The Ilum School of Science offers a free, full-time program over three years that includes room and board as well as access to state-of-the-art laboratories
Applications are now being accepted as part of the free admissions process for the Ilum School of Science, the educational arm of the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) in Campinas, São Paulo. The school offers an innovative interdisciplinary program for 40 students to enroll in its Bachelor of Science and Technology degree program each year; half of these slots are set aside for applicants from public schools.
The program extends over three years, and students receive housing, meals, transportation, a laptop computer, English lessons and psychological support. They also have the unique opportunity to use the advanced laboratories at CNPEM (home to Brazil’s largest and most complex scientific instrument, the Sirius particle accelerator) during their time at the school, when they are in direct contact with researchers who carry out projects at the cutting edge of knowledge.
Ilum’s Bachelor of Science and Technology program opens doors for young people who dream of becoming scientists. In line with the program’s interdisciplinary design, students study a diverse curriculum featuring chemistry, physics, mathematics, biology, artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship and the humanities, which prepares them to take advantage of a wide variety of career opportunities. These possibilities range from academia, continuing onto master’s and doctoral studies, to a career path conducting research in public and private institutions or pioneering technology companies.
“At Ilum, students are known on a first-name basis, with constant oversight by their professors, who are at the school full time. Additionally, more than half of the workload involves hands-on activities in labs that are the state of the art,” says Ilum Director Adalberto Fazzio.
Admissions process
Candidates have until December 15 to apply via the Ilum website. The process to select the 40 incoming students for the science and technology degree program consists of three steps: completing the application form (which includes a letter in which candidates describe their experiences and reasons for applying) and sharing their ENEM national high school exam score, which narrows the field to the top 250 applicants, followed by individual interviews with the Ilum Evaluation Committee for selected candidates.
“We are looking for students with an interdisciplinary profile; in other words, those who want to study problems involving mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and computing, without neglecting the human side of science’s impacts. In the individual interviews, we ask questions about the student’s profile and general knowledge issues to identify young people who like teamwork and facing challenges as opportunities for learning, who have new ideas and question paradigms,” says Ilum professor James Moraes de Almeida, who heads the Evaluations Committee.
The interviews will be conducted remotely in January 2026, and the first list of approved candidates is scheduled to be released on January 29.
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).
