SPECIAL JU.  ##

Attacks on Science

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JU - Universities and Science have been harshly attacked by sectors of society aligned with denialist positions with an ideological bias. In your opinion, how should Unicamp position itself in the face of these attacks and what role should it play in defending its purposes?

Tom Joe - As an important starting point, it is necessary to recognize that not only the University, but also all institutions linked to science, information and knowledge have been suffering denialist attacks with an ideological bias, with deleterious effects for the country, with regard to its cultural life, the formation of youth and, consequently, national development in its various aspects. That said, it is important that the University takes an active stance in defending its purposes, which, as we understand, involves joint action on two main fronts, both guided by an unconditional defense of the autonomy and public character of the University.

A first aspect to be considered is communication with society. Although very important, it is necessary to go beyond one-way communication in which the important scientific results obtained at the University are basically reported to society. Obviously, we have to be present in the media and in political spheres, showing the importance of Unicamp, but it is also necessary to act more localized, with greater involvement of the University in local and widespread actions, such as, for example, in public schools in cities that receive our campuses. It is through closer contact that a more precise vision of the University's role is built and consolidated. Our strategy of making ourselves known must be able to reach society in its various segments. In addition to the important means of communication that are already established at the University, it is necessary to implement more dynamic mechanisms, capable of dialoguing with people who are completely unaware of our activities. The best way to combat misinformation is to use an efficient, broad and widespread communication strategy, and we must spare no effort in this regard.

A second front concerns bringing audiences to the University that we do not reach in our undergraduate and postgraduate courses. For example, now that we have the lato sensu modality regulated, we are able to establish free courses aimed at less privileged populations and professional segments such as small and micro-entrepreneurs. The presence of an audience that has not historically been directly impacted by our actions can be an important multiplier in publicizing our activities and our contribution to society. Actions of this sort can be carried out through partnerships between interested units, without any harm to the maintenance of our academic excellence. On the contrary, Unicamp will continue to be a "research University", where as much or more conventional scientific research will be carried out and, at the same time, where new lines of research will be initiated, to a greater extent than currently, in areas motivated by the demands social, health and industrial, as happens in the most advanced economies.

With regard to communication with society, it is worth highlighting that one of the guiding principles of the management program “Unicamp: building tomorrow” points to "A university that embraces and allows itself to be embraced by society". This principle underpins a series of concrete actions and proposals that aim to highlight the institutionality of the University as a public good and share the impact of its actions in the areas of teaching, research, extension, culture, art, innovation and inclusion. For society to truly welcome us, it must be able to recognize our irreplaceable role in training people and generating knowledge, of which this same society is the legatee.

It is also worth highlighting that, concomitantly with communication and integration efforts with society, we cannot fail to act strongly with decision makers in the public and private spheres. One aspect that stood out in the pandemic is that, faced with the concrete threat, even in the midst of controversy, a large part of the population pressures political agents for a solution based on science, such as vaccines. This opens up an interesting opportunity for the University to communicate with the different social actors involved, disseminating its values, assuming mediation positions and highlighting the raison d'être of science, in all its areas of knowledge, as a "friend of the truth ".

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Mario Saad - We must start asking ourselves: “why have we come this far?”, “why do we now need to prove the real value of the University and Science itself?” As a University, we need to start with what we are responsible for as an institution that generates knowledge, that is, to reflect on our own responsibility as an Academy. We cannot stop taking our place of speaking and paving the way for scientific denialism to take hold within society. We already know this well, in places where the State is not present, other powers are instituted. It involves self-criticism, that is, knowing at what point the University loses contact with the surrounding population on a daily basis. Regarding the positioning of our management in relation to attacks against science, we are irreducible in defending the university and scientific knowledge, and we will implement the appropriate institutional mechanisms to expand the voice of our scientific community in the different segments of society. In this sense, within the current technological and communication scenario, in which communication tools and methodologies change every day, we understand that it is necessary to strengthen the fields of Information and Communication Technology at our university. In this sense, we have the following proposals:

With regard to strengthening the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector

  • Regulate and expand the participation of technology companies in innovative projects of interest to Unicamp;

  • Take advantage of the workforce of university faculty, staff and students in city, industrial and commercial projects to leverage technological and scientific innovation;

  • Implement an interface equipped with artificial intelligence for interaction with the main areas of interest of society and also in internal processes

  • Carry out ICT governance by defining the policies and responsibilities of Unicamp's ICT bodies and Councils;

  • Make effective management of resources with technological updates for all campuses;

  • Manage ICT processes;

  • Expand the services offered by central ICT bodies, so that they can more effectively meet the demands that arise at all times, resulting from technological advancement itself;

  • Integrate computerized, administrative and academic systems, in order to: (1) Simplify access for teachers, students and staff to the Academic Board (DAC) systems, in full operation; (2) Simplify information access to administrative systems;

  • Ensure access to the global computer network through scalable, high-speed and stable data transmission links between all University campuses;

  • Ensure the fully digital processing of university documents, as provided for by law. Act in accordance with the General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD);

  • Invest, consolidate and stabilize the “Unicamp Cloud” and address the effects of customer migration to the cloud;

  • Study of the technological feasibility for teleworking definitively.

