The São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Fapesp) turned 60 in 2022. As part of the celebrations, the book was launched FAPESP 60 Years: Science in national development. The publication, carried out in partnership with the Academy of Sciences of the State of São Paulo (Aciesp), brings together senior researchers from Brazil and abroad, as well as young researchers, and offers a critical overview of the state of the art of science in São Paulo and the rest of the world. Brazil. Six professors from Unicamp collaborated to prepare the work, which has eight chapters divided between the major areas of science and highlights Fapesp's contribution to their development.
The following participated in the preparation of the book: Carlos Joly, retired professor at the Institute of Biology (IB); Claudia Medeiros, professor at the Computing Institute (IC); João Romano, dean of Research and professor at the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering (FEEC); David Lapola, researcher at the Center for Meteorological and Climate Research Applied to Agriculture (Cepagri); Marcos Nobre, professor of Philosophy at the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences (IFCH); It is Marilda Bottesi, teacher at the Technical College of Campinas (Cotuca).
The work was launched on December 14th, in a ceremony that marked the end of the celebration of Fapesp's 60th anniversary. At the event, professor Hernan Chaimovich, from the University of São Paulo, presented a study on the impact of activities promoted by Fapesp, and the senior vice-president of Elsevier Research Networks, Carlos Henrique Cruz, gave the conference Challenges for research in Brazil .
Brito Cruz, who was scientific director of Fapesp and rector of Unicamp, highlighted in the lecture the importance of collaborative research between universities and companies, which, according to him, also need to develop research activities and cannot just be recipients of knowledge.
“Research carried out in companies can be advanced and have high scientific impact. For Brazil to have 2% of GDP invested in R&D, 1,4% will have to be money from companies invested in the company itself, paying the salaries of its researchers in its research centers. Without an increase in research activity in companies, it will be very difficult to have more interaction between universities/institutes and companies in collaborative research”, he assesses.
Regarding Fapesp's role in promoting science, he highlights that its success “results from the foundation's focus on supporting research, following its statutory mission”.
Fapesp: fundamental contribution in the area of biodiversity
Professor Carlos Joly, from the Unicamp Biology Institute, was coordinator of the chapter Terrestrial and Marine Biodiversity: conservation, use and sustainable development. A member of Aciesp, he says that the body decided that the book would be “a way of paying homage to Fapesp and synthesizing its contribution to different areas.” In the chapter, the topic of biodiversity was addressed through its relationship with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The researcher was the creator of the Research Program on Characterization, Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity (Biota-Fapesp), a project responsible for mapping the State's biodiversity. Created in 1999, Biota also influenced public policies.
Before that, however, Joly points out, there was already work to bring together taxonomists to map the flora. “Unicamp played an important role in this, when, in 1995, Professor Hermógenes Filho managed to bring together all the taxonomists in the state in a unique project to write the flora of São Paulo.”
This project was the model for the creation of Biota, Fapesp's first program. “From 1995 to 1999, the community organized itself to survey what was already known, where the gaps were, and submitted projects to Fapesp”, he says.
Fapesp, he analyzes, was fundamental to the development of the area of biodiversity, investing in this field of research since its foundation. “The Foundation made very large contributions to form the state’s biological collections. It is essential for the state, the country and Latin America as a whole”, summarizes the professor, who also recalls the fact that Fapesp was the model for the creation of the 27 research support foundations existing in Brazilian states.
Book is accessible to the general public
Professor Claudia Bauzer Medeiros, one of the authors of the chapter Computing: science, engineering and art, highlights its main objectives. “[The first] highlights the importance of the interaction between data, algorithms and hardware as bases for research and development in Computing; and, furthermore, the fact that the more we enjoy and interact with such research results, we influence future results”, he says, remembering that humans are not only beneficiaries of technology, but also influence its direction.
The second objective is to demystify Artificial Intelligence. “AI is not a panacea nor magic. In fact, it is nothing more than a combination of data and algorithms to be executed on more or less sophisticated hardware systems. In other words, the important thing is not the AI, but the underlying computational base”, he assesses.
Finally, the chapter also discusses ethical and legal issues in the area. According to Medeiros, the language is accessible to a wide audience, which is characteristic of the entire work. “The book gives a comprehensive view of the state of the art and research challenges in various branches of knowledge, connecting with FAPESP initiatives over 60 years. With this, it serves as a reference for researchers and lay people”, he indicates, also pointing out that “clarification of the general public is the most successful way to value research, avoid false expectations and reduce the proliferation of fake news”.
