Since its creation, the Program has aimed to develop knowledge in the field of School Psychology and Human Development, as well as to train teachers and researchers.

Its specific objectives are articulated with this area of concentration, aiming to:

a) providing theoretical and methodological support for School Psychology and Human Development to enable teachers to be trained to work in higher education and researchers with the competence and excellence to propose and forward solutions to empirical and/or theoretical problems specific to these areas of knowledge, in addition to meeting social demands and, in this sense, contributing to the drafting and implementation of public policies in the areas of Education, Health, Social Assistance and Human Rights;

b) to strengthen the actions of the student body and teaching staff to expand and consolidate research and its dissemination, so that they can carry out, with quality and rigor, the formative, academic and social tasks that constitute the role of the researcher in the areas of School Psychology and Human Development, and other related areas in their specific field of knowledge;

c) articulate and carry out joint actions with research groups from different teaching and research institutions, with a view to expanding research in the defined areas, stimulating academic exchange and improving national and international training.

The main goal of the Program is to promote the training of masters who are able to work in higher education teaching and doctors who are able to work in higher education, develop and guide research, meeting the criteria set out above in our general objective.

In order to meet this goal, the program’s actions are specified in five dimensions:

– Training (curriculum structure);

– Research (master’s, doctorate and post-doctorate);

– Innovation and Knowledge Transfer;

– Social Insertion (community service, tackling social inequalities, analysis and promotion of public policies)

– and Internationalization.

These actions are grouped together and gain thematic content, specificity and diversity, based on the lines of research that make up the program