Vitória Yumi Uetuki Nicoleti won 3rd place in one of the most prestigious awards in applied mathematics in Brazil
Young researcher Vitória Yumi Uetuki Nicoleti, a graduate of the first class of the Ilum School of Science, which is part of the CNPEM (Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials), was awarded 3rd place in the Beatriz Neves Award, granted by the Brazilian Society for Computational and Applied Mathematics (SBMAC). Created in 2002, the award recognizes excellent work in undergraduate research, master’s, and PhD programs and is considered one of the most important in the country in this area.
Vitória Yumi Uetuki Nicoleti (CNPEM Outreach)
Vitória’s undergraduate research focused on the challenges related to tomographic measurements performed at Sirius, CNPEM’s particle accelerator. Through an innovative approach using Fuzzy Cognitive Maps, the research sought to understand and optimize uncertainties involved in the reconstruction of tomographic images, in collaboration with researcher Eduardo Miqueles (LNLS/CNPEM) and with funding from FAPESP. Results of the study have already been presented at national conferences and submitted for international publication.
Currently, the young researcher begins a new stage in her journey: a PhD program in Neuroscience at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), in Japan, where she will develop research on cellular and molecular mechanisms of neurological diseases and potential therapeutic strategies supported by computational approaches.
The recognition of Vitória’s trajectory highlights the impact of the education offered by Ilum. After five years of operation, the institution is preparing to graduate its second group of scientists at the end of 2025.
For Ilum professor Vinícius Wasques, who represented Vitória at the awards ceremony, the achievement reinforces Ilum’s mission: “One of the School’s objectives is to educate interdisciplinary scientists from an early age. This award, combined with Vitória’s admission to the PhD program at OIST, confirms that we are on the right path.”
About the Ilum School of Science
Ilum offers a free undergraduate degree program that utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to train scientists and professionals in science and technology. With an innovative educational model, the three-year full-time bachelor program offers courses that connect life sciences, materials science, data science, artificial intelligence, and the humanities in order to prepare researchers to work in an ethical and collaborative manner in the search for solutions to the global challenges of the twenty-first century. The Ilum School of Science is funded by the Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC) and is part of the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) in Campinas, São Paulo, a social organization overseen by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI). Ilum's educational mission offers early contact with experimental activities, in teaching labs at the school as well as at CNPEM, in projects carried out together with researchers.
About CNPEM
The Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) is home to a state-of-the-art, multi-user and multidisciplinary scientific environment and works on different fronts within the Brazilian National System for Science, Technology and Innovation. A social organization overseen by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), CNPEM is driven by research that impacts the areas of health, energy, renewable materials, and sustainability. It is responsible for Sirius, the largest assembly of scientific equipment constructed in the country, and is currently constructing Project Orion, a laboratory complex for advanced pathogen research. Highly specialized science and engineering teams, sophisticated infrastructure open to the scientific community, strategic lines of investigation, innovative projects involving the productive sector, and training for researchers and students are the pillars of this institution that is unique in Brazil and able to serve as a bridge between knowledge and innovation. CNPEM’s research and development activities are carried out through its four National Laboratories: Synchrotron Light (LNLS), Biosciences (LNBio), Nanotechnology (LNNano), Biorenewables (LNBR), as well as its Technology Unit (DAT) and the Ilum School of Science — an undergraduate program in Science and Technology supported by the Ministry of Education (MEC).
