{"id":274160,"date":"2019-02-19T15:32:12","date_gmt":"2019-02-19T18:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=274160"},"modified":"2019-02-26T16:01:10","modified_gmt":"2019-02-26T19:01:10","slug":"seeds-of-knowledge-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/seeds-of-knowledge-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeds of knowledge"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2010, while still a journalism student, \u00c1dria Siqueira attended the 62nd<\/sup> annual meeting of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science (SBPC) in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte. In 2014, she traveled across the country to take a two-week course on scientific journalism at the 66th<\/sup> annual meeting in Rio Branco, in the state of Acre. The following year, she was accepted into the master\u2019s program of the Laboratory of Advanced Studies on Journalism at the University of Campinas (LABJOR-UNICAMP), and in 2018 Siqueira began her doctoral studies in public health at the School of Medical Sciences at the University of Campinas (FCM-UNICAMP). \u201cMy plan is to pursue an academic career with a focus on health communication,” she says.<\/p>\n

The course in Acre was taught by teachers from LABJOR and drew 15 students from across the country. It was one of the recent innovations of the SBPC annual meetings: events with greater public visibility designed to promote Brazilian science and encourage young people like \u00c1dria, who are interested in an academic career. In 2017, approximately 15,000 students attended researchers\u2019 lectures and debates at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), in Belo Horizonte.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong>
\nScientists united<\/a>
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This year’s conference was held at the Federal University of Alagoas, in Macei\u00f3, from July 22 to 28, and enjoyed a similar level of public involvement. Discussions included the importance of basic science, funding for scientific and technological production, diseases caused by arboviruses (dengue, zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever), slavery in Brazil, the use of quilombola<\/em> territories (lands occupied by former slaves and their descendants), family farming, gravitational waves and neutron stars, bacterial resistance to antibiotics, and health policies, among other topics. The debates this year marked 70 years since the founding of the SBPC.<\/p>\n

With their changing locations, free admission, and varying themes, the SBPC meetings also attract public attention due to a variety of other activities that have gained popularity in recent years. These include free exhibits by institutions, research centers, and companies displaying items such as model rockets, cosmic ray detectors, robots, and fossils, which attract some 6,000 visitors per day. The last day of the exhibits is reserved for families, and is also free of charge.<\/p>\n

Unlike what one might think at first, these are not just traveling spectacles. \u201cThe lectures, debates, and parallel activities always leave behind seeds, even though germination may take a while. The annual meeting is more like seeding the field than setting off fireworks,” says physicist Ennio Candotti, director-general of the Museu da Amaz\u00f4nia (MUSA), president of the SBPC for four administrations, and currently its honorary president.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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