Serrapilheira: 'How Jacob Palis inspired the creation of Serrapilheira'
Reproduction of the article from the Serrapilheira Institute.
At the launch of Serrapilheira in March 2017, a specific name was mentioned as the seed that germinated and became the first private institute for the promotion of science in Brazil: the mathematician Jacob Palis, who died last week, on May 7th, at the age of 85.
It is no coincidence that the launch took place at the Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA), an institution of excellence in research in the field, where Jacob Palis was a researcher for over 50 years. He was one of the main figures responsible for making IMPA an international reference in the field and launching Brazilian mathematics onto the world stage.
At the event, João Moreira Salles, one of the founders of Serrapilheira, told the audience that, in 2010, Palis invited him to give a lecture at a symposium of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, then presided over by the mathematician. There, Salles became aware of a certain imbalance between areas of science. "Last year, PUC-Rio [where he taught film studies] graduated three physicists, two mathematicians, and 27 film school graduates," he wrote shortly after the symposium, in an article published in Folha de S.Paulo.
From then on, the idea of a private, non-profit institute to support bold and creative young scientists began to take shape. The idea gained momentum when Artur Avila, Jacob Palis's "academic grandson," became the first Brazilian – and the only mathematician trained in the Southern Hemisphere – to receive the Fields Medal (the "Nobel" of mathematics) in 2014.
Faced with the realization that the country lacked "heroic" scientists—just as we have "heroic" soccer players or musicians—the desire grew to create a private institute that would contribute to valuing Brazilian science. The founders then began visiting institutions abroad in search of references.
“The idea, in a way, arose from a request by Jacob,” comments Hugo Aguilaniu, CEO of Serrapilheira. Upon hearing about his role in the creation of the institute, Jacob Palis became emotional in the audience, according to an article published on the IMPA website .
An article about Jacob Palis's work, published in piauí magazine in August 2014, ends with a piece of advice from the mathematician to those starting out in science: "Be bold."