13/06/2022

Report about IMPA is featured on the front page of Globo.

IMPA was featured on the front page of the O Globo newspaper last Saturday (11). The publication highlighted the celebrations of the institute's 70th anniversary and spoke about plans to expand its headquarters and increase partnerships with the private sector. The report by journalist Rafael Garcia highlighted the institution's international renown and excellence in teaching and research, and also addressed the importance of the Pi Center (IMPA Center for Projects and Innovation) and OBMEP.

The article presented data that helps explain IMPA's legacy. The text recalls that its postgraduate courses have had the highest rating since their creation in 1964. Since then, 895 masters and 549 doctoral degrees have been awarded. When evaluated by the "impact factor," IMPA researchers produced on average more than double the output of those at the University of São Paulo (USP) in the same field, reaching a level comparable to centers like Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), two of the three best higher education institutions in the United States.

The newspaper stated that interaction between academia and the private sector is essential for the sophistication of the Brazilian economy and highlighted the work developed at the Pi Center. “Applied mathematics must be done in dialogue with those who apply it, talking to those who are designing a cell phone, developing software, or conducting some statistical study. You can't simply sit down and think, ' Today I'm going to create an application for mathematics, '” said IMPA's Director-General, Marcelo Viana, to the reporter.

The article also reported that the institute was responsible for the training of Artur Avila, the first Brazilian to win the Fields Medal. "It was a very special opportunity that was given to me, and there I had contact with professors and the best researchers one could find in a small and very welcoming environment," Artur stated.

Read the full report:

A final account for IMPA

On its way to inaugurating the expansion of its headquarters, the renowned Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics aims to increase partnerships with the private sector. Mathematicians win, companies win.

Rafael Garcia

Upon turning 70 in 2022, the Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA) boasts a respectable history. One of Brazil's most successful academic institutions, it has always stood out in the production of more abstract, pure knowledge. The center, located next to the Botanical Garden in Rio de Janeiro, trained Artur Ávila, the first Brazilian to win the Fields Medal, the highest award for a mathematician. Now, IMPA is taking new steps to honor the letter A in its acronym, standing for applied.

IMPA is opening more doors for partnerships with private companies. With the help of the institute's mathematicians, the Dasa network of clinical laboratories developed an algorithm used in diagnostic imaging to calculate the amniotic fluid load in the uterus of pregnant women. The work helped automate the interpretation of ultrasound results and may contribute to the universalization of an examination on the health of babies.

The practical side

At IMPA, the willingness to engage in this dialogue has increased even among those who built their careers in so-called "pure" mathematics.

"I've always been more focused on abstract issues, without worrying about connections to other areas, but I'm becoming interested in them. I've been talking, for example, with people from the pharmaceutical industry," says the dynamicist Ávila.

When a partnership is established with the private sector, resources are transferred to the institute, and the intellectual property of the knowledge generated is negotiated in a contract.

"It's a way for the institute to raise funds, but the benefit is much greater because we are offering our students very practical training," says Marcelo Viana, director of IMPA.

The interaction between academia and the private sector is essential not only on a personal level for students, but also for the sophistication of the Brazilian economy. To meet this challenge, the institute inaugurated the Pi Center for Projects and Innovation last year, specifically focused on this type of partnership.

For now, the Pi Center operates in four different rooms within the institute itself, but the space may grow after the expansion of the current IMPA campus, which should be completed by 2023.

– Applied mathematics should be done in dialogue with those who apply it, talking to those who are designing a cell phone, developing software, or conducting some statistical study. You can't just sit down and think, "today I'm going to create an application for mathematics," says Viana, the director.

International renown

IMPA is one of those Brazilian institutions that inspires genuine pride. The institute's excellence has been built over four generations of mathematicians. Its postgraduate courses have received the highest rating since their creation in 1964. Since then, 895 masters and 549 doctoral students have graduated.

When evaluated by the "impact factor," a metric that counts citations to articles to calculate the influence of scientists and institutions, the Brazilian center also stands out. According to the MathSciNet database of the American Mathematical Association, IMPA researchers produced on average more than double that of those at the University of São Paulo (USP) in the same area, reaching a level comparable to centers such as Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), two of the three best higher education institutions in the United States.

These quality indicators would be enough to keep the institute's researchers locked away in a proverbial "ivory tower," living off accolades and indicators of academic output. But two decades ago, IMPA underwent a change that gradually broadened the institute's scope.

A look outward

At the turn of the decade, after the federal government approved an administrative reform, IMPA became a social organization (OS), a new category of public institution that gave it more autonomy.

The change meant that researchers could be hired under the CLT (a more flexible work arrangement than public sector contracts) and that competitions to fill professorship positions could be opened to the international market. On the other hand, IMPA gained the freedom to provide services to entities other than the Ministry of Science and Technology, to which it was previously subordinate.

Five other research centers in Brazil were later created with the same status, but the change did not occur without turbulence. The other institutes were new; IMPA was the only existing unit of the ministry that was "transformed" into an OS (Social Organization).

At the time, some researchers expressed concern. They said that the federal government could promote a "white privatization" of institutions that are strategic for the country. Time passed, and this did not happen.

Among those who advocated for the change was biomedical scientist Helena Nader, now president of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.

"When you look at some other MCTI institutes today that aren't OS [Social Organizations], they have little autonomy, and their resources all have to come from the budget law. This makes it very difficult to replace staff, raise donations, and other things," says the scientist, even while acknowledging that the OS model isn't the solution for all cases.

Medal, medal

One of the first initiatives born from this was the creation of a Mathematics Olympiad for Public Schools, an activity sponsored by the Ministry of Education (MEC). This competition (now also open to private schools) took on an unexpected dimension and revealed talents in the field. One of them was Ávila himself, who, after winning medals at the event, entered the postgraduate program at IMPA before completing his second year of high school.

"It was a very special opportunity that was given to me, and there I had contact with professors and the best researchers one could find in a small and very welcoming environment," says the mathematician who completed his doctorate alongside his undergraduate studies.

Today, Ávila divides his time between IMPA, where he teaches when he is in Brazil, and the University of Zurich, in Switzerland, which hired him as a professor.

The same flexibility that allowed for accelerated student careers and flexible work contracts also enabled forays into diverse fields. One of these was a partnership with the electoral justice system.

"Three years ago, I received a phone call from the then-president of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Minister Luís Roberto Barroso," says Viana.

They were going to organize the 2020 elections during the pandemic and wanted our help to prevent the voting from becoming a source of coronavirus contagion.

Together with epidemiologists, IMPA created a model of the electoral procedures that helped to design the logistics of the entire process, in order to minimize as much as possible the number of contacts between the people involved.