A partnership between Unicamp and Santander Universities established an innovation hub at the University's Computing Institute (IC), whose physical space was inaugurated this Wednesday (24). The partnership aims to encourage innovation and the development of digital technologies and includes R$2,5 million in investment from Santander in master's and doctorate scholarships. Research will be stimulated in areas such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and the internet of things.
The initial investment will be used to finance nine master's and eight doctoral scholarships. The hub space, according to IC director Anderson de Rezende Rocha, will function as a laboratory where researchers can develop their studies. “Our objective is to develop cutting-edge research that leads to innovation and the generation of knowledge and that at the same time addresses problems of interest to the partner,” he says.
For him, the partnership has great potential, tends to be long-lasting and will bring benefits to both the University and Santander. “For IC, the partnership allows it to work on problems in line with the industry, which are of interest at the moment and which can generate direct social and economic impact for the population. For the partner, they will have direct contact with academia and the University, where there are cutting-edge researchers working on problems that can become important solutions to be applied in everyday life”, he assesses.
Another aspect of the hub's development is focused on the exchange of knowledge and experiences between both parties. Workshops will be offered regularly between Santander professionals, students and researchers from Unicamp. Recruitment events, fairs and hackathon [programming marathons].
“This is another step in the consolidation of a partnership between Unicamp and Banco Santander, which has supported several internationalization and extension and cultural initiatives within the University. The Bank's support in applied research, together with the Computing Institute and other units, will bring immense benefits to everyone involved, focusing on cutting-edge research and training high-quality human resources and contributing to the region's innovation ecosystem and of the country”, assesses Professor Marcelo Knobel, rector of Unicamp.
The CEO of Santander Brasil, Sérgio Rial, points out that Santander is a financial platform focused on innovation and focused on building a culture willing to look at new things critically. Therefore, their teams look for designs in wider networks. "That's why we created Santander Hub Unicamp, whose main objective lies in our aspiration to nurture new technological development cells. We couldn't be happier with the partnership with one of the best universities in Brazil, Unicamp. We really believe in partnerships with the best science centers in the country and the private sector", he states.
