From Summer Scholarships to the Future Scientists program, student immersions marked the beginning of 2023 at the CNPEM
During January and February 2023, the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) received high school and college students for a different kind of summer vacation. Two scientific and technology immersion programs were held during this period: Summer Scholarships (PBV) and Future Scientists. Together, these programs served roughly 55 young people who were able to draw inspiration from the dynamic environment at the CNPEM and had the chance to carry out projects under the direction of specialists and researchers at the National Laboratories and Ilum School of Science.
The immersions started right away on January 6, with the arrival of the 32 students selected for Summer Scholarships (of a total of 1026 applicants from throughout Brazil and various countries in Latin America and the Caribbean). This year, the scholarship recipients represented 19 Brazilian states and the Federal District, and 5 countries in the region (Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Venezuela).
Summer Fellows show the flags of their respective states and countries
Twenty-year-old Sofia Valentina Machado Lozano is a Colombian student at the Nueva Granada Military University, and says that she felt an “explosion of emotions” when she learned she had been selected for the Summer Scholarships program. She had never traveled outside Colombia before, and says it has been a very rewarding experience: “From the start, my advisors have been very friendly and want to teach me everything they know.”
Sofia’s project in the Summer Scholarships program involves using cellulose substrates to create products that are competitive in different areas. She says this work will help her advance with her degree project at university in the area of tissue engineering. “Being here guaranteed I would get a lot of experience. (…) And also help with my final project and my work at university, sometime soon I will be able to develop an interesting project in the area of tissue engineering, which is what interests me most,” she says.
Gabriel Marcos Rodrigues Barbosa, a 22-year-old student in his senior year studying physics at the Federal Institute of Science and Technology Education of Rondônia (IFRO), also underscores the interdisciplinary nature of the Summer Scholarships as an advantage. “There are various challenges and a variety of learning,” he says, “I have already set up a vacuum chamber, learned about machining, visited the [Sirius] accelerator tunnels… It’s been an experience with very broad knowledge not just in the area of science but also culture, since we are working alongside people from other regions of Brazil and other Latin American countries.”
During the Summer Scholarships program, Gabriel took on the challenge of working with monocrystalline silica, specifically for mechanical resistance and thermal conducting assays when this substance is in contact with copper, with support from the CNPEM’s engineering groups. Even though it was his first visit to Brazil’s Southeast region, he immediately felt like part of the team. “Being put right in the middle of the researchers’ work, as if I were also a researcher, this immersion and position is what interested me most in the program,” he says.
The CNPEM’s Summer Scholarships program has been running since 1992 and hosted over 400 students over the 29 editions held up to 2020 in order to promote scientific outreach and encourage young students to pursue careers in science and technological development. Costs for all Summer Scholars are paid by the CNPEM, with support from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI). To celebrate its 30th anniversary, the program held a special celebration in 2022, which can be seen on the CNPEM’s YouTube channel.
For more information about the Summer Scholarships program, please visit: http://pages.cnpem.br/bolsasdeverao.
Future Scientists
In January the CNPEM also received 20 participants in the Future Scientists program, developed by the Northeast Center for Strategic Technologies (CETENE) with support from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). Female high school students and teachers were immersed in the Center’s vibrant environment and experienced cutting-edge science up close as they conducted nine projects in different areas.
This hands-on work included using math to process the data generated by Sirius (one of the world’s most modern particle accelerators), synthesizing antibiotic nanoparticles and applying them to seed germination, manipulating renewable materials for water decontamination, immersions in virology, analyses of the properties of metals applied to engineering, applied experiments to discover pharmaceuticals, and contact with industrial processes related to biofuels.
Girls from ‘Futura Cientistas” program are welcomed at CNPEM
One of these students is sixteen-year-old Raquel Rodrigues, who was able to work directly with nanotechnology and particles for the first time. “I am learning new things in order to help people, directly or indirectly,” says Raquel, who intends to continue her scientific studies.
Tauane Vaccas teaches in public high schools, and follows the students in this initial stage. She says that this project is an easy way to conduct scientific outreach and encourage girls to pursue scientific training. “Here at the CNPEM, we work with silver nanoparticles and synthesize them for microbial activity, which is very important for scientific outreach.”
Verônica Teixeira is a researcher at the CNPEM who evaluates the girls’ first contact with scientific activities and affirms that women and girls can pursue science in Brazil. “It is very satisfying to watch this dynamic in our students. They spend time in the labs and experience the regular scientific routine,” she notes.
The Future Scientists program was developed by CETENE and has been running since 2012, and is intended to awaken interest and encourage girls and women to pursue careers in science and technology. Twelve years on, the program has grown, and in 2023 it opened the doors to the world of science for 470 high school students and public school teachers in other MCTI research units such as the CNPEM, the National Institute of Technology (INT), and Center for Mineral Technology (CETEM).
To learn more about the Future Scientists program, visit: https://www.gov.br/cetene/pt-br/areas-de-atuacao/futuras-cientistas.
About CNPEM
Sophisticated and effervescent environment for research and development, unique in Brazil and present in few scientific centers in the world, the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) is a private non-profit organization, under the supervision of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI). The Center operates four National Laboratories and is the birthplace of the most complex project in Brazilian science – Sirius – one of the most advanced synchrotron light sources in the world. CNPEM brings together highly specialized multi-thematic teams, globally competitive laboratory infrastructures open to the scientific community, strategic lines of investigation, innovative projects in partnership with the productive sector and training of researchers and students. The Center is an environment driven by the search for solutions with impact in the areas of Health, Energy and Renewable Materials, Agro-environment, and Quantum Technologies. As of 2022, with the support of the Ministry of Education (MEC), CNPEM expanded its activities with the opening of the Ilum School of Science. The interdisciplinary higher course in Science, Technology and Innovation adopts innovative proposals with the aim of offering excellent, free, full-time training with immersion in the CNPEM research environment. Through the CNPEM 360 Platform, it is possible to explore, in a virtual and immersive way, the main environments and activities of the Center, visit: https://pages.cnpem.br/cnpem360/.
