Polymer Education in Brazil: Present Situation Cl audio G. dos Santos,* 1 Marcos L. Dias, 2 Sebasti~ ao V. Canevarolo 3 Summary: Brazilian institutions involved with polymer education have grown substantially in the last few decades, both in number and quality. This paper provides a panorama of the current situation, presenting a view of the Brazilian educational system and discussing how polymer education evolved in the country and now fits within that structure. Given the continental dimensions of Brazil, a regional analysis is presented examining some aspects of polymer teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The presence of specific courses on polymer science in the syllabi of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Engineering programs delivered by Brazilian institutions is considered. The importance of funding agencies in sponsoring polymer education and research at postgraduate level and the crucial role of the Brazilian Polymer Associtation (ABPol) in promoting all aspects of polymer education in Brazil are highlighted. Keywords: courses; education; polymer; research; syllabus Brazilian Educational System The educational system in Brazil is regu- lated by a Federal Law [1] and, since 1996, consists of two levels, namely basic educa- tion and higher education. Figure 1 depicts the framework of the Brazilian educational system. Basic education is structured in three levels: pre-school (including nursery), fundamental school and high school; higher education consists of undergraduate and graduate (or postgraduate) levels. Both private and public schools can deliver education at any level. High school is the last step in basic education and is man- datory if the student wishes to continue his studies towards higher education. Among these different levels of educa- tion, there are certain modalities to which specific groups of citizens can enroll: education for young and adults (funda- mental and high school), professional or technical education, special education (for students with some disability) and distance learning education. Educational activities throughout the country are supervised and controlled by several institutions: At the national level, the main bodies are the Ministry of Education (MEC) and the National Coun- cil of Education (CNE). Although the federal administration is responsible for the education as a whole, the system is organized in such way that municipalities and states are accountable for fundamental and high school education while the federal government is in charge of higher education. Higher Education and Scientific Research in Brazil Brazil was discovered in 1500 and remained a colony from Portugal up to 1822, when it became independent, adopting an imperial regime and, since 1889, it is an independent Republic. In the early days, education in general was entrusted to members of the Society of Jesus, who had come to Brazil 1 Departamento de Qu  ımica – DEQUI, Univ. Federal de Ouro Preto UFOP, 35400-000 Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil E-mail: claudio@iceb.ufop.br 2 Inst. de Macromol eculas Professora Eloisa Mano – IMA, Univ. Federal do Rio de Janeiro UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil 3 Departamento de Engenharia de Materiais DEMa, Univ. Federal de S~ ao Carlos UFSCar, S~ ao Carlos, SP, Brazil Macromol. Symp. 2015, 355, 111–118 DOI: 10.1002/masy.201500071 | 111 ß 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim wileyonlinelibrary.com