientific production and planning of the actions of each teacher in the PPGComp.

2024

Goals:
- Strengthen scientific research (UN SDG);
- Improve the technological capabilities of industrial sectors (UN SDG);
- Increase the proportion of R&D workers in the country (UN SDG);
- Increase public and private spending on research and development (UN SDG);
- Promote actions to publicize the program among the computing community, enhancing its visibility and demand;
- Train human resources at the doctoral level.

Results:
- Removal of a professor for postdoctoral research (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS);
- Signing of an addendum to the iTec/FURG and EMBRAPII contract, updating the maximum total value of the project portfolio to up to R$173,348,857.60 (one hundred and seventy-three million, three hundred and forty-eight thousand, eight hundred and fifty-seven reais, and sixty cents), to be consumed by 2030;
- Amendment of the Institutional Collaboration Plan - PIC between the EMBRAPII iTec/FURG unit and the FURG Computational Science Center, inserting new researchers and increasing the maximum workload in projects;
- Presentation of the PPGComp and the EMBRAPII unit to professors from other Academic Units and departments of FURG, aiming at future accreditation;
- Submission of an appeal against the negative decision on the doctoral proposal APNC 102/2023;
- Recommendation of the doctoral proposal APNC 615/2023 by CAPES;
- Change of the master's research lines and the program's regulations to align with the doctoral proposal approved by CAPES;
- Creation of the doctoral course in Computer Engineering, according to Resolution 228/2024 of the Council for Teaching, Research, Extension and Administration - COEPEA/FURG;
- Realization of the Regional School of Computer Networks - ERRC 2024, of the Brazilian Computer Society;

The PPGComp annual action plan, formally approved by the Center for Computational Sciences and the PROPESP Graduate Studies Directorate, which defines goals and actions considering this doctoral course proposal, is described in detail at the end of the Risk Analysis section.

ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS - OPPORTUNITIES

The main objective of PPGComp's future planning is to continue improving the quality of research and, consequently, implement the doctoral course in Computer Engineering. To achieve this goal, we intend to work mainly on the axes described below, which summarize a set of opportunities:

1) Qualified teaching staff

The PPGComp faculty is highly qualified. The vast majority of faculty members have solid training in computing from national graduate programs at levels 6 and 7 or from major international research centers. Young, recently accredited faculty members benefit from the experience of five CNPq research productivity or technological innovation scholarship holders. Over the past ten years, the PPGComp faculty has consolidated the training of quality human resources at the master's level and already has a history of training at the doctoral level, from faculty members who also work in other programs in the area of ​​interdisciplinary assessment and teaching.

2) Promotion based on partnerships with industries and technology-based companies

The current shortage of resources from government funding agencies and the national need for technology development provide an excellent opportunity for academia to get closer to the productive sector, collaborating with the development of technological and innovative artifacts. To this end, the aim is to bring PPGComp even closer to the OCEANTEC Technology Park, aiming to carry out dissertations and theses associated with technology-based companies currently operating in the park.

There is also a clear opportunity to encourage the creation of startups resulting from the projects, through participation in innovation competitions and proximity to the entrepreneurship training program carried out by the Pro-Rectory of Innovation and Information Technology at FURG and by SEBRAE.

Finally, we will continue to prospect and propose technical proposals and contracts, and work plans for industrial technological development projects at iTec/FURG, within the scope of the EMBRAPII unit. Accreditation with EMBRAPII, in an area directly associated with PPGComp, will take us to a new level in terms of, in addition to the possibility of self-financing, the ability to address real Brazilian demands in R&D, redefining the role of PPGComp in fostering the country's industrial development. This action also aims to increase student demand for the course, providing them with opportunities to get closer to the job market and attractive scholarships.

3) Partnerships and demands from Federal Institutes and other institutions in the region

Currently, several graduates of the PPGComp are professors at the Federal Institutes IFRS and IFSul. This partnership is quite interesting, since it is necessary to qualify these public servants to better provide services to society. Such a partnership could make it possible to offer interinstitutional stricto sensu postgraduate courses MINTER/DINTER. This opportunity could also be offered together with universities in Uruguay and Argentina, given the proximity and lack of stricto sensu postgraduate courses in the area of ​​computing in neighboring countries. Currently, the Center for Computational Sciences at FURG offers a trinational Specialization in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, the result of an international agreement with the Universidad Tecnológica - UTEC, in Uruguay, and with the Universidad Nacional de Rafaela (UnRaf), in Argentina. The PPGComp is considering the possibility of carrying out a joint MINTER program.

