03/10/2018

Serrapilheira's research funding call includes Mathematics.

Karine Rodrigues

The news is good for mathematicians, but not only. This Wednesday (3), the Serrapilheira Institute launched its 2nd public call for support for scientific research. In addition to scientists in the field, the call is aimed at researchers in Computer Science and Natural Sciences (Life Sciences, Physics, Geosciences and Chemistry). Over the first year of funding, R $ 2.4 million will be distributed to the 24 selected projects – each will receive up to R$ 100,000. The calls will be repeated annually.

Created to financially support outstanding projects by young researchers in Brazil, the initiative considers the particularities of scientific production, which may require additional time for development to achieve results. Therefore, after the first year of funding, up to three of the 24 projects will be awarded resources that can reach R $ 1 million over three years. Afterwards, it is possible that the support will be renewed, with up to R$ 300,000 annually.

“Developing competitive science is a lengthy process, so we allow the renewal of the grant to ensure that the research timeline is respected. Our principle is to concentrate resources on good projects instead of scattering them. Therefore, we expect researchers to ask bold questions, capable of creating new science in Brazil,” stated the CEO of Serrapilheira, Hugo Aguilaniu, in the press release announcing the launch of the new call for proposals.

Applications for the new call for proposals can be submitted from November 5th to December 14th on the Serrapilheira website . Applicants must have completed their doctorate between January 1st, 2011 and December 31st, 2016. If the applicant is a woman with children, the deadline may be extended by one or two years, respectively for those with one, two, or more children. Selected candidates will receive funding starting in June 2019.

Vinicius Ramos, pesquisador do IMPA, foi contemplado na 1ª chamada pública do Serrapilheira

Vinicius Ramos, an adjunct researcher at IMPA, where he completed his postdoctoral studies, and one of the five mathematicians selected in the inaugural public call for proposals from the Serrapilheira Institute, praised the announcement of increased funding for research development in Brazil, both for the importance of the funding itself and for the national context, marked by recent cuts in the field.

"At a time when government investment in research has decreased, this new call for proposals will help researchers, especially younger ones, to enhance their research and develop large and ambitious projects in Brazil," he stated, highlighting the fact that Mathematics has once again been included in the call for proposals.

Supported by Serrapilheira in a project on symplectic geometry, Ramos observed that the institution's financial assistance makes it possible, for example, to continue important activities in scientific production, such as the purchase of equipment and actions that enrich collaborative work.

In the first public call , launched in August 2017, five months after the inauguration of Serrapilheira , in a ceremony at IMPA , 1,955 projects from 331 institutions across the country were submitted, and 65 were selected. Of the five mathematicians selected, four participated in IMPA's postgraduate programs.