“A sort of compass”: From an OBMEP medal to Harvard

“A kind of compass.” That’s how José Alves, 20, describes the importance of OBMEP (Brazilian Public School Math Olympiad) in his journey. A bronze medalist in the high school division of the competition, the medical student at the State University of Ceará (Uece) was selected to participate in an exchange program at Harvard Medical School in the United States.

The experience is part of the “Global Pioneers of DescobertA²” program, conceived by Brazilian researcher Fabrisia Ambrosio, director of the Discovery Center for Musculoskeletal Recovery, with support from IDOR Ciência Pioneira. This philanthropic initiative by the D’Or Institute for Research and Education in Brazil has a partnership with OBMEP and offers scholarships to medalists pursuing undergraduate degrees in the biological and medical sciences. The opportunity to apply for the exchange program was publicized among participants in the scholarship program and other partner projects of the initiative. More than 200 young people applied for the selection process.

This opportunity, which will take the young man to Boston in 2027, is yet another chapter in a journey that began in elementary school, when he first participated in OBMEP. Between the medal he won in his sophomore year of high school and this international research opportunity, he participated in the Junior Scientific Initiation Program (PIC Jr.), was accepted into medical school, and received the IDOR Pioneer Science scholarship.

“I’d say that this OBMEP bronze medal is the most valuable to me, because thanks to it, I was able to participate in the PIC, receive the Pioneer Science scholarship, apply for an exchange program, and get accepted.”

A native of Quixeramobim, in the interior of Ceará, Alves completed his entire K-12 education in public schools. He first participated in OBMEP around sixth grade. At the time, he was already interested in math, but the competition offered a different way of learning.

“When I saw the approach used in the Olympics—which involves different kinds of problems and more interactive activities—I really started to enjoy it, and I began to study,” he recalls.

He made it to the second round a few times, but the medal came a little later, when he won bronze in his sophomore year of high school. The award granted him access to the PIC and opened the door to new opportunities. The R$300 scholarship he received through the program had a very specific purpose: his studies. Alves used the money to buy study guides and other materials that helped him prepare for the college entrance exam.

His interest, which began with mathematics, gradually broadened. The young man began participating in other academic competitions and also developed an interest in physics, chemistry, and biology. His decision to pursue medicine didn’t come until later. He even imagined becoming an astronaut and also took an interest in engineering.

“Through OBMEP, I began a journey that led me down the right path,” he says.

Mathematics as a starting point

Today, as a sixth-semester medical student, Alves continues to apply the skills he developed in the PIC. For him, even more important than any specific content he learned in the program was a new way of thinking.

“‘In general, what I was taught in the PIC didn’t appear on the college entrance exam, since it’s not the kind of thing that shows up on a test, but that way of thinking—that slightly more abstract, more advanced line of reasoning—definitely helped me, not just on the college entrance exam, but in anything else I do these days,” he says.

The capacity for abstraction developed through mathematics has also found a place in medical education.

“I think this is very useful today for medicine, for clinical reasoning, and for the scientific research I also want to conduct.”

It is along this path—between medical school and an interest in research—that the next step in his career takes shape. Through the “Global Pioneers of Discovery” program, supported by IDOR Ciência Pioneira, he will have the opportunity to spend two months in Boston during the North American summer, participating in research activities at the Discovery Center for Musculoskeletal Recovery, affiliated with Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Alves will travel alongside Liz Vasconcelos, a student from Bahia, who was also selected for the program.

More than just getting to know an institution that, until recently, seemed far removed from his reality, Alves wants to observe up close how scientific research takes place on a day-to-day basis.

“I want to learn about their day-to-day lives. How do they do things? What goes through that person’s mind on a day-to-day basis? Because we come up with this idea that seems so far removed from reality, right? Oh, a Harvard researcher—it’s like, my God, they must be an alien, a superhuman, a god.”

For him, the experience will also be an opportunity to bring what he learns back to Brazil. “I want to learn everything there is to learn; I want to try to take it all in and bring it back here, too.”

The trip, scheduled for June 2027, will be another step in a journey that began with a bronze medal at OBMEP and has expanded through various educational opportunities. For the young man, the support he has received along the way has been essential. “All of this is only possible because of the support from IDOR Ciência Pioneira. I’d like to thank them, because without their support, I wouldn’t have this opportunity.”