02/06/2021

Carlo Caiado discusses the importance of IMPA's expansion.

Crédito: Site oficial

The president of the Rio de Janeiro City Council, Carlo Caiado, highlighted the importance of the new IMPA campus for scientific knowledge and for Rio de Janeiro in an article published in the newspaper O Globo , this Wednesday (2). “Especially at this time of pandemic, it is necessary to invest in knowledge, science and research, taking advantage of the internationally renowned institutions that are already in our city,” said the DEM councilor.

The parliamentarian also highlighted that the institute's expansion "goes against the trend of brain drain" facing the Brazilian academic environment, with leading researchers seeking opportunities in other countries due to a lack of resources and infrastructure. In this context, he described the IMPA project as "the key for Rio to take a leap into the future."

Read the full article:

Impa, benefiting knowledge and Rio

By Carlo Caiado

Of all the branches of government, the Legislative branch is, admittedly, the most open and receptive to popular aspirations and dialogue between different entities, groups, movements, and institutions. It is a primary function of the municipal Parliament to discuss proposals for our city, and this has been the focus of all issues that reach the Chamber in the current legislature. One of the first acts of the current administration was the creation of the College of Leaders, where parliamentarians from all backgrounds debate at a high level and in an environment of respect and listening. This is no different with regard to the project to expand the Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA) in Horto, in the South Zone, which has been the subject of discussions and analyses by council members, even including public hearings.

What Parliament has been doing is precisely to seek to mediate the dialogue between the different actors, smoothing out rough edges and helping to clarify the details, objectives, and benefits of the project. IMPA is today one of the main teaching and research institutions in Rio, a sector that represents one of the great bets for the recovery of our city as a center for knowledge production and value generation in the country. The institution, with almost 70 years of history, has been in the same location since 1982 and has already produced thousands of articles, 240 books, and won, with the Rio-born researcher Artur Avila, the Fields Medal, considered the Nobel Prize of Mathematics. IMPA is also responsible for organizing the Brazilian Mathematics Olympiad for public schools, an initiative that has already entered the calendar of schools in all states, mobilizing around 20 million children.

The expansion also goes against the trend of brain drain observed in academia. Leading researchers have been seeking opportunities abroad due to a lack of resources and infrastructure, as the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and other institutions have repeatedly warned. The expanded IMPA will attract more researchers, more knowledge, more scientific events, and more innovation.

Especially during this pandemic, it's essential to invest in knowledge, science, and research, leveraging the internationally renowned institutions already present in our city. This will be the key to Rio taking a leap into the future.

By its very nature, the City Council is a space for plurality, and all council members have the right to ask questions, request explanations, and closely monitor all processes that Rio is undergoing. It is legitimate to discuss proposals, to hear the concerns of residents, and to detail all projects.

But I have no doubt that the parliamentarians as a whole are aware of the importance of the project, which has won an international sustainability award. In fact, the vast majority of council members already support the initiative. This is a proposal that respects the environment, will occupy only 3.5% of the land where the institute is currently located, brings improvements to the local community, and will plant more than 15 times the number of trees impacted, many of them species foreign to the Atlantic Forest.

Having this leading Brazilian institution here in Rio should be a source of pride for every Carioca (Rio de Janeiro native). The R$100 million investment in the construction alone cannot be disregarded by a city suffering from high unemployment rates. And the medium- and long-term return, with the attraction of talented individuals and the development of knowledge, will be of a magnitude that perhaps only the mathematicians at IMPA (National Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics) will be able to calculate.

City Councilor (DEM) and President of the Rio de Janeiro City Council