The Ilum School of Science, the undergraduate degree program at CNPEM (the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials) received former professor Luiz Marques, who taught at Ilum from 2022 to 2024, for a lecture on the climate emergency. Recognized for his studies on environmental crises and global change, Marques highlighted the role of science and society in the face of environmental challenges.
With a degree in Social Science and a doctorate in Art History, Marques pointed out that “climate anxiety” is already deeply affecting the younger generation. He consequently opted to describe not only the current critical scenario, but also potential courses of action in the short, medium, and long term. Among the proposed strategies, he stressed the importance of student organization, scientific communication, and creation of information platforms for society.
Marques also called attention to one central aspect: although the natural sciences offer consistent data on environmental impacts, societal response remains unpredictable — which leaves room for both hope and risk. “The role of young scientists today is to respond to the trust that society places in science,” he said.
Reflecting on his experience teaching at Ilum, the former professor emphasized the importance of interdisciplinarity. He recalled Ilum’s Humanities Program, which connects history, art, culture and contemporary debates, making it possible to understand issues like the climate crisis as broadly as possibly by integrating the natural sciences with the humanities.
For Marques, this integration is fundamental: “The climate issue isn’t just scientific, it’s also social, cultural and political. Ilum, with its interdisciplinary method, is well-positioned to train young people who understand the complexity of our time and contribute to the transformations that are needed.”
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).
