27/01/2020

Folha highlights the arrival of a new researcher at IMPA.

Marlene Bergamo/Folhapress

The arrival of another woman, the Italian Luciana Luna Lomonaco, to the IMPA research staff was the subject of an article in Folha de S. Paulo published on Friday (17). The report by Gabriel Alves addresses the challenges faced by women to pursue careers in the exact sciences. The text highlights the trajectories of Luna and fellow IMPA researcher Carolina Araujo, as well as mentioning the institute's initiatives to increase gender diversity in mathematics.

Born in Bresso, near Milan, Luna grew up in the village of Peschiera del Garda and studied at the University of Padua. The Italian woman recounted difficult experiences throughout her professional career. “Some professors lacked patience and were arrogant, in addition to presenting the content in an axiomatic, heavy way. I went into mathematics for philosophical reasons, of course I was going to ask a lot of questions.”

After living in six countries, Luna arrived in Brazil in 2014 for a postdoctoral fellowship at USP, where she became a professor in 2016. "I don't know why, but I feel very free in Brazil. There's more oxygen here, people communicate in a more honest way, mathematically speaking," she said.

Carolina Araujo, from Niterói, who has been at IMPA since 2006 and is an active voice in discussions about gender in mathematics and science in general, pointed out that the problem of sexism in science is structural. "Only recently have women begun to have independent careers and enter environments historically dominated by men."

According to the mathematician, motherhood is a factor that worsens the situation. "Many of the responsibilities for the home and family still fall on women. There's no intention to exclude them from professional activities; this happens without people realizing it," she said.

The report also included an interview with the director-general of IMPA, Marcelo Viana, who stated that the gender issue in mathematics is more acute than in other areas, but that Brazil is neither behind nor ahead of other countries in this discussion. Viana highlighted initiatives promoted by the institute such as the Girls in Mathematics Tournament (TM²), the funding and training of girls for international olympiads, and the organization of the Brazilian Meeting of Women Mathematicians.

To read the full article, visit the newspaper's website.