The scientific day of the “Scientists for the Future” program organized by the Patronos Patrimonial Fund began last Tuesday (August 30). The opening lecture was given by Professor João Marcos Travassos Romano, Dean of Research and Full Professor at the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering (FEEC) at Unicamp. The topic covered was “Science in Brazil and at Unicamp: advances and challenges in the post-pandemic scenario”, providing participants with a historical perspective, as well as reflections on the work of scientists and research at the university. “Scientists should be more concerned with generating a positive impact on society than with research metrics. And this requires every day more effort to work in interdisciplinary teams”, highlighted João Romano. The lecture was considered excellent by the participants, not only due to its content, but because of the opportunity to hear from the university's Vice-Rector of Research.
Scientists for the Future is the Patrons Fund's first program dedicated to science, with the aim of training students for scientific and research careers and fostering impact projects. The program consists of a scientific journey, for which 300 undergraduate, master's and doctoral students from Unicamp signed up, in order to get to know, debate and learn about various topics and challenges in research and science. From August 30th to October 20th, registrants will participate in 12 events in the form of lectures, round tables and workshops on panoramas and impacts of science, dissemination, communication, scientific careers and entrepreneurship. “We want to offer students broad and valuable content for their scientific careers, which goes beyond the technical topics they discuss in the university’s classroom, laboratories and research environments,” said Gabriela Filipini Ferreira, program coordinator.
The program also offers Summer Scholarships for Unicamp undergraduate students to carry out challenging projects, putting them in contact with the cutting-edge research environment under the guidance of the university's best researchers. Projects must fall within one of the following themes of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): 2) Hunger and sustainable agriculture; 3) Health and well-being; 4) Quality education; 6) Drinking water and sanitation; 7) Clean and affordable energy; 13) Action against global climate change. The selected projects will be awarded a scholarship for the student in the amount of R$1.000/month (2 months) and an additional R$500 (total) to cover the cost of the project. Students will be selected from among the participants in the scientific journey.
Submission of projects by Unicamp professors and researchers should take place between September 12th and 30th, exclusively through the Patronos website. The notice regulations with information about who can apply, project format, required documents and details about the selection process are available here.
The Science pillar is one of Patronos' four pillars of action in accelerating people and projects in the Unicamp community. The fund offers support to excellent research projects as an instrument for socioeconomic development and the dissemination of knowledge for the popularization of science. “With initiatives like this, the fund seeks to maximize the recognized impact that research at Unicamp has, training talent and promoting projects on themes relevant to society”, explains Mathias Strauss, director of Public Notices and Projects at Patrons.
If you have any questions, write to projects.editais@patronos.org
About the Patrons Fund
The Associação Fundo Patrimonial Patronos is an independent, non-profit institution, organized by Unicamp students and alumni who believe in the transformative power of education and are driven by the desire to integrate people whose stories have been marked by the contributions that the University can provide. . To date, the Patronos Patrimonial Fund has almost 220 donors and accumulates assets of around R$1,65 million. The entity is made up of more than 60 volunteers responsible for managing the fund and operating the projects and the association.
