The academic Master's Program in Sustainability Science and Technology, created in 2011, was designed to prepare future professionals for a career in academia and industrial production, providing them a solid scientific and technological base in order to:

1. raise awareness about sustainable development in the country;
2. enhance human development indices in the country; and
3. develop specialized human resources to respond to social, economic and environmental demands of academia and industry.

In a broader sense, sustainable development seeks to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, respecting the balance between economic, social and environmental aspects for sustainability. As a result, the formal study of sustainability has emerged as a distinct science in academia, involving several current areas of knowledge, referred to as “Sustainability Science”.