After an agreement signed last year to create an applied research center in data science, Unicamp began talks to establish new partnerships with the National Industrial Training Service (Senai).
The new agreement lists, among its objectives, promoting applied research in areas such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology or the digitalization of companies and facilitating the insertion of professionals in the job market in order to meet the industry's demand for qualified labor.
“We are very interested in the work that Unicamp develops in science and technology, innovation and also in training, both in undergraduate and graduate programs,” said the regional director of Senai, Ricardo Terra, during a meeting with the rector of Unicamp, Paulo Cesar Montagner. “These are areas in which Unicamp works in depth and with significant representation, contributing to science and innovation in the country,” added Terra.
The director invited the University to participate in Inova Talentos, a project that brings together innovative companies and professionals with academic experience in order to promote research, development and innovation (RD&I) projects. The idea of the program is to transform research into practical solutions for the industry.
“This program involves placing scholarship holders, undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students from the university in an industrial environment, developing innovation projects with companies. This is a great opportunity, therefore, to connect Unicamp students at all three levels – undergraduate, master’s and doctoral – with the productive sector,” he explained.
Terra said that the program currently has around 400 scholarship holders involved in innovation projects with companies, but that number is expected to reach a thousand. “Looking at the industry side, we see a huge opportunity to connect these talents with the industrial sector. We, in the industry, have a lot of needs and I think this is a time for connection,” he reinforced.
Partnership projects
The dean of Unicamp stated that there is a prospect of developing many projects in partnership with Senai. According to Montagner, partnerships like these can be strategic for the country.
“Brazilian industry is reorganizing itself, it is reindustrializing, and I am very happy to know that Unicamp is important for the productive sector. Senai is an important agent of national transformation and I am very happy that it saw Unicamp as a valuable partner,” he said.
“With that, we will try to list programs and projects that we can implement together to contribute to this moment in the country and help in its growth. After all, this is also our role. To help the country’s development”, he concluded.
Research center
In December of last year, the three public universities in São Paulo – Unicamp, the University of São Paulo (USP) and the São Paulo State University (Unesp) – signed an agreement with Senai to create an applied research center in data science for the so-called smart industry.
The center's mission is to develop innovative data-driven solutions to assist in the digital transformation process of industries. The institute serves as a link between research developed in academia and the practical needs of the industrial sector.
