The Stricto Sensu Post-graduate Program in Agrochemistry (PPGAQ) started in March/1998 with a Master’s course. With the implementation of the program, the Department of Chemistry enjoyed an expansion in the teachers’ frameworks, opening of new research lines and new laboratories. The development of the department resulted in the implementation of the PhD program in 2006, whose actions have resulted in the elaboration and execution of research projects financed by several development agencies such as CAPES, CNPq and FAPEMIG, academic formation, consolidation of norms and general guidelines of the Program, enhancement of the computational resources and improvement in the infrastructure that has allowed for deeper scientific investigation of the themes and research projects and an increased integration of undergraduate students.

The evolution of the program in recent years has involved the expansion of the laboratory space (approximately 1,500 m² currently), in addition to the acquisition of equipment (e.g. gas and liquid chromatogram, GC/MS, mass spectrometer, atomic absorption spectrometer, among others) of major importance to research development.

The Department has 32 professors, of which 17 are advisors (13 permanent professors, 4 collaborators, 9  research productivity fellows) in the post-graduate program in Agrochemistry whose research is distributed in the lines: Environmental Chemistry; Computational Chemistry; Biochemistry; Cachaça Technology and Natural and Synthetic Products.

The professors of the Chemistry Department lecture in 15 different undergraduate courses, thus expanding the target audience for admission as post-graduate students in Agrochemistry. In this context, the program assumes an interdisciplinary scientific profile receiving not only chemists, but also engineers, biologists, pharmacists, agronomists, nutritionists, among others.

The program was conferred the concept 6 level, according to the Brazilian accreditation scheme, since 2013 and is considered as one of the CAPES programs’ of excellence  in the area of Agrarian Sciences.

The PPGAQ general objective is the formation of master’s and doctoral students, emphasizing the relation between chemistry and the agrarian sciences. The students of the program will develop research aiming to solve environmental problems related with productivity, improvement and quality control of agricultural products or extractivism, encompassing the interfaces of these with chemical, environmental, food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic areas, among others.

National and international partnerships with renowned educational and research institutions have contributed to the program’s growth, expanding the scientific divulgation through publications in indexed journals, as well as allowing Agrochemistry professors and students to enjoy research experience in different laboratories.