During a visit to IMPA, MOI begins another year of promoting mathematics.

The IMPA Olympic Girls project (MOI) began its fifth year of activities this Friday (25) with the traditional and vibrant visit to the institute. More than one hundred students, from different schools participating in the program, experienced a special afternoon, which included inspiring lectures, games, playful activities and moments of great fun.

Created in 2019, MOI aims to encourage female participation in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), promoting experiences that strengthen female students' confidence and spark interest in mathematics. At the opening of the meeting, IMPA researcher Luna Lomonaco left a message of encouragement: “Never give anyone the power to define your worth. Only you know how much you are worth. Those who usually manage to go far are not the best, but the most resilient.”

After the chat with the students, which also included Diana Sasaki, a mathematics professor at UERJ (Rio de Janeiro State University), and Ana Luísa Rodrigues, a chemical engineering graduate student at UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), the MOI students were welcomed to the IMPA library, where they were able to participate in a series of mathematical activities.

"I'm loving being here; besides being a very beautiful place, it's also an opportunity for a new experience. Very enriching," said the student from the Maranhão Municipal School, in the Pilares neighborhood, in the northern zone of Rio.

Student Maria Eduarda do Nascimento said the visit serves as encouragement for her studies. “It’s great to be here. It’s an incentive to study for high school, the exams, and the college entrance exams that are coming up. It’s a way to remember that with perseverance, we can achieve our goals,” she emphasized.

A partner of MOI since 2024, Firjan SESI was present at the event and expanded its involvement with the program in this new cycle. This year, sixty students from four schools in the network joined the project, further strengthening the collaboration between the institutions. Another new development is MOI's participation in "Math and Jeans," a Firjan SESI initiative aimed at promoting science education in basic education.

“This year, we are strengthening our partnership with IMPA and MOI. We have doubled our participation in the program. We are managing to get this project to more very young girls and we are able to collaborate with the continuity of the program. We are very happy and hoping that in the coming years this partnership will expand so that we have more girls in STEM careers,” explained Isabela Alcântara, education analyst at Firjan.

MOI continues to grow.

The visit to IMPA also celebrated an important milestone: the significant growth of the program, which increased from 12 to 18 participating schools, a 50% increase. Diversity has also expanded—now, in addition to municipal, state, and federal schools, the initiative includes the participation of the SESI network.

Letícia Rangel, coordinator of MOI, explains that the project aims to encourage girls to enter STEM fields. “MOI's role is to confront female segregation at the most crucial moment: when they begin to choose a career. So, we contribute to these girls making a stronger choice through these experiences. I think MOI introduces mathematics into their lives in a very challenging, yet welcoming way. This gives them the courage to persevere,” she explained.

The program offers scholarships for female students to dedicate themselves to the project's activities, which take place once a week at the schools themselves. The program also welcomes volunteer students, that is, boys and girls who are interested in the proposed activities but are not awarded scholarships. The initiative seeks to encourage the participation of students in the field of exact sciences in general, with the aim of increasing female representation in areas such as mathematics, computer science, technology, and others.