The Postgraduate Program in Natural and Synthetic Bioactive Products (PgPNSB) of the Health Sciences Centre (CCS) of the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB), originated in 1977 as a Master's degree in Natural Products (Pharmacology and Chemistry), due to the enthusiasm of the entrepreneurial mind of its professor creator. Delby Fernandes de Medeiros, Director of the Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology at the time, with the support of Prof. Linaldo Cavalcanti, who was the Dean of UFPB. Since its origin it was presented as a very innovative course, the first post-graduate degree in Natural Products in Brazil to propose a multidisciplinary integration between the areas of Pharmacology and Chemistry, highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary studies focused on research and the development of natural products. In addition, to address the lack of qualified human resources in the country, especially in the Northeast, it had its permanent faculty formed mainly by foreign researchers from various countries such as India, Germany, England, Italy, Poland and France.

Throughout its history, PPGPNSB has held major events (1984-1990) of national character: three editions of the Symposium of Natural Products (SIMPRONAT), an event of the Postgraduate Course itself and also the 11th edition of the Symposium of Brazilian Medicinal Plants, a joint edition with SIMPRONAT III in 1990. These events were attended by renowned Brazilian and foreign researchers, specialized in the field of Natural Products and Medicinal Plants, which provided the students and teachers of PPGPNSB a great opportunity for national and international scientific exchange, enabling formal collaborations with foreign institutions for the training of highly skilled human resources, at Doctorate level, mainly in Scotland and France, which have subsequently joined the faculty of the Postgraduate Degree in Natural Products.

Its restructuring was approved by Resolution No. 90/97 of CONSEPE UFPB of October 14th 1997, starting to operate in the Masters and PhD levels and also in broader research lines, not only with natural products derived from medicinal plants but also including marine organisms and research on bioactive synthetic products, thus changing its name to the Postgraduate Program in Natural and Synthetic Bioactive Products. After the creation of the Doctorate degree, the Postgraduate Program began its first doctorate class in March of 1998 and in the second half of the year received the first accreditation from CAPES, with a concept grade of 4. From 2001 to 2003 it received a concept grade of 5 and from 2004 to 2006 obtained a concept grade 6 of excellence, from CAPES. However, in the next three years (2007-2009), unfortunately, the Administrative and Technical Council of CAPES assigned a concept grade of 5 to the program, which became a cause of great concern and sadness in its members, teachers and students. For the triennial evaluation of 2010-2012, after the efforts of all, the program again reached the concept grade 6 of excellence, the only one in the North / Northeast and Midwest regions of Brazil in the pharmacy area. It should be noted that 2010 was a decisive year for the accreditation of the faculty and the insertion of new teachers in the permanent core of the PgPNSB program, with some changes made by the Coordination Department and the Board of the Program, which resulted in the reaccreditation of the faculty and the reduction of the number of employees in the core, according to the percentage suggested by the Committee, in the Health Area. This task was also performed in 2013 and the faculty was comprised of a total of 27 certified teachers, 21 of the permanent staff and 6 employees. In 2014 another teacher was accredited to strengthen the line of chemical and biological control research, totaling 22 teachers in the permanent staff. For 2015-2016 this number remains the same. This variation is very considerable in relation to the period of 2007-2009, which had a total of 36 teachers, of which 16 were employees (about 60%). Resuming the scientific cycle of events, in 2010, the PgPNSB once again hosted the Symposium of Brazilian Medicinal Plants (SPMB) in its 21st edition, 20 years after the 11th edition. This event brought together about 2,000 participants and 106 speakers from the country and abroad, in which were held plenary lectures, short courses, lectures, oral presentations and 1,300 panel presentations. Recently, the PGPNSB organised the Symposium of Natural Products (SIMPRONAT) in October of 2012 in its 4th edition, resuming the tradition of fostering the scientific exchange of teachers and students of the PPGPNSB, with renowned researchers from other HEIs and from abroad in their area of study. These meetings have not only strengthened the Program's objectives but have also resulted in significant opportunities for the discussion of research and its importance in the national context, with representatives from funding agencies.

After 39 years of existence, with a qualified scientific production in the field of research in natural products of the country, the PPGPNSB is also responsible for the training of highly qualified human resources, corresponding to 323 masters and 197 doctors, a total of 520 professionals in the Pharmacy area, who carry out their activities mainly in teaching and research in the country, and also abroad. The PPgPNSB is a consolidated program consisting of a permanent teaching core of 22 qualified researchers, with a scientific production of excellence in the two focus areas of the program. Of these, ten researchers develop their research in the focus area of Pharmacochemistry and twelve in Pharmacology.

