Infrastructure
The Soil Science Department (DPS) at UFV and the PPGSNP offer facilities and qualified staff to support teaching, research, and extension activities, emphasizing undergraduate and graduate teaching and research.
The infrastructure also supports other Graduate Programs from UFV and other universities, in addition to the demand for extension services from users outside UFV, such as farmers, companies, local municipalities, government agencies, and others.
The activities carried out in the Program are related to pedological, agronomic, hydrological, and environmental analysis, in addition to analysis of soils, fertilizers, correctives, plants, organic and inorganic residues, substrates, sediments, among others.
The PPGSNP-UFV has 15 laboratories and 19 laboratory technicians from UFV’s permanent staff, in addition to 11 other outsourced staff. Each laboratory is under the responsibility and coordination of a professor from DPS-UFV, with all laboratory coordinators being teachers of PPGSNP-UFV. Graduate and undergraduate students (scientific initiation, scholarship holders, and interns of different categories) use the laboratories according to the specific needs of each research project.
Laboratories
1 – Plant Analysis Laboratory
2 – Biogeochemistry Laboratory
3 – Trace Elements Laboratory
4 – Atomic Absorption Spectrometry Laboratory
5 – Soil Fertility Laboratory
6 – Fertilizers Laboratory
7 – Soil Physics Laboratory
8 – Geoprocessing Laboratory
9 – Geochemistry Laboratory
10 – Stable Isotope Laboratory
11 – Laboratory of Organic Matter and Waste
12 – Soil Mineralogy Laboratory
13 – Land Reclamation Laboratory
14 – Soil Fertility Routine Laboratory
15 – Laboratory of Practices in Chemical Analysis of Soil and Vegetable Tissues
Other facilities
In addition to the laboratories, the PPGSNP has the following infrastructure to support the development of graduate activities:
1 – Warehouse
2 – Greenhouses (3)
3 – Sectoral Library
4 – Museum of Earth Sciences “Alexis Dorofeef”
5 – Secretaries
6 – Rooms for preparation of soil and plant material samples (2)
7 – Videoconference room
8 – Soil samples database (2)
Computer resources and internet connection
The DPS-UFV makes available to teachers and students of PPGSNP-UFV several computer resources, including a local network connected to the internet through optical fiber, which serves all laboratories, study rooms, and offices, in addition to wireless access in all dependencies.
The computer resources provided by DPS and PPGSNP include 147 desktop microcomputers; 5 laptops; 40 printers, one for size A2; two digital whiteboards; 5 televisions for projections in classrooms; two plotters (HP size A0 and HP Designjet Z6100ps); four A0 size digitizing tables; 4 A4 size scanners; 18 digital cameras, in addition to 13 data shows for the presentation of seminars in undergraduate and graduate classes.
All of this equipment can be used in graduate school and by graduate students, depending on scheduling and priorities (classes and seminars, for example). There is an exclusive computer room reserved for graduate students, connected to the local DPS network and optical fiber internet. This room contains four desktop computers, an A4 scanner, two printers, one laser, and one inkjet.
Sectoral Library
The Sectoral Library of the DPS-UFV is fully accessible to the PPGSNP-UFV and is maintained with continuous effort to grow its collection. This library supports PPGSNP teachers and students and undergraduate and graduate students from other UFV Graduate Programs. It is located in the Soil Department building, just a few steps away from all Program members.
The current collection of the Sectorial Library exceeds 3,000 volumes, including books, theses, scientific journals, reports, and research bulletins. The library is completely computerized for the control of the collection, seeking to facilitate and speed up the consultations and loans of books and magazines. The collection is integrated with the UFV Central Library system, allowing access to the entire university community.