Research Training in Postgraduate: possibilities and challenges from orientation

The debate regarding the stricto sensu Post-Graduation in Brazil has focused on the subject of quality in the process of knowledge production, especially after the last three National Postgraduate Plans. Considering this topic also means taking into account the aspects related to the objective and subjective conditions of the postgraduate work. The article discusses the relations among research, formation, and production of knowledge that are present in the orientation work in stricto sensu postgraduate courses. Information collected from 1995 to 2017, at Masters and PhD levels, in Postgraduate Programs in Education, Music Education and Psychology were recorded, systematized, and submitted into a qualitative analysis. The relations between the objective conditions of postgraduate work development and the impacts on postgraduate training through the research were analyzed. Considerations are made about the psychosocial effects generated in the orientation process, which can affect positively or negatively not only the production of knowledge but also the quality of the interactions in this type of activity. There are some reflections about an agenda that considers the work of orientation also as a process of formation.