The Postgraduate Program in Psychology (PPGPSI) of the Federal University of Bahia began with the Master's degree, whose first group started in mid-2002. Currently, and since the first group started in March 2007, it also offers a Doctorate course. The PPGPSI results from the consolidation of research groups of professors and students of the then Department of Psychology, and an analysis of the conjuncture that imposed this challenge to the institution. From the setting up of the Master's Degree to the implementation of the Doctorate, the PPGPSI / UFBA has been pursuing an intense path that seeks to fill an important gap in postgraduate education in Brazil, a gap resulting from the absence of this level of education in Bahian psychology. Bahia was the only one of the great Brazilian states, at that time, that did not offer this level of education, although it counted more than thirty years of a consolidated undergraduate degree in Psychology. To put the Masters in operation, it was necessary to overcome the obstacles that had prevented, for decades, the establishment of a stricto sensu Post-Graduation course in Psychology at the Federal University of Bahia. After all, the need to meet the growing demand for graduate education in Psychology was quite evident, due to the remarkable expansion of undergraduate education in recent years.
This was coupled with the need to set up a course capable of satisfying the requirements imposed by the area, and the Brazilian postgraduate system. Thus, since its founding, many challenges have marked the entire process of building the Master course and, later, the PhD program, over the last few years. After three years of the Master's degree, it became imperative to design a doctorate programme that would allow for the continuation of the education of Master's graduates, and that would meet the existing demand in the region for the training of researchers and teachers for higher education. The Doctorate programme held its first class in March 2007 and, on that occasion, it became necessary to request the UFBA Postgraduate Chamber to increase the openings from 6 to 9 (plus one for international agreements), due to the great and qualified demand. Currently, the Masters Programme offers 25 vacancies per year and the Doctorate, 17 per year. The course has an important role in the qualification of teachers, and in the training of researchers in the Northeast region, especially in states where there are no stricto sensu postgraduate programmes in Psychology or research lines that meet the demands of the candidates. The demand for teachers and researchers has grown sharply due to the remarkable expansion of undergraduate education in recent years, evidenced by the large number of candidates enrolled in the selection process, particularly for the Master's degree, carried out by the Program.