{"id":448462,"date":"2022-08-22T19:28:23","date_gmt":"2022-08-22T22:28:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=448462"},"modified":"2022-08-22T19:28:23","modified_gmt":"2022-08-22T22:28:23","slug":"scientist-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/scientist-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientist school"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almost 35 years after housing the first researchers from the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS), an old warehouse in Campinas, S\u00e3o Paulo State, has been transformed into a space for the first interdisciplinary bachelor\u2019s degree on science, technology, and innovation offered by Ilum, the school of science run by the Brazilian Center for Energy and Materials Research (CNPEM), which manages the LNLS. At the beginning of March, 40 students aged 18 on average took their first classes on life science, materials science, mathematical languages, humanities, and entrepreneurship, which together comprise the curriculum of the three-year course. All students are entitled to free food, housing, transportation, English classes, and a laptop for use during their studies.<\/p>\n

Every week, they visit the CNPEM laboratories, located roughly 10 kilometers (km) from the Ilum building: the biosciences lab (LNBio), biorenewables lab (LNBR), nanotechnology lab (LNNano), and Sirius, a state-of-the-art synchrotron light source, the most complex research instrument ever built in Brazil<\/a>. On these visits, students often stop on the path between labs to pose for selfies in front of Sirius. \u201cI\u2019d been thinking about studying medicine, to do research in disease diagnosis. When I found out about Ilum and that it would focus on a scientific career from the very beginning, with access to CNPEM laboratories, I realized it was a better match for me,\u201d said 18-year-old student Eduarda Veiga, from Montalv\u00e2nia in the state of Minas Gerais, during a short break in her Python programming language class.<\/p>\n

Veiga and her classmates were chosen from almost 1,000 applicants. The first stage of the selection process looks at the candidate\u2019s score on the National Standardized High School Exam (ENEM) and their letter of application, in which they explain why they want to be a scientist. \u201cI started my letter with a quote by Carl Sagan [1934\u20131996], in which he says that somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be discovered. I wrote about how much I want to be one of the people making these discoveries,\u201d says Veiga, who has a long history in student projects and science fairs.<\/p>\n

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L\u00e9o Ramos Chaves \/ Revista Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span>Students from the first class of the bachelor’s degree in science, technology, and innovation taking part in practical work in CNPEM labs in CampinasL\u00e9o Ramos Chaves \/ Revista Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

The selection process also involves an interview, at which candidates are asked about practical, everyday scientific knowledge, such as how a pressure cooker works. \u201cBasically, we\u2019re looking for scientific geniuses,\u201d says physicist Rog\u00e9rio C\u00e9zar de Cerqueira Leite, honorary chair of the CNPEM\u2019s Board of Directors and founder of Ilum. \u201cIn my opinion, shaped by a career spanning nearly 70 years in teaching, they are not the students with the best grades, but those who are most inquisitive and curious.\u201d Half of the places were reserved for students from public schools.<\/p>\n

The idea of creating a new undergraduate school began to take shape in 2016, when Cerqueira Leite presented the proposal to a group of CNPEM researchers and directors. Among them were physicists Antonio Jos\u00e9 Roque da Silva, now director of the center, and Adalberto Fazzio, who at the time was head of the LNNano lab and is now director of Ilum and a retired professor at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP). \u201cWe noticed that many researchers take a long time to start carrying out independent research after they graduate, especially in interdisciplinary, cutting-edge fields. That\u2019s why we want to offer early education in science,\u201d says Fazzio, who helped implement the innovative and interdisciplinary model at the Federal University of ABC (UFABC)<\/a>, where he was dean between 2008 and 2010.<\/p>\n

According to Fazzio, the objective is for students to be able to go straight onto a PhD, to continue as a researcher in academia or at a company, or to create their own startup. \u201cWe seek to create a single base with a convergence between physics, chemistry, and biology and a strong foundation in mathematics and computing, to train the types of scientists that we see as important in the near future,\u201d adds Cerqueira Leite, referring to experts in artificial intelligence, data analytics, or machine learning, for example. \u201cAs a professor at UNICAMP [University of Campinas], I saw many brilliant high school students who participated in science competitions becoming lost in the crowd when they started university. In my view, they would develop better if they had more attention and mentoring.\u201d<\/p>\n

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L\u00e9o Ramos Chaves \/ Revista Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span>Students from the first class of the bachelor’s degree in science, technology, and innovation taking part in practical work in CNPEM labs in CampinasL\u00e9o Ramos Chaves \/ Revista Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

It was this possibility that attracted 19-year-old Pedro Zanineli from S\u00e3o Paulo, who transferred to the course in his second year of a computer engineering degree. \u201cI realized that I was really interested in data science and academia, and that I can work in this area during my degree by combining computing, research, and innovation,\u201d says Zanineli, who found out about the Ilum selection process on Instagram. The multidisciplinary nature and link to technology also attracted Ana Clara Loponi, 18, from Campinas. \u201cI took a technical course in computer science and want to take advantage of this knowledge. I want to work with artificial intelligence applied to science,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Isabela Beneti, 18, from Goi\u00e1s, was offered places on UNICAMP\u2019s chemical engineering course and the agronomic engineering course at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP), but opted to study her bachelor’s degree at Ilum. \u201cIn the first few weeks, we are already learning programming\u2014which is the basis of research these days\u2014and working with Arduino [an open-source electronic hardware prototyping platform], and it\u2019s really exciting. We\u2019re already getting our hands dirty,\u201d says the student, who won two gold medals at the Brazilian National Science Olympiad during high school. She placed first among the 40 selected by Ilum\u2014of the 10 applicants with the highest grades, nine were women, who make up 48% of the first class.<\/p>\n