With regard to communication activities carried out at the university

  • Map the communication activities carried out in various sectors and teaching and research units at the university, such as journalism, advertising, public relations, web design, radio and TV, among others;

  • Promote the coordinated management of press relations, journalistic communication and public relations actions, between the central administration and other sectors of the university, favoring the optimization of human resources;

  • Encourage the continuous improvement of communication professionals through specific professional updating courses, given the continuous advancement and improvement of communication tools and methodologies;

  • Provide physical infrastructure and state-of-the-art equipment that provides quality to communication products produced within the university, in this sense, seek extra-budgetary financing mechanisms for the acquisition of these materials;

  • Provide Unicamp with updates in the execution of subscriptions and/or acquisition of software licenses and applications for image editing, electronic publishing, among others, in constant market update;

  • Encourage partnerships with units and media outlets at public institutions in order to increase the university's reach to other public segments

  • Provide consultancy and legal assistance to facilitate the implementation of a Community Radio at Unicamp;

  • Encourage the creation of specific funding lines aimed at the production of scientific dissemination content, in different media and platforms;

  • Promote continuous training of the academic community for scientific communication and dissemination activities, such as social media management, media training, communication management, crisis management, electronic publishing, among others;

  • Strengthen the university's relationship with external communication sectors, as well as press vehicles and institutional bodies;

  • Strengthen Public Relations activities, aiming at adequate protocol support for events held by the university and also for preserving the institutional image;

  • Encourage the creation of permanent crisis offices with the participation of managers and communication professionals, aiming at joint coordination between the central administration and its respective subordinate units;

  • Encourage the structuring of production services for websites, magazines, applications and other pieces of communication demanded by the university community;

  • Nuclear discussion in forums to develop communication policy for the university, with the outline of standard norms and procedures, including scenario transformations resulting from the significant increase in events held on a virtual platform;

  • Strengthen existing communication actions and initiatives at the university, led by units such as RTV, Labjor, Labeurb, Proec, Executive Secretary for Communication, among others; as well as local consultancies, such as HC, FCM, FCA, FOP, DGRH, Caism, Hemocentro, etc.;

  • Support and offer support to units and institutes that do not have communication teams or professionals;

  • Promote social media management and monitoring activities;

  • Promote the production of communication indicators, as well as carrying out periodic analysis of metrics;

  • Encourage communication actions with a positive agenda and risk mitigation.

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Sergio Salles-Filho - This is a question of enormous importance. These attacks have been very strong and target values ​​on which the legitimacy of universities and science depend. We, the university system and the scientific community in the country, cannot lose the legitimacy that we have in society and that was hard won. So, if there is a dispute that threatens us, more than ever it is necessary to face this public debate and defend the importance of what we do for the social, economic, political and environmental development of Brazil and the world. Unicamp, due to its history and relevance, must be one of the protagonists of this dispute.

When we decided to present ourselves to the community as candidates for the rectorship, we were aware that the coming years will present the university and science with major challenges with unprecedented contours in the history of the country. We are convinced that our professional trajectories, which have always been based on importance of science and its countless social ramifications, and our commitment to democracy as a greatest political value give us the foundation we need to face these challenges.

One of the foundations of our University Management Program is the defense of its public, free and plural character, with academic and administrative autonomy. We understand that these are conditions for the university to evolve and fulfill its teaching, research and extension missions, engaging with different segments of society. Therefore, we are convinced that the development of the university is intrinsically linked to the search for democratic values ​​and freedom of thought. In this way, Unicamp must strengthen them internally and must publicly position itself in defense of these values.

That said, how to face denialism, the attack on science, the disregard for scientific evidence, the practice of disinformation and the contestation of the role of the university? On the one hand, with more information, with more evidence and with the strengthening in society of the foundations of academic argumentation, which is based on theories and supported by empirical evidence. We need to demonstrate to society that everyone benefits from these values ​​and that we can all be at serious risk when they are lost. On the other hand, with strategically thought out political action, articulating with other universities and scientific institutions, we work together with agents of society and political actors who play a key role in the disputes that affect us.

Many actions can be carried out to promote, in an expanded and systematic way, communication with the different segments of society and the political space. We must interact more with different agents, we must communicate more and better. This is a two-way street, as it is necessary not only to transfer what we do abroad, but also to open the university so that external views and demands, from different agents, can enter and feed what we do.

In this sense, we will promote:

  • The unconditional defense of academic values ​​and respect for democratic practices and instances, leading by example, and seeking to promote movements aligned with other state public universities.

  • The University's two-way engagement with different segments of society.

  • The exercise of academic and administrative autonomy with responsibility and systematic communication of its benefits to society.

  • The implementation of a permanent policy to defend autonomy among key segments of society.

  • The appreciation of the institution's internal and external communication, with different communities and in varied formats.

A permanent effort is needed to ensure that Unicamp participates in relevant debates and to identify opportunities to build intersections between Unicamp's strategic interests and the agendas that are the subject of attention from members of the state, municipal and federal legislature and executive, as well as different segments of society.

Expanding engagement with society is one of the demands of the contemporary world and a condition for achieving the quality it seeks in the development of its missions. It is one of the success factors that need to be planned and implemented and that can greatly contribute to the sustainability of the university.

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