High school students from the public schools of Campinas, Limeira and Piracicaba, selected for the 12th edition of the Institutional Scientific Initiation Scholarship Program for High School (PIBIC-EM), together with their families, teachers and supporters filled the Center's auditorium of Unicamp Conventions last Friday (3). The atmosphere was one of curiosity, joy and a lot of hope in this new group, who for a year will have the opportunity to take their first steps in the world of research, guided by some of the best scientists in the country and get to know a little bit of this universe that is Unicamp.
“This program is a success. We have students here who are beginning to experience university and, in the process, the majority end up becoming enchanted and more enthusiastic about their studies. Unicamp is not the only one, but we encourage all of you to come here”, said rector Marcelo Knobel, welcoming the students. Also participating in the ceremony were the Secretary of Education of the municipality of Campinas, Solange Villon Kohn Pelicer; the deans of research and postgraduate studies at Unicamp, Munir Skaf and André Furtado; and the assistant to the dean of undergraduate studies, Mara Patrícia Mikahil. The ceremony was followed by the lecture "Admission to Unicamp: actions for public schools", with professor José Alves de Freitas Neto, executive coordinator of the Permanent Commission for Unicamp Entrance Exams (Comvest).
Anxious first-year students at Escola Estadual Castelo Branco de Limeira, Cecília Giannini Fiuza, Bruno Soares de Souza and Audrey Fernanda Nunes, said that they will participate in projects in the area of exact sciences. "It is a great opportunity. We have to go after it, we have to study and we have to value it, because it's not every day that an opportunity like this appears. We’re going to dedicate ourselves a lot”, said Audrey. “It’s an honor to be here”, added Bruno. “What we learn here we will take with us for life”, added Cecilia, who intends to study medicine.
For professor André Pasti, from Colégio Técnico da Unicamp (Cotuca), Pibic-EM is an excellent opportunity to include scientific academic training in the lives of students while still in high school. “The experience we have at Cotuca is very positive. The program has a direct impact on the student's relationship with studies, in addition to projecting university as a possible path in their lives and guiding the career they intend to follow. This program is fundamental to opening the doors of academic life to public school students,” he emphasized.
This influence of the program on the developments in students' lives after high school was also highlighted by the assistant to the dean of undergraduate studies, Mara Patrícia Mikahil. “I have participated in Pibic-EM for four editions and I have several former students of the program who are now students at Unicamp. Take advantage of this opportunity to experience the essence of the University, which is research”, she proudly told the new students. For Mariana Anastácio Francisco, a student at Escola Técnica Estadual Trajano Camargo, learning about a career as a researcher is one of the main objectives during the program. “I want to see how the university works,” she said.
Implemented in 2008, in partnership with the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), PIBIC-EM is a program run by the Dean of Research, which aims to attract young high school talent from public schools in Campinas and the region. to develop activities in the University's laboratories, under the guidance of Unicamp professors and researchers. “The program is a very important activity for the young people who are participating, but it is also important for Unicamp. We are interested in increasing our relationship with the society that supports us and interacting in the best possible way with the municipality”, highlighted the dean of research, Munir Skaf.
For this edition, 181 students were selected to develop research activities alongside the 57 projects offered by professors and researchers at the University. Among them is the “Science on the Agenda” project, proposed by the professor at the Faculty of Technology (FT) of Limeira Andre Franceschi De Angelis, who has participated in the program since the first edition. “We are going to review the history of science, from the perspective of understanding that it was not a non-linear human achievement,” he explained. The work, composed of practical and brief applications of the scientific method, will be documented in videos that must be produced, scripted, edited and posted by the students.
