Sirius School for High School Teachers offers immersion to educators in a cutting-edge environment for research and scientific development at the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM/MCTI)
High school teachers in public as well as private schools throughout Brazil, Latin America, and the Caribbean can apply to participate in the 6th edition of the Sirius School for High School Teachers (ESPEM 2024), which will be held from January 15–19, 2024. ESPEM is an initiative of the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), an organization overseen by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), in partnership with the Brazilian Physics Society (SBF).
Applications will be accepted from October 4–24, 2024 for the 60 spots offered to physics, chemistry, and biology teachers. In this 6th edition, ESPEM expands with 5 spots set aside for educators from other Latin America and Caribbean countries. The program is free and includes financial aid for the selected teachers to participate in 40 hours of activities offered in Portuguese, the official language of the event.
Since 2019, ESPEM has served over 500 teachers from across Brazil. For one week, these teachers experience an immersion in the research and development atmosphere at CNPEM in Campinas, São Paulo. With theoretical and hands-on classes led by CNPEM staff and guest lecturers from the areas of education and science, the main objective of ESPEM is to encourage teachers to bring ideas from modern science back to their classrooms.
The event includes hands-on classes, seminars, workshops, visits, and discussions around current topics in the various areas in which CNPEM staff work, with tips on how to transfer this knowledge into the classroom. Visits to the CNPEM units will include Sirius (the synchrotron light source that lends its name to the ESPEM program), and the teachers will be introduced to the research and development underway in the areas of synchrotron light, bioscience, nanotechnology, biorenewables, and engineering, as well as the undergraduate program in science, technology, and innovation at the Ilum School of Science.
The selection process will consider the applicants’ teaching activity, participation in projects, events, Knowledge Olympiads, and research/extension activities related to teaching, as well as letters of intent submitted. The goal of the organizing committee is to compose a geographically diverse and gender-balanced group that represents physics, chemistry, and biology teaching, with priority given to public school teachers from Brazil and other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
More than just an initiative to publicize CNPEM’s activities, ESPEM 2024 has the potential to be a turning point for the teachers who participate, in their training and in their practice inside and outside the classroom.
Important dates:
- Application period: October 4–24, 2023
- Event dates: January 15–19, 2024
- Cost: Free
- Slots available: 60
- Candidates: Teachers of physics, chemistry, and biology high schools in Brazil or other Latin American and Caribbean countries
- Apply at: https://pages.cnpem.br/espem/
About CNPEM
With a sophisticated and vibrant environment for research and development that is the only one of its kind in Brazil and found in only a few scientific centers in the world, the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) is a private, non-profit organization overseen by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI). The Center operates four national laboratories and Sirius, the most complex project in Brazilian science and one of the world’s most advanced synchrotron light sources. CNPEM is home to highly specialized multi-thematic teams, globally competitive lab infrastructure that is open to the scientific community, strategic lines of research, innovative projects in partnerships with the productive sector, and training for researchers and students. The Center is an environment driven by research into solutions that impact the areas of health, energy and renewable materials, agri-environmental, and quantum technologies. In 2022, with support from the Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC), CNPEM expanded its activities with the opening of the Ilum School of Science. This interdisciplinary program in science, technology, and innovation implements innovative ideas to provide a high quality free and full-time undergraduate education immersed in the research environment at CNPEM. The CNPEM 360 Platform provides visitors with a virtual immersive visit to the Center’s main environments and activities. Visit at: https://pages.cnpem.br/cnpem360/.
