CNPEM announces results of the sixth call for research proposals for Sirius

Of the 375 projects submitted, 119 were selected for development in the first half of 2026 on the Sirius beamlines

The Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), a Social Organization linked to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), has announced the selected projects from the sixth call for proposals to conduct scientific experiments on the beamlines — as the research stations of Sirius, the largest scientific infrastructure ever built in Brazil, are called.

In this public call, 375 projects were submitted, of which 119 were approved in the evaluation process, representing one-third of the proposals assessed. The selected projects will have their experiments conducted on eight beamlines of Sirius (Carnaúba, Paineira, Mogno, Ema, Ipê, Cateretê, Imbuia, Sabiá), between January and June 2026. In total, ten beamlines are in regular operation at Sirius; however, two of them (Manacá and Cedro) have been operating in continuous flow through the Fast Track mechanism, which allows proposals to be submitted at any time. Learn more about the beamlines here.

Researchers from all regions of Brazil were responsible for 319 of the project submissions. Most of the Brazilian proposals were submitted by researchers from the Southeast Region, followed by the South, Northeast, North, and Central-West regions, respectively. Of the approved proposals, the Northeast and Southeast regions lead in numbers, with a 32% rate of accepted projects in this public call.

Almost 15% of the proposals were submitted by researchers from other countries, with the majority of these proposals originating from South America, the vast majority from Argentina.

Resubmission

Among the proposals submitted in this call, 43 were classified in the resubmission category, which allows projects that were well-evaluated but not approved in the previous cycle to try again. In this group, 19% of the proposals were accepted.

This modality, incorporated into the process in the previous cycle, emerged as a response to the increasing competitiveness of the calls for proposals and the significant number of projects with outstanding scientific merit.

Beamlines

Among the eight beamlines available for project submission in this public call, Carnaúba has been the most sought after, followed by Paineira. In both cycles this year, Carnaúba maintained its lead in the number of proposals, with Paineira in second place. Carnaúba is the longest Sirius beamline, with a distance of approximately 145 meters between the light source and the sample environment, which allows for high optical demagnification and achieves spatial resolutions on the nanometer scale.

As in previous calls, research proposals were evaluated through a double-blind distributed review system, in which all PIs (Principal Investigators) of the call are also potential reviewers for the same call, within their areas of expertise.

Every year, CNPEM launches two public calls for researchers interested in conducting experiments on the Sirius beamlines. In addition to access to the facilities, approved projects also receive infrastructure support, including accommodation and a restaurant on the CNPEM campus. Researchers from Brazilian institutions and foreign researchers residing in countries in Latin America and the Caribbean may apply for financial assistance to use the facilities.

The next call for proposals, aimed at projects to be executed in the second half of 2026, will take place in the first half of the same year, depending on the accelerator’s availability.

More information about submitting proposals can be found in Information for Users.

About Sirius

Sirius is the most complex scientific infrastructure ever built in Brazil, developed by researchers and engineers from the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), in partnership with the national industry. The Brazilian synchrotron light source is located in Campinas (SP) and is funded with resources from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI).

This building houses one of the world’s most modern electron accelerators, responsible for producing a special type of light called synchrotron light. This light is directed to several research stations, which operate simultaneously, and where researchers from Brazil and abroad can “illuminate” their samples and investigate the composition and structure of a wide variety of materials, with applications in virtually all areas of knowledge.

Sirius enables hundreds of academic and industrial research projects to be carried out annually by thousands of researchers, contributing to the solution of major scientific and technological challenges, such as the development of medicines and treatments for diseases, new fertilizers and technologies for agriculture, renewable energy sources and more sustainable materials, among many other applications, with strong economic and social impacts.

Currently, Sirius operates ten research stations, already open to the scientific community, and another four are in different stages of assembly and testing for the completion of what is called phase 1 of the Project. The second phase of the Sirius project is underway, and it includes the construction of ten new research stations, including technical and building infrastructure, as well as the continued optimization of electron accelerators. With this, Sirius will be able to expand its service capacity, making new analytical techniques available to benefit society in various fields of knowledge.