Brazilian Academy of Sciences celebrates 110 years of history

The Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC) celebrates 110 years of history in 2026. To commemorate the date, the organization will hold a series of seminars. The first, “ABC 110 Years: Legacy and Future”, will take place on Tuesday, April 28, at the ABC headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. The meeting is open to the public, who need to register on the official website.

The event will feature a lecture by physicist and science communicator Ildeu de Castro Moreira, a professor at UFRJ and a full member of the ABC. Entitled “The 110 years of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences”, the presentation will highlight remarkable episodes in the organization’s history, including its role in defending science, its participation in national debates and its contribution to the consolidation of scientific research in the country.

IMPA has a close history with ABC. Maurício Peixoto, one of IMPA’s founders, was president of ABC from 1981 to 1991, and Jacob Palis, IMPA’s director-general from 1993 to 2003, headed the Academy from 2007 to 2016. Both left an important mark on the organization.

Part of IMPA’s teaching staff is also a member of ABC. Currently, 16 researchers of the institute are full members, including IMPA’s director-general, Marcelo Viana. Deputy director Jorge Vitório Pereira was elected to the Academy at the end of last year. He will be graduated as a full member on May 7th.

The celebrations for ABC’s 110th anniversary also include the launch of the José Murilo de Carvalho Memory Center, a digital platform dedicated to preserving the institution’s history. The initiative pays homage to historian José Murilo de Carvalho, a full member of ABC who died in 2023, by bringing together documents, images and publications that portray important moments in science in Brazil.

The project was funded by Faperj (Rio de Janeiro State Research Foundation) and developed in partnership with the Museum of Astronomy and Related Sciences.

According to ABC president Helena Nader, the memory center represents “a living heritage of Brazilian science”, by organizing and making accessible more than a century of scientific production and institutional activity.

Founded in 1916, the Brazilian Academy of Sciences today brings together some of the country’s leading scientists and acts as an advisory body on strategic issues, contributing to the formulation of public policies and strengthening science, education and innovation in Brazil.