In the classroom, students sit at tables in groups of four while their professor circulates among them answering questions. \u201cWe don’t give lectures. We discuss questions and solve problems in groups,\u201d says Juliana Smetana, a professor at the university and researcher at CNPEM. In this first semester, she is teaching the introductory course to molecular biology, genetics, and biochemistry. \u201cIn our first class, we talked about the definition of life. The students were prompted to come up with a concept based on their own research. The classes are busy and noisy, because everyone gets involved,\u201d she explains. Theoretical classes were designed to fit around activities at the institution\u2019s laboratories\u2014information technology, life sciences, and material sciences\u2014where students can use equipment such as atomic force microscopes and tunneling microscopes, which allow atoms and molecules to be observed.<\/p>\n

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L\u00e9o Ramos Chaves \/ Revista Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span>Students from the first class of the bachelor’s degree in science, technology, and innovation taking part in practical work in CNPEM labs in CampinasL\u00e9o Ramos Chaves \/ Revista Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

The content and exercises are available on open-source learning platform Moodle, which is preinstalled on the laptops given to students at the beginning of the course. \u201cLaptops are one of the key tools of our active teaching methodology, which is designed to place the student as the protagonist, with learning based on problem solving. The professor is a mediator,\u201d explains physicist Nelson Studart, retired professor at the Federal University of S\u00e3o Carlos (UFSCar) and academic coordinator at Ilum.<\/p>\n

According to Studart, sitting students together increases peer-to-peer learning, since students who excel at particular subjects can help the others. The classrooms also have mobile whiteboards, with students encouraged to move them around, noting down ideas as they carry out practical activities. \u201cWe looked at the teaching models used in courses at Harvard University and MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology], where they practice technological support and strong interaction, combined with the dialogue method proposed by educator Paulo Freire [1921\u20131997]. The professor teaches, but also learns.\u201d<\/p>\n

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L\u00e9o Ramos Chaves \/ Revista Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span>Students from the first class of the bachelor’s degree in science, technology, and innovation taking part in practical work in CNPEM labs in CampinasL\u00e9o Ramos Chaves \/ Revista Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Immersion at the CNPEM laboratories occurs progressively, starting with visits and small tasks carried out under the supervision of scientists from the facilities. The plan is for students to spend every day of the week in the labs during the last semester, working on regular projects in groups. \u201cThis is important because it\u2019s no use being a genius if you only know how to work alone. A good scientist needs to know how to lead, be led, and work as part of a team,\u201d says Fazzio. Roque da Silva, director of CNPEM, stresses that the course was not created to provide scientists to its national laboratories. \u201cWe hope that these young scientists will be prepared to solve problems at the frontiers of knowledge, such as climate issues, for example. A whole universe will open up to them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Cerqueira Leite says that the idea for Ilum\u2014the name of which is derived from the word illuminate, referring both to Sirius and synchrotron light and to the symbology of the knowledge process shining like a light\u2014came to him over the course of his own key experiences in academia. According to him, the two main inspirations are the \u00c9cole Normale Sup\u00e9rieure in Paris, whose labs he frequented during his PhD and which also takes an interdisciplinary approach to undergraduate science degrees, and the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA) in S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 dos Campos, where he studied his degree. \u201cThey pay special attention to the students, who are given housing and food allowances so that they can dedicate themselves fully to their studies,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

Interdisciplinary degrees are not new in Brazil. One of the first was USP\u2019s bachelor’s degree in molecular sciences, created in 1991, which was designed to prepare students for a scientific career and covers biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, and computing. For a long time, the course had a reputation for the high level of its students, due to its rigorous selection process among students who had already enrolled in regular university courses. \u201cWe are not inventing the wheel here. But the combination of active teaching methodologies, close student monitoring, the interdisciplinary curriculum, immersion at CNPEM\u2014the largest research infrastructure available in the country today\u2014and the other benefits we offer make the course unique in Brazil,\u201d highlights Roque.<\/p>\n

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L\u00e9o Ramos Chaves \/ Revista Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span>Students from the first class of the bachelor’s degree in science, technology, and innovation taking part in practical work in CNPEM labs in CampinasL\u00e9o Ramos Chaves \/ Revista Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

The school is maintained by the Brazilian Ministry of Education and funds are transferred to CNPEM by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation. In 2018, Ilum received R$15 million to structure the project, purchase equipment, and renovate the building, which in the late 1980s housed the first parts of the UVX: the LNLS\u2019s first particle accelerator. In 2020, it received R$9.7 million and in 2021, R$9.8 million. The 2022 budget is still under negotiation and should be around the same amount, according to Fazzio. The selection process for the second class will take place later this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials creates interdisciplinary undergraduate course to train high-level researchers","protected":false},"author":684,"featured_media":448467,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[166],"tags":[226,234],"coauthors":[2721],"class_list":["post-448462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-policies-st-en","tag-education","tag-finance"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/684"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448462"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":448498,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448462\/revisions\/448498"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/448467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448462"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=448462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}