Project has funded talent in different knowledge areas for nearly 40 years
Gabriela Frajtag, a student in her final year of the Bachelor of Science and Technology program at the Ilum School of Science, is one of the winners of the 2025 Líderes Estudar scholarship program awarded by Fundação Estudar, a non-profit organization that works to identify and catalyze the potential of each new generation of Brazilian young people. Since 1991, this initiative has helped young people continue their studies through financial resources. Inclusion in this exclusive group also provides contacts and knowledge exchange with important figures in the areas of education, science, policy and administration.
“It is a great honor. I’ve always wanted and hoped to be part of this community that has so many successful people, it makes me very proud. I can look at my own history and think that things are going in the right direction,” said Gabriela.
As an Ilum student whose undergraduate education is currently guaranteed through the school’s benefits (like room, board and transportation), this scholarship is especially important for the network of qualified contacts it offers as she continues her training in science and technology.
“The main thing for me is definitely the network of contacts and support. Knowing that if I have any questions, whether they’re academic, philosophical or very technical, I will have a group of highly qualified people that can help. And there are many scientists in this network, which is really good.”
In order to obtain one of the 40 scholarships offered in 2025, Gabriela participated in an extensive selection process that included 3 virtual meetings for a psychological assessment, reasoning test, and technical interview. The final stage brought together current scholarship recipients and this year’s candidates in an extensive dynamic meeting held in the city of São Paulo. The winners of the new scholarships were announced on June 27. On September 1, an event will be held in São Paulo gathering all the program’s participants since 1991, which is expected to strengthen bonds with the new scholarship winners.
About Ilum
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 a state-of-the-art, multi-user and multidisciplinary scientific environment with activities 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 and is responsible for Sirius, the country’s largest scientific research infrastructure, CNPEM 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. Research and development activities at CNPEM are conducted by its National Laboratories in the areas of Synchrotron Light (LNLS), Biosciences (LNBio), Nanotechnology (LNNano), and Biorenewables (LNBR), as well as the Ilum School of Science, which offers a bachelor’s degree program in science and technology with support from the Ministry of Education (MEC).
