23/03/2018

IMPA lays the foundation stone for its new campus.

IMPA (Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics) launched the foundation stone of its new campus this Friday morning (23), to be built at Rua Barão de Oliveira Castro, 60, in Jardim Botânico, in the south of Rio de Janeiro.

Authorities from the Ministry of Education (MEC), the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC), the Rio de Janeiro City Hall, and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) were present, as well as representatives from the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, five MCTIC research institutes, and the Jardim Botânico Residents' Association.

The Director-General of IMPA, Marcelo Viana, praised "the importance of the moment in which the public and private sectors come together to bring resources to an institute like IMPA."

“We feel very proud. Thank you all for being here. IMPA feels very honored by the welcome at this simple ceremony,” said Viana.

The land, measuring 251,824.72 ^m² , was donated to IMPA by the Marinho family, represented at the ceremony by the chairman of the board of Grupo Globo, Roberto Irineu Marinho. The architectural firm Andrade Morettin Arquitetos Associados is responsible for the project, which was also financed by private donations.
The executive secretary of MCTIC, Elton Zacarias, highlighted the quality of the work developed by the Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA). According to him, this "very important moment only exists because of the level of excellence that IMPA has achieved." "The federal government is very proud to have an institute of this level in the scientific field," said the executive secretary.

Maria Cristina Perez, head of the Coordination, Supervision and Monitoring Unit for Social Organizations at the Ministry of Education and representative of the minister, Mendonça Filho, at the ceremony, stated that IMPA “will be able to do much more” with the new facilities. “The Ministry of Education is committed to continuing to support this project until its completion,” she announced.

In a brief statement, the president of the IMPA Board of Directors, Sérgio Werlang, thanked the donors for the land and described today as "very auspicious" for the institute.

Construction is expected to begin by October. The IMPA expansion is budgeted at R$100 million, financed by the federal government through the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications. The projected completion date is 2021.

The built area will be 8,140.30 ^m² and will include auditoriums, offices for researchers and students, a library, classrooms, and dormitories.
The architectural design for the IMPA expansion received the 2017 Recognition Award from the Lafarge Holcim Architecture Foundation for minimizing the impact of the construction on the surrounding forest and urban environment and for the climate modulation of the designed buildings.
At the end of the ceremony, a plaque commemorating the laying of the foundation stone was unveiled: "IMPA thanks the public authorities and its private sector donors for their support on the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone for this new campus."

Among those present at the ceremony were the Secretary of Education of the City of Rio, César Benjamin; Federal Deputy Celso Pansera (PT-RJ), former Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation; the president of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, Luiz Davidovich; the vice-president of CNPq, Marcelo Morales; the former directors-general of IMPA Lindolpho de Carvalho Dias, César Camacho and Jacob Palis; and the deputy director of IMPA, Claudio Landim.