With the aim of offering more than 350 scholarships and involving at least 80 specialized researchers in the exact sciences and engineering, two Research, Innovation, and Dissemination Centers (RIDCs) will open their doors at Unicamp, with funding from the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). The Gleb Wataghin Institute of Physics (IFGW) and the Institute of Mathematics, Statistics, and Scientific Computing (IMECC) will coordinate the activities of the new RIDCs, which will be responsible for conducting cutting-edge national research projects involving sensors for applications in areas such as health, the environment, and agriculture, as well as developing innovative teaching methods.
At IFGW, the Center for Research and Innovation in Intelligent and Quantum Materials (Crisquam) is expected to involve the work of approximately 50 scientists from Brazil and abroad, and at least one hundred fellows, according to the project coordinator, physicist Daniel Ugarte. The five-year program is renewable. "We've already been working on the idea of renewing it," said the professor, who celebrates the project's approval. "The proposal was fully approved, with everything we requested."
According to Ugarte, the budget, of approximately R$40 million, includes, in addition to human resources, the acquisition of equipment that will provide a significant infrastructural upgrade. "The RIDC has a very strong experimental profile, which requires, in addition to theoretical support, a very costly infrastructure. We must have this culture of modernizing laboratories, which are fundamental to our research," argued Ugarte, an electron microscopy specialist. "Cutting-edge science without infrastructure doesn't work."
Innovation
Crisquam will develop research involving materials with potential applications in technological sensors. "In terms of research, we aim to bring together the entire production chain for sensor innovation. There's a significant amount of basic materials research, which could include nanomaterials, quantum materials, and smart or functional materials that respond to external stimuli and generate signals." The project also includes integrating these materials into devices, which involves creating prototypes, Ugarte stated.
“It could be, for example, a nitrogen sensor in the soil, or a sensor used to identify the doping of high-level athletes, or sensors that produce electrical light signals. In other words, the focus of innovation is on commercial devices." According to the coordinator, the project will involve expert researchers from various fields, such as health, with cancer research; agriculture, with soil research; or food, with research on "electronic tongue" technology for product quality control, for example. Ugarte also plans to hold a meeting in January 2026 with world-renowned experts in the field of sensor development for various uses. There will be four international guests.
The program is divided into three areas, the coordinator explained: materials, enabling technologies, and quantum computing. The project came into effect on July 1st, with the signing of the grant agreement. Ugarte is expediting the bureaucratic procedures and the release of funds to pay for the scholarships and infrastructure materials.
Mathematics teaching
At Imecc, the Brazilian Center for Geometry (CBG) will be coordinated by Professor Marcos Benevenuto Jardim, involving approximately 20 principal investigators and 245 fellows at various levels, from scientific initiation to postdoctoral and scientific journalism. The number of fellowships may be even greater, according to Jardim, who will apply for another 20. The project is expected to come into effect in October.
“The majority of our budget, which amounts to R$32 million, will be dedicated to scholarships and staff training.” Among the researchers are professionals from other universities, such as the São Paulo and São Carlos campuses of the University of São Paulo (USP), the São Paulo State University (Unesp) in Rio Claro, the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) and the Federal University of ABC (UFABC).
For infrastructure, the plan is to create dissemination hubs focused on mathematics education through interactive applications, such as the already well-known GeoGebra, which teaches geometry using visual aids and also the printing of manipulative materials with 3D printers. "The hubs are like non-traditional classrooms," the coordinator stated.
Over the course of five years, three hubs will be implemented: at Unesp, USP, and Unicamp. "The hubs are projects of Professor Rúbia Barcelos Amaral, from Unesp, coordinator of Education and Dissemination of Knowledge," said Jardim. The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of mathematics instruction by providing pedagogical tools and meeting the demands for supplementary education for students, teacher training, and the dissemination of mathematics within the community at large.
The program also includes a literacy project led by Professor Marcelo Firer of IMECC, which aims to create a mathematical language in Libras for hearing-impaired students. In terms of research, the program also includes the use of machine learning and neural networks to solve research problems. "This is at the cutting edge of knowledge in our field," stated Jardim, who is working on the idea of making the CBG permanent and institutionally consolidated. "Currently, there is no center in São Paulo specifically dedicated to mathematics," said the center's coordinator.
The FAPESP program includes 29 RIDCs also based at other universities and centers, such as USP, UNESP, and the National Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM). In the first half of this year, FAPESP announced four new RIDCs, including two based at UNICAMP.
