University education and training of microbiologists in Brazil: 1990-2000

this paper aims to contribute to the discussion and concern on the future of microbiology in brazil. this work presents a survey carried out in 2001 that shows a picture of microbiology status in brazil. most of the conclusions are based on the data collected from the university courses and from the data supplied by the brazilian national research council (cnpq) and the coordination for the improvement of higher level personnel (capes). however, some of the affirmatives are more based on the experiences with postgraduate teaching in microbiology than on the data provided by official institutions. such affirmatives were made in order to improve the development of the microbiology in brazil. also, a plan that proposes higher number of scholarships awarded to microbiology, to increase the possibility to form a critical mass necessary for further development of the brazilian microbiology, is presented in order to produce discussion and more debate on the future of the microbiology in brazil.