4) Brazilian market conditions in Computing

Since 2020, as a result of the state of emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for technological solutions that allow companies to adapt to the digital environment and the Web has grown exponentially. Many companies have had to adapt in just a few months, heating the IT market very quickly.

The explosion of remote work opportunities has allowed students from the interior to apply for positions at companies established in metropolitan areas with much higher pay than the value of postgraduate scholarships. With the current crisis in public funding for research and postgraduate studies in Brazil, the booming market has allowed students to pursue a master's degree even without a scholarship.

Despite the reduction in the number of applicants for the PPGComp selection processes and the vast majority of postgraduate programs in computing in the country, the proximity to companies in other regions has allowed the promotion of technological development and innovation projects that directly apply the theories and models developed in the dissertations to products and society.

5) Encouraging the participation of new teachers in PPGComp

The FURG Computational Science Center has 42 professors with PhDs, all with excellent scientific training. By the end of 2024, only 16 will be part of the permanent faculty of PPGComp. There is a policy to encourage the participation of professors in the University's postgraduate programs. However, the program carries out a rigorous process of accreditation and re-accreditation of professors, ensuring the entry of new researchers without loss or interference in the quality of the course, especially in relation to productivity indicators.

THREATS

The main facts that threaten the development and growth of PPGComp are related to the current problems of postgraduate studies in the country.

1) Continuous reduction in public funding for research and postgraduate studies

Since 2014, CAPES and CNPq, the main funders of research and postgraduate studies in the country, have had their budgets significantly reduced. Consequently, the number of scholarships for PPGComp and the vast majority of postgraduate programs has been greatly reduced. In addition, the amount has been eroded by accumulated inflation, despite the last adjustment in 2023.

PPGComp relies on other sources of funding for projects with partner companies, but basic research in computing is hampered because researchers are not independent in choosing the research questions and hypotheses to be investigated.

2) Dropouts upon return to in-person teaching

Since the end of Remote Emergency Education at FURG on April 25, 2022, all teaching activities have returned to face-to-face. Some students who saw an opportunity to study for a master's degree remotely at a federal university with low investment now need to live in Rio Grande to complete the course. Some PPGComp students have indicated a high probability of dropping out from the next semester onwards, or are infrequent.

3) Funding for scientific publications

The open data policy adopted by many journals has shifted the cost of publishing research results and making articles available indefinitely, exclusively to the researcher. Furthermore, with the Real currency devalued against the Dollar and the Euro, the costs of maintaining the program's productivity have increased significantly, whether for publication in journals or for paying for event registrations, daily allowances, and travel. Unfortunately, iTec/FURG projects, funded by EMBRAPII, cannot cover travel costs for presenting papers.

RISK ANALYSIS

As detailed in the Initiatives and Goals field, PPGComp developed its strategic planning from 2017 to 2020 with a well-defined objective: obtaining a grade 4. In the first two years, the general objective was to approve the doctoral course, which ended up being recommended in 2024 by the Capes CTC. In the last two years, efforts were focused on obtaining a grade of 5. To this end, over the last few years, and in line with the PDI, several goals and indicators were proposed and evaluated. As a result, there were changes in the faculty, greater interest and participation of faculty in the PPGComp evaluation processes, and a better understanding of PPGComp's positioning concerning its peers.

The planning associated with the self-assessment allowed for a better diagnosis of the PPGComp in relation to the Brazilian postgraduate community in computing (see ANNEXES 08, 09 and 10), to allow for the clear definition of actions and indicators to be achieved to obtain a score of 5 in the evaluation of the last four years. It also clearly established a set of opportunities and threats to the good functioning and growth of the program. The risks associated with the threats were mapped and managed, according to the methodologies described in the fifth edition of the PMBOK published by the PMI, as described below.

Risk: Student dropout due to the reduction in the number of CAPES DS scholarships.
Probability: 75%
Impact: reduction in the scope of research projects, reduction in the number of research projects, difficulty in carrying out basic research in the area of ​​computing, reduction in the quality of the results of the work
Priority: Very high
Strategy: Mitigate
Action: Submission to the institutional call for CNPq scholarships. Allocate students without a scholarship or who eventually lose their CAPES DS scholarship to a technological development and innovation project at iTec/FURG, EMBRAPII unit, with themes and technologies aligned with dissertation proposals and research topics, with remuneration paid for by the project.

