The POS-DEHA Graduate Program was established in 1972. It started with specialization courses in partnership with renowned Brazilian universities. The master’s program started in 1975, having Water Resources as its only area of concentration. In 1994, the area of concentration in Environmental Sanitation was created. In 1995, the Doctoral Program in Water Resources was created, and in 2003, the Doctoral Program in Environmental Sanitation. In 2010, the master’s program in Geotechnics was created, reaching its current amplitude. The program was considered of international excellence by CAPES’s evaluation, attaining a score 7 (maximum grade).

The Graduate Program in Civil Engineering, with areas of concentration in Water Resources, Environmental Sanitation and Geotechnics, is conceived in three main goals: 1) Qualification of human resources: high-standard researchers, professors and administrative staff, 2) Production of fundamental knowledge for the theme areas of Water Resources, Environmental Sanitation and Geotechnics, 3) Integration in society, in its multiple dimensions, public power, private sector and general community, in search of scientific and technological solutions for geoenvironmental problems.

The program follows the current tendency of national and international ones and is structured with a multidisciplinary point of view and, therefore, accepts professionals with several backgrounds: in Engineering, Biology, Geology, Chemistry, Physics and other areas. To meet the qualification goals of human resources from several fields, there is a wide range of courses, covering basic and advanced courses in specific themes.

In knowledge production, the program develops research in current themes such as climate and water resources, including the aspects related to climate change and variability, development of water resources institutional models, ecotoxicological issues, advanced wastewater treatment, water reuse techniques, biogas exploitation, solid waste treatment and recycling, among others.