The academic activities of the PgPNSB program over the last thirty-nine years (1977-2015) has shown a clear evolution in its Teacher Core, both in quality and quantity, since the formation of the first masters class in 1979. The Program of Natural and Synthetic Bioactive Products is currently characterized as a consolidated program, not only for regional and national scientific importance, but also for the financial support it has received from funding agencies since its original formation and mainly for the training of qualified human resources, to disseminate the knowledge acquired in the program for the training and nucleation of new graduate courses in the Northeast of the country, like the MBA courses in the Health Sciences (UFAL UFM), Pharmaceutical Sciences (UEPB, UFAL), Natural Resources of Semi-arid Regions (UNIVASF) PGDITM (UFPB, UFRN, UFRPE), among others.

The PgPNSB program has been a very strong element of integration and nucleation between the north-northeast and the rest of the country, since it has given a strong contribution to the training of teachers of HEIs in these regions. This may be evidenced by participation as a cooperating institution, through the Institutional Qualification Program (PQI / PICDT of CAPES, of seven HEIs, six of the Northeast (UFMA, UFAL, UFBA, UFC, URCA and UEPB) and one from the North (UFRR) of the country. Of the teachers participating in PQI / PICDT with the PgPNSB program, about 25 teachers were qualified by the Program.

Another indicator of evolution and improvement of program quality is the increase in the number of permanent core teachers with productivity grants in research by the CNPq, which has been growing year by year, from 2005, when there were only 9 and currently there are 17, with seven fellows in stratum 1 (two in stratum 1A, one in stratum 1B, one in stratum 1C and three in stratum 1D), and ten in stratum 2, and one fellow in the PET-CAPES scholarship. Thus, currently, 80% of the permanent core team is composed of researchers with CNPq PQ scholarships.

Although new courses in the area of Pharmacy have emerged in the Northeast region, largely with the nucleation of the PPgPNSB, the increase in the rates of attraction of candidates for the Program in recent years is evident, raised mainly by the following factors: (a) the search for a course with a greater concept that provides a higher qualification; (b) the option for only one of the focus areas, pharmacology or pharmacochemistry, where the students can choose only one of them, with the involvement in one area and a supervisor who allows a gain of time and greater concentration of activity in the essay/thesis work; (c) a reduction in the number of credits for the two areas, with 22 for masters and 35 for doctorates; (d) the presence of a significant number of ex fellows from PIBIC and IC-CNPq (40 to 50%) who, when joining the program, already have some theoretical knowledge and the basic scientific experimental training necessary to develop their research in post-graduation; (d) a team of professors with highly qualified multidisciplinary training, many of which have international experience, which provides a greater range of options in choosing the lines of research. This set of factors also contributed to reducing the average titration time for students, with an approximate average of 22.94 months for Masters and 49.08 for Doctorates.

Regarding the student body, they come from the various states of the country, especially the Northeast, and also from abroad. It is worth noting that the human resources trained by PPgPNSB, who are still in the final phase of the PhD, are already working mainly in teaching and research.

Scientific literature has shown great development since the creation of the program, however, it strengthened quantitatively and qualitatively in the triennium of 2010-2012, with the increase of publications in scientific journals with higher impact factors, classified in the higher strata of the Qualis Capes, whose production is mainly concentrated in strata A1 to B2, with a predominance in B1 and B2, with few publications in the lower strata, B3 to B5. These results reflect the joint efforts made by the coordination department of the Program, the permanent core of the PgPNSB and all who do the PPgPNSB course, to increase the number of publications in journals with higher impact factor and Qualis Capes in stratum A, in order to achieve a desired level needed for the program to return back to level 6, a position previously conquered. In the triennium of (2007-2009) 196 articles were published by the Permanent Centre Lecturer (NP) in indexed journals, distributed in the A2, B1, B2, B3 and B4 Qualis, mainly placed in the B3 and B4 strata. This development is quite noticeable when compared to the data from the triennium of (2010-2012), in which were published more than 266 (107 in 2012) articles in periodicals with Qualis Capes, 12 articles in A1, 13 in A2, 79 in B1, 87 in B2, 5 in B3, 11 in B4 and 10 in B5. These figures show the qualitative evolution of the scientific production of the program, especially with regard to the NP publications that for the first time, present the results of publications in periodicals with Qualis A1 and a considerable increase in patent applications. The 2013 data is similar to that of 2012, which shows the constancy of publications aiming for the highest strata. Furthermore, it should be noted that around 183 (66 in 2012) of the articles include the participation of the PPgPNSB student body and/or IC fellows, which corresponds to approximately 75% of the scientific production with the participation of students, demonstrating the program's ability to carry out the experimental part of their research and of research groups established in the program, as well as publishing the results in high impact journals. It is noteworthy that in the first, second and third years of the quadrennium of 2013-2016 these values have remained equal. This data demonstrates the evolution of scientific production in the Qualis A1 and the highest concentration of articles in Qualis A1 to B3.