Risk: Reduced demand for postgraduate education
Probability: 35%
Impact: Reduced internal competition (application rate based on the number of vacancies) and, consequently, reduced quality of work, reduced number of research projects, and intellectual output of the program.
Priority: Medium
Strategy: Mitigate
Action: Publicize and promote PPGComp and opportunities in iTec/FURG projects carried out in partnership with national industry companies, together with undergraduate courses at universities and federal education institutes in the southern region of Brazil. Organization of national events of the main scientific societies related to the research activities carried out (Brazilian Computer Society - SBC and Brazilian Society of Automation - SBA) to increase the dissemination of and demand for the course.

Risk: Increased dropout rates due to the return to in-person teaching
Probability: 10%
Impact: Reduction in the number of enrolled students, delay in obtaining and publishing results of research projects, cancellation of ongoing projects.
Priority: Low
Strategy: Mitigate
Action: Publicize and promote the city of Rio Grande - RS, FURG, the Center for Computational Sciences, PPGComp, and the EMBRAPII iTec/FURG unit in an integrated manner, presenting the opportunities and potential for training and employability resulting from this training. Financing with competitive scholarship amounts, highlighting the lower cost of living in the city of Rio Grande.

Risk: Accreditation of young PhDs will negatively impact productivity
Probability: 20%
Impact: Assessment of PPGComp at CAPES will be compromised
Priority: High
Strategy: Mitigate
Action: Develop a strategy for ongoing assessment of productivity indices. Review the annual action plan based on self-assessment. Encourage teamwork and publications within research groups, in order to make research independent of the institutions where the professors are pursuing their doctorates.

Risk: Increased publishing costs
Probability: 75%
Impact: Reduced productivity rates
Priority: High
Strategy: Mitigate
Action: Study the evolution of costs associated with publications over the last 5 years and consider subscription-based journals instead of open access. Seek to centralize publications in a few high-impact conferences to optimize the use of resources.

FUTURE PLANNING

Future planning has as its main objective to continue increasing the quality of research and, consequently, to implement the doctoral course in Computer Engineering. To achieve this objective, we intend to work on several axes:

1) Continue fostering partnerships with industries and technology-based companies. The current shortage of resources from government funding agencies and the national need for technology development provide an excellent opportunity for academia to get closer to the productive sector, collaborating with the development of technological and innovative artifacts. To this end, the aim is to bring PPGComp even closer to the OCEANTEC Technology Park through an agreement, aiming to carry out dissertations and theses associated with technology-based companies currently existing in the park. It is also to foster the creation of startups resulting from the projects, through participation in innovation competitions and the entrepreneurship training program carried out by the Technological Innovation Directorate of FURG and SEBRAE. Section 3 details the social impact of startups founded by PPGComp alumni and students. Finally, continue prospecting and signing contracts for industrial technology development projects by iTec/FURG, within the scope of the EMBRAPII unit. Accreditation with EMBRAPII, in an area directly associated with PPGComp, takes us to a new level in terms of, in addition to the possibility of self-financing, the ability to address real Brazilian demands in R&D, redefining the role of PPGComp in fostering Brazilian industrial development. This action also aims to increase student demand for the course, providing them with opportunities to get closer to the job market and attractive scholarships.

2) Establish a partnership with federal institutes in the region, such as IFRS and IFSul, to conduct MINTER and DINTER, since several graduates of PPGComp come from both Federal Institutes. This partnership is quite interesting, since it is necessary to qualify these public servants to better provide services to the community. The same idea can be applied to technicians at our university, FURG, as well as to universities in Uruguay, given the proximity and lack of stricto sensu postgraduate courses in the area of ​​computing in the neighboring country. Currently, the FURG Center for Computational Sciences offers a trinational Specialization in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, the result of an international agreement with the Universidad Tecnológica - UTEC, in Uruguay, and the Universidad Nacional de Rafaela - UNRaf, in Argentina.

3) Establish partnerships with municipal/state public schools, seeking to offer vacancies for teachers in continuing education, which encompasses the line of research in Educational Technologies, bringing the course closer to society. The Ideia project, within the scope of the Science in School Program, is an important action in this sense.

4) Evaluate the possibility of hybrid optional subjects (in-person and remote), as support for student training.

5) Following the example of previous years, maintain efforts to conduct international standard research, resulting in high-impact intellectual production, increasing productivity rates, and the quality of training.

