Professional Master’s degree in Mathematics in the National Network

The Professional Master’s degree in Mathematics in the National Network – PROFMAT is a blended-learning master’s program in the area of Mathematics offered nationwide. It comprises a network of Higher Education Institutions, brought together by the Open University of Brazil/Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES, in the Portuguese acronym), coordinated by the Brazilian Mathematical Society (SBM, in the Portuguese acronym), and supported by the National Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA, in the Portuguese acronym). PROFMAT emerged upon request from the scientific community from the Mathematics field, represented and coordinated by SBM, and taken to action by Capes.

It provides in-depth mathematical training for school teachers in primary and secondary school levels, especially from public schools, seeking to improve their professional education.

PROFMAT meet the requirements of the National Education Plan (PNE, in the Portuguese acronym), under Law no. 13005 of June 25, 2014, where Goal 16 is outlined as: to educate, at the graduate level, 50% (fifty percent) of teachers of Basic Education until the last effective year of this PNE, and to guarantee to all the professionals of Basic Education continuing education in their field of work, taking into consideration the needs, demands and context of each education system. In addition, PROFMAT also meets goals 14, 17 and 18, which outline as: to increase enrollments in stricto sensu graduate programs; to enhance teacher value; and to lay out the teacher career path, respectively.

PROFMAT is assessed by CAPES with score 5 of 5 (greatest score for master's degree programs), under the area of knowledge of Mathematics/Probability and Statistics.

Lines of Research

PROFMAT faculty at UTFPR, in the campus of Cornélio Procópio, research the various areas of mathematics and statistics. The main lines of research and topics addressed are:

- Functional Analysis:
Riemann Zeta Function, Dirichlet series, Hilbert spaces, analytic number theory, number series and sequences;

- Algebra and Discrete Mathematics:
Group Theory, combinatorics and graph theory;

- Differential Equations: 
Dispersive equations, stability/instability of solutions, differential equations on graphs, data assimilation, control theory for time-delay systems, existence and uniqueness of solutions via numerical analysis; qualitative analysis of ordinary differential equations and switched systems, numerical analysis of nonlinear systems’ solution via Fuzzy Theory, analysis and control of some Electrical Engineering systems.

- Algebraic Topology:
Borsuk-Ulam Theorem, Fixed-point Theorem and Topological Coincidence and Fiber bundles Topology;

- Applied Statistics: 
Geostatistics, regression models, elliptical distribution, statistical modeling in everyday life and statistical education;

- Applied and Computational Mathematics:
Linear optimization, operations research, pattern recognition, data mining, artificial intelligence, mathematical programming methods, optimization applied to engineering problems, modeling and development of exact mathematical methods and algorithms for multi-objective combinatorial optimization;