25/05/2020

Viana chairs the Scientific Council of Serrapilheira.

Foto de divulgação do IMPA/Crédito: Tomás Rangel

The Director-General of IMPA, Marcelo Viana, is the new president of the Scientific Council, now called the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), of the Serrapilheira Institute . In assuming this position, he also joins the institute's Administrative Council, dedicated to promoting scientific research. Renewed after a three-year term, the SAB includes specialists from different areas and will contribute to the strategic planning of new actions by the institute in promoting excellent, transparent, and diverse Brazilian science.

“The Serrapilheira Institute is the best new development in the Brazilian scientific landscape in recent years, and I am honored to be able to contribute. Serrapilheira's objective of promoting science and scientific culture in our society aligns very fruitfully with IMPA's mission,” says Viana.

In addition to Viana, the council includes mathematician (Sun-Yung) Alice Chang (Princeton University), immunologist Antonio Coutinho (Champalimaud Foundation), immunologist Faith Osier (Heidelberg University Hospital), ecologist Simon Levin (Princeton University), biologist Thomas Lovejoy (George Mason University), physicist Luiz Davidovich, president of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC); physicist Marcela Carena, head of the Department of Theoretical Physics at Fermilab; chemist Vanderlan Bolzani (Unesp) and science journalist Deborah Blum.

IMPA researchers Vinícius Ramos and Luna Lomonaco receive support from Serrapilheira.

Serrapilheira Institute

Launched in 2017, the Serrapilheira Institute is the first private, non-profit institution dedicated to promoting science in Brazil. Its objective is to value scientific knowledge and increase its visibility, and to this end, it operates on two fronts: Science and Science Communication. In the field of Science, Serrapilheira identifies and supports excellent research by young scientists and promotes training and integration events. Regarding Science Communication, the institute maps and supports projects in different areas, in addition to suggesting strategies and proposing spaces for training and collaboration among Brazilian science communicators. Since its creation, Serrapilheira has supported 98 research projects and 34 science communication projects.