Ingrid Barcelos is the eighth researcher to win the award which, since 2018, has been honoring women scientists and actions in favor of promoting diversity in Physics
Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) researcher, Ingrid Davi Barcelos, was announced winner of the 2025 Carolina Nemes Prize. The award, given annually by Brazilian Physical Society (SBF), recognizes outstanding trajectories of women scientists and actions in favor of promoting diversity in Physics.
Ms. Ingrid Barcelos, researcher at CNPEM (Divulgação)
Owner of a professional trajectory recognized by several initiatives with prizes such as the International Awards L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science, Physics Category (2021), the B-MRS Early Career Woman Scientist Prize (2024), and the CAPES Future Scientists Prize (2024), the researcher, born in Belo Horizonte, says that conquering the Carolina Nemes Prize has a special taste.
“Professor Carolina Nemes was a teacher at the Physics Department at UFMG, where I completed my undergraduate, master’s and Ph.D. degrees. Although I didn’t have classes with her directly, she was someone I would run into in the hallways. A fantastic, youthful woman, an excellent researcher, who supervised dozens of students simultaneously. She was an example for us women, and her figure represents an important part of my academic education. That’s why winning this award has a special flavor for me.”
Ingrid is a member of the research team at CNPEM’s Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS), where she works on studies related to the vibrational properties of materials at nanoscale, near-field optics and the effects of polaritons in two-dimensional materials. Furthermore, the researcher leads the Microscopic Samples Laboratory (LAM) — infrastructure dedicated to the fabrication and preparation of advanced samples that are analyzed at Sirius beamlines — and coordinates a nine-person team, seven of whom are women.
Women in Science and Physics
Ingrid Barcelos’ career also involves activities to encourage diversity in science, especially in physics, an area considered to be highly male-dominated.
The researcher acts as a mentor for the Future Scientists program at CNPEM — initiative that brings together female students and teachers from public schools in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). In 2024, her work was recognized by the CAPES Futuras Cientistas Award as the representative mentor for the Southeast Region in the 2023 Scientific Immersion module, held at CNPEM. She is also part of the Women in Nanoscience network and, since 2023, delivers lectures in public schools in the city of Campinas (SP).
“My involvement in activities to encourage women’s participation in physics is closely related to my own trajectory. During my education, I had few women references in the area. During my undergraduate degree, for example, I had only one woman teacher. And I only came into contact with a black woman researcher in physics when I was already working here at CNPEM. Therefore, I know how important it is to promote women’s presence in science and encourage new generations of women to pursue these careers. After all, it’s hard to imagine being something you’ve never seen”, explains Ingrid.
The researcher trajectory illustrates the challenges that many women face when balancing their personal lives with their scientific careers. Pregnant with her first child, she decided to become a mother at a more mature moment in her life, when she was already leading a structured team. For her, experiencing motherhood without giving up science is also a way of expanding references. “Knowing that I am surrounded by a support network makes me feel very secure. This gives me peace of mind to experience motherhood without giving up science — and, who knows, to inspire other women to see that it is possible to occupy these spaces”, says.
Ingrid Barcelos will receive the Carolina Nemes Prize at the end of July, during the Brazilian Physical Society’s Ordinary General Meeting.
Carolina Nemes Prize
Created in 2008, the Carolina Nemes Prize is awarded by Brazilian Physical Society (SBF) to women physicists at the beginning of their careers, whose research work has contributed significantly to the advancement of physics or physics teaching in the country. The award’s objective is to recognize the contributions of women to the development of Brazilian physics, in addition to collaborating to reduce gender inequality in the area.
The award’s name pays homage to the physicist, UFMG professor and researcher Ana Carolina Nemes, who passed away in December 2013. Nemes pioneered the construction of a formalism that allowed the inclusion of thermal effects in chaotic, classical or quantum dynamics. She was also responsible for reactivating the theoretical quantum optics research at UFMG’s Physics Department, having her group been chosen by the University of New Mexico Research Center to host an international meeting, partially financed by that center.
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).
