The first non-profit private institution to finance Brazilian science, the Serrapilheira Institute completed five years of existence this Tuesday (22). The organization, which subscribes to the Fundamental Science blog at sheethas already invested more than R$ 50 million in scientific research projects and initiatives aimed at disseminating science.
Since its inception, the institute, founded by documentary filmmaker João Moreira Salles and his wife, linguist Branca Vianna Moreira Salles, has maintained two funding programs. The first, in support of science, is aimed at supporting excellent research by young scientists in the areas of natural sciences, mathematics and computer science.
“The projects sent to public institutions, such as CNPq and Capes, are different from those of Serrapilheira. Projects from public institutions, which are very important, are safer and calmer. At Serrapilheira, there is space to think about riskier research”, he says. Hugo Aguilaniu, director-president of the institute.
The second type of program is geared towards scientific dissemination and subsidizes media and journalism projects. “What we are trying to do is professionalize science communication.”
The director says that there is a great demand for funding for scientific dissemination. According to him, in the first call made by Serrapilheira, more than a thousand projects were received from all over Brazil. “When resources are given for professionalization, initiatives start that really manage to have good quality dissemination, that is, there is a professionalization of the field.”
More recently, Serrapilheira opened training in quantitative biology and ecology, a life sciences program for young people who want to pursue their doctorate abroad.
Aguilaniu says that this initiative began because the projects for the areas of biology and ecology in the country were not as prominent as those in other sciences, such as mathematics and physics.
“We are going to make investments more focused on the ecology and biology of complex systems and we want to use the strength that already exists in Brazilian mathematics to address the issues of the complexity of life”, says the director, about this most recent initiative by Serrapilheira. Registration for the second training class opens this Wednesday (23).
For him, the future of Serrapilheira will be more focused precisely on the biological sciences and ecology. The idea is that the institute will be able to collaborate for the scientific development of the country so that Brazilian scientists who are in international institutions feel interested in returning.
“The academic system is perhaps not yet very attractive to Brazilian talents who have gone abroad. What I would like to do is modify the system so that the scientific ecosystem is so good that one of these people might think that there would be reasonable conditions to come back”, he says, about the strategy to stop the “brain drain”.
In total among these different programs, the institute claims to have already invested around R$ 50 million, in addition to other specific investments.
Even though the initiative is important, the institute’s director himself reiterates that science funding needs to be operated mainly by the government. “The most important funding for science in any country has to be public,” he says.
Rarity in Brazil
Although they are important to complement public investments, initiatives such as Serrapilheira are still few in Brazil, says Luiz Eugênio Mello, scientific director of Fapesp (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo).
Mello mentions that there are other institutions that support science in the country, such as the Ayrton Senna Institute, but Serrapilheira has the peculiarity of having scientific development as its central axis.
For Mello, one of the reasons why there are few initiatives of this type in the country is the tax rule that does not allow income tax exemption when making philanthropic donations. Here the abatement percentage is limited, while in the United States it can reach the total tax due.
“This makes even more remarkable the support that the Moreira Salles gave when setting up Serrapilheira. It is emblematic, exemplary and makes all the difference for being a reference for all holders of great fortune in Brazil on how to act”, he concludes.