Another very relevant indicator of great importance for the PPgPNSB was the technical production recorded for the three-year period of (2010-2013), with the development of products and eighteen (18) patent applications filed, some with the effective participation of students. Of these, sixteen (16) are connected to the area of production of pharmaceuticals and the like, including one of these products being developed in collaboration with a pharmaceutical company, and two linked to the development of computer programs for biological research (microbiological and DNA).

Although it is a relatively new course, when compared to other regions, and even to courses in other countries, the PPgPNSB is a program whose tradition and skills are evident by several factors: 1) has a stable faculty staff; 2) a faculty with 80% of PQ CNPq fellows; 3) presents international integration since its inception, whose faculty base, needed for the formation of the Postgraduate course in Natural Products (Masters), was only possible due to the participation of foreign teachers from other countries like Germany, India, Sweden and England, a formation that has only strengthened and qualified the Program.

Currently, maintaining its tradition, the PgPNSB has several projects of bilateral, individual, formal and informal collaborations, with countries from South America (Argentina and Colombia), Europe (Greece, Scotland, United Kingdom, France and Switzerland), The United States, Australia and Pakistan, including some that are financed by international development agencies (NSF), with the participation of researchers from foreign institutions, which have supported the program, not only teaching courses, but also getting our teachers sandwich scholarship missions, lectures and seminars in the PPgPNSB. These exchanges, besides promoting the opportunity of collaboration between teachers, have also supported the qualification of publications, which already have a significant number of joint publications in top impact factor journals that strengthen the program, also contributing to greater international qualification of human Resources. In the current phase, the faculty and the Coordination of the PgPNSB Program are committed to maintaining the indexes and the program level 6. Some of these actions are summarized below:

- Increase international insertion: a. enhancement of foreign language proficiency by students; b. sandwich work placements c. postdoctorates abroad; d. Encouragement of the presence of foreign students; e. support the participation of visiting professors from foreign institutions; f. increase the number of formal bilateral agreements with foreign institutions; stimulate the reception of TWAS fellows - Accredit already qualified new teachers, with international experience or who have come from the country's excellence programs, to support the Permanent Nucleus; - Continue the mobilisation of financial resources to implement the infrastructure with the acquisition of equipment and maintenance of laboratories and classrooms, to enable the addition of new techniques available to the lines of research from the PgPNSB; - Review the accreditation standards; - Review Resolution 32/2015, which regulates our Program - Increase the number of Scholarships for PhDs; - Strengthen the visibility of the already present course on the home page, facebook and twitter, with the production of brochures and organising systematic scientific meetings, but also with the participation and organisation of Upper Program Studies / CAPES); - Improve PhD student flow, for shorter titration; - Prioritise the qualification of scientific production in the strata A to B1; - Encourage the registration and filing of patents for developed products, strengthening technological innovation.

In addition to the items related to scientific production, the PPgPNSB stimulates the Claims Relating to Social Inclusion, strengthening the items listed below: - Transfer of technology to the National Pharmaceutical Industry; - Support the drug analysis demands of the regulatory sector (Compounding Pharmacies); - Deaf Inclusion by Science, with the development of an experimental approach and of teaching materials for teaching science geared to deaf students, promoting social inclusion; - Training of human resources from regulatory bodies' servers in the drug industry (AGEVISA and ANVISA) and servers UFPB and other HEIs; - Teachers Participation in technical chambers of ANVISA (CATEF, Pharmacopeia); - Nucleation with representative participation of graduates in new or newly installed HIEs (UNIVASF, UFCG, UFCG-Cuité, UFRN) and in regulatory bodies in the drug industry (ANVISA and AGEVISA-PB), among others.

In a broader analysis of the PgPNSB, proposals involving projects that are in progress, the faculty, the scientific production, the actions related to social inclusion and the international integration of the program and especially its importance in the formation of human resources for the country, especially in the North and Northeast, its importance for the region and therefore for the country is clearly evident. This importance is visible not only for its tradition and for being pioneering, but mainly for its nucleation capacity with an innovative and critical proposal in the formation of qualified human resources to meet the demand of the Northeast. Thus, besides contributing to the formation of scientific knowledge in the country, the PPgPNSB also contributes to securing human resources and economic and socio-cultural development in the region. Those who do the PPgPNSB are confident of achieving the proposed objectives and, therefore, all are redefining priorities and adding efforts to consolidate what has been historically achieved, as well as setting new goals to, in a collective effort, maintain the space and the importance that the Postgraduate Program in Natural and Synthetic Bioactive Products has gained facing the community.