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On Course to do Research in Brazil
During the São Paulo Advanced Science Course – New Developments in the Field of Synchrotron Radiation participants learned about FAPESP funding opportunities
Agência FAPESP – Abduleziz Ablat, 28, already knows the path he will follow in 2012 when he completes his doctorate in condensed matter physics at the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. He plans to apply for a postdoctoral or research position at a Brazilian university or research center.
“The infrastructure for research in Brazil is just as good as in China and other countries I have visited and there are Brazilian scientists doing high-level research in fields such as biotechnology. I think doing a post-doc at a Brazilian university or research institution will be really important for my scientific career,” he told Agência FAPESP.
Ablat reached his decision after taking part in the São Paulo School of Advanced Science – New Developments in the Field of Synchrotron Radiation, which took place in January at the Laboratório Nacional de Luz Síncrotron (LNLS, National Synchrotron Light Laboratory) in the city of Campinas (state of São Paulo).
In addition to training participants in various areas of advanced research, the course on synchrotron radiation, sponsored by FAPESP as part of the Escola São Paulo de Ciencia Avancada (ESPCA, São Paulo School of Advanced Science), also attracted foreign scientific talent to develop research projects in the state of São Paulo.
During the event, participants learned about FAPESP funding opportunities such as postdoctoral fellowships and the Young Researchers at Emerging Centers Program.
In addition to getting to know the LNLS, during the closing days of the meeting, participants also visited the campus of the Universidade de São Paulo (USP, University of São Paulo), in the state capital, as well as the campus of the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp, State University at Campinas).
During these visits, members of the physics, chemistry and biology departments of the state universities made presentations to participants about the research carried out by their groups.
The result was that some course participants became interested in carrying out their PhD and postdoctoral studies in Brazil, or in starting collaborations with Brazilian researchers.
In a poll carried out by Yves Petroff, scientific director of the LNLS and coordinator of the course, 47 of the 64 foreign students who attended said they would be interested in doing PhD or postdoctoral studies in Brazil.
“We are already in touch with seven students who plan on coming to Brazil as early as next year,” said Petroff. One of them is Olga Paseka, a PhD candidate in optics and photonics at the Faculty of Physics at Moscow State University.
During the course and the visits to institutions in the state of São Paulo, Olga took advantage of the chance to make contact with scientists in her research field and to seek out opportunities to begin a postdoctoral fellowship in the state soon after she defends her PhD thesis in 2012.
“I would really like to do a post-doc in São Paulo. I was very impressed with the research infrastructure at the institutions I visited,” she said.
Another “foreign” student who attended the course is Benjamin Salles, a postdoctoral researcher at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tsukuba, Japan, who says he plans to hold off on a decision to come to São Paulo.
Although born in Brazil, Salles is also a French citizen. He moved to France after high school and earned his undergraduate degree, master’s degree and PhD in physics at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, in Paris.
After attending the course, Salles is now considering the possibility of returning to his country of birth to carry out his first research in the field of spintronics.
“My reason for attending the course was to see how research is progressing in Brazil. I was able to see that it is evolving very quickly and that a lot of opportunities are opening up. For now, I still want to enrich my professional experience in other countries, but probably in five to eight years I plan to find a chance to do research in Brazil,” he said.
Attractive Fellowships
According to Petroff, the large number of foreign students interested in attending the ESPCA program at the LNLS and in pursuing PhD or postdoctoral work in Brazil is an indicator of increasing interest in Brazilian research.
Altogether, 260 students from more than 40 countries applied to participate in the course. Of that number, 75 students from 22 countries took part and attended workshops with renowned researchers like Ada Yonath, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2009, and Albert Fert, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics in 2007.
“There are some cities in the world that also offer programs to attract young researchers, but I know of nothing comparable to the ESPCA,” says Petroff, a Frenchman who has headed some of the largest synchrotron light laboratories in Europe, such as the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France.
Based in Brazil since 2009, Petroff believes foreign students are interested in coming to Brazil to do research not only because of the advancement of science in the country but also due to the size of doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships awarded by FAPESP. “They are competitive with or even higher than those offered in Europe and the United States,” he said.
However, Petroff notes that Brazilian universities and research institutions still fall short in some areas that are crucial for attracting foreigners, such as having English-language websites that describe research projects and provide contact information for scientists.
“Some foreign students complained that the websites of most Brazilian research institutions are only in Portuguese,” he said.
Information in English about FAPESP postdoctoral fellowships: www.fapesp.br/en/materia/5427
Information about the Young Researchers at Emerging Centers Program: www.fapesp.br/en/materia/4479