The Graduate program in Popularization of Science and Culture (PPG-DCC) offers a broad research and creation field, in which interdisciplinarity is effected as a force that comes from the complexity of the very problems the area faces.

Therefore, it requires, from both students and professors, the invention of new research objects and new methodological approaches that pass necessarily by the dialogue between different disciplines and multiple forms of expression of knowledge, cultures, technologies, arts and sciences.

These are the instigating challenges that drive the classes, research groups, projects, events and publications of this program.

The program belongs to the Thematic Chamber II: Social Sciences & Humanities Interdisciplinary Area - established in 2007, offering only the Master's degree program, the first class began in 2008 - and it originates from a partnership between the Institute of Language Studies (IEL) and the Creativity Development Center (Labjor / Nudecri) and the Laboratory of Advanced Studies in Journalism, both from the University of Campinas (Unicamp).

Since its inception, the PPG-DCC has the participation of professors from eight other university units which allows for a plural and diverse environment, as well as a rich ground for theoretical and methodological research topics.

In addition to IEL and Labjor-Nudecri are involved in PPG-DCC: the Laboratory of Urban Studies (Labeurb / Nudecri); the Department of Science and Technology Policy (DPCT), from the Institute of Geosciences (IG); the Department of Multimedia (DMM), at the Institute of Arts (IA); the Eye Group - Audiovisual Studies Laboratory, the School of Education (FE); the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences (IFCH); the Institute of Physics "Gleb Wataghin (IFGW), the School of Medical Sciences (FCM), and the School of Applied Sciences (FCA).

The creation of the Master's degree program comes from the experience of Labjor-Nudecri with Specialization in Science Journalism, which is offered since 1999 in partnership with DPCT-IG and DMM-IA. The course is free and is intended for the training of science journalists, science communicators and university communication advisers and research institutes. It lasts for a year and a half and is offered every two years.

The Master's degree program in Popularization of Science and Culture aims at training a hybrid professional, who works with the idea of the global system of S&T and, at the same time, it has enough cultural training to produce critical and reflective analysis of the objects, whether they be advances in S&T, the ways Science is disseminated in our society, or current artistic and cultural events.

The aim is to train researchers and journalists who can devote to a deeper study of scientific and cultural information from different approaches, always looking for their interconnection. We do not intend to make the mistake of analyzing an uncritical and fragmented dissemination of the results of science and culture, nor of its production process, including its different stages, difficulties and social motivations. We intend to train a professional with competence to discuss in depth the issue of scientific and cultural journalism in our country and carry out specific research in the area in order to contribute to a critical reflection on how this important area of knowledge has been applied in Brazil.

The MDCC intends to contribute so that students are able to understand the social function of science and culture in the country, in order to allow for a more efficient dissemination of its production. The program also intends to, through the media, provide a critical evaluation of S&T policy in the country, and of the cultural dissemination market. It expects to empower them with a solid foundation in current discussions on scientific and cultural dissemination. Based on the convergence of experiences of scientists, journalists and critics, the program expects to enable candidates with a relevant academic and creative perspective, allowing them to disseminate their work and to provide journalists with the tools to work properly with the complex issues of science and culture.

In parallel to the formation of their students, the MDCC aims to be a space for the construction of analyzes, studies, research and interventions in the science and technology production environment, seeking to link different knowledge and expertise in the production of critical reflections on the impacts and effects of technological development. Therefore, it intends that its academic production may be useful to policy-makers that are to some extent related to science and technology.

We expect our graduates to be able to:

- Study and discuss the issue of Scientific and Cultural Dissemination;

- Democratize scientific and cultural knowledge;

- Critically discuss the scientific and cultural policy of the country;

- Contribute to the dissemination of scientific and cultural production in peripheral areas;

- Reduce the distance between the creators of knowledge and the public opinion;

- Establish the relationship of scientific and cultural production with everyday life and its relations with society in general;

- Enable the understanding of science and culture phenomena;

- Reconcile scientific and critical rigor with journalistic language;

- Raise awareness among scientists and critics of culture to the disclosure of their production;

- Contribute to a critical reflection on the scientific and cultural knowledge produced in the country.

All the MDCC courses propose connections between science, technology, languages, arts and cultures. The program has a Mandatory component, composed of a minimum class load of two (02) courses related to central concepts of this multidisciplinary program, and an Elective component composed of two (02) courses from a list of courses to be offered, or, according to the suggestion of the advisor, the student may attend other courses offered by Unicamp that may be appropriate to their particular field of research.

The research topics candidates dedicate themselves to are:

*Scientific Culture

*Literature, Arts and Communication

*Information, communication, technology and society

*Public Perception of Science and Technology