6) Encouraging the participation of more faculty members in the PPGCOMP, since C3-FURG has 42 PhDs, all with highly qualified scientific training, but only 16 are part of the permanent staff, and another 5 are collaborators. The plan is to allow the inclusion of these faculty members based on a process of consolidation of the program, ensuring their entry without loss or interference in the quality of the master's and doctoral courses. In addition, the participation of international researchers as collaborators, working in teaching, research, and supervision, will be encouraged in order to increase the visibility, quality, and internationalization of the course.

At the end of the four-year period, the action plan for the year 2025 was established, defining a new set of goals and actions, in addition to the respective monitoring indicators:

Action Plan 2025

Goal 1. Increase PPGComp productivity rates by 20%

Action 1.1. Evaluate the performance of the program's scientific production

Indicators:
- Full papers in conferences with student participation
- Full papers in journals with student participation
- Articles in journals indexed in Scopus and WoS with percentile >= 50%
- Full papers in conferences indexed in Google Scholar Metrics with H5 >= 15

- Annual average of full papers in conferences weighted by Qualis and by permanent advisor (restricted index - Google Scholar H5 index >= 15)
- Annual average of journals indexed in Scopus or WoS weighted by Qualis and by permanent advisor (restricted index - percentile >= 50%)

Action 1.2. Evaluate faculty performance in relation to projects

Indicator: Ongoing R&D projects

Action 1.3. Refactor the software developed to automatically analyze PPGComp's scientific production in conferences

Indicator: Software published in the repository

Action 1.5. Perform program self-assessment

Indicator: Self-assessment report

Action 1.6. Conduct the annual program self-assessment workshop

Indicator: Self-assessment workshop held

Goal 2. Implement the doctoral course in Computer Engineering.

Action 2.1. Publish the notice of selection of regular students and offer the first class

Indicator: Notice published and registrations completed

Goal 3. Qualify the research carried out at PPGComp

Action 3.1. Obtain external financial resources for the development of RDI

Indicators:
- PhD scholarship holders hired
- IC scholarship holders hired
- Master's scholarship holders hired
- Research scholarship holders hired
- New projects with funding from public agencies
- New projects with funding from private institutions
- Total amount raised in projects (R$)

Action 3.2. Strengthen core scientific production

Indicators:
- Full papers in qualified conferences co-authored with non-accredited faculty
- Articles in qualified journals co-authored with non-accredited faculty

Action 3.3. Encourage the qualification of teachers to enable their entry as permanent teachers at PPGComp

Indicators:
- Post-doctoral leave
- New accredited professors

Action 3.4. Encourage the submission of articles for thesis and dissertation workshops at national events, which may replace the IT

Indicator: Articles in national test workshops and dissertations

Action 3.5. Encourage new PhDs to participate in research groups

Indicator: New PhDs in research groups

Action 3.6. Re-discuss the program's research lines

Indicator: PPGComp meeting minutes

Goal 4. Increase the attractiveness of PPGComp

Action 4.1. Attract students from the lato to the stricto sensu

Indicator: Communication actions

Goal 5. Promote the internationalization of PPGComp

Action 5.1. Encouraging the practice of the English language

Indicator: Subjects taught in English

Action 5.2. Evaluate courses taught in English

Indicator: Percentage of students who pass a course taught in English

Action 5.3. Encourage enrollment in optional foreign language courses

Indicator: Students enrolled in foreign language electives

Action 5.4. Translation of the PPGComp website

Indicator: Sites translated into English and Spanish

Action 5.5. Check conditions for a dual degree in undergraduate courses

Indicator: International agreements

Action 5.6. Strengthen partnership with the Secretariat of International Relations (REINTER)

Indicator: Minutes of meetings with REINTER

Action 5.7. Encourage the submission of articles for thesis and dissertation workshops at international events, which may replace the IT

Indicator: Papers in international test workshops and dissertations

Action 5.8. Encourage work in partnership with foreign institutions

Indicators:
- International agreements
- Research projects with ongoing international collaboration
- Full articles in conferences indexed in Google Scholar Metrics with foreign authors
- Articles in journals indexed in Scopus or WoS with foreign authors
- International collaborations
- Submissions to international calls for proposals
- Boards with the participation of foreign researchers
- Boards of foreign PPGs

Action 5.9. Publish a notice of accreditation of foreign collaborating teachers

Indicator: Accredited foreign teacher

Action 5.10. Hold a meeting with REINTER to provide advice on internationalization, including participation in university networks.

Indicator: Meetings held