At least twice a week, Wesley Davi Tavares, 17 years old, and Natan Felipe, 16 years old, leave their homes in the municipality of Macaíba (RN) and take the bus that will take them to the Edmond and Lily International Institute of Neuroscience Safra (IIN-ELS), one of the units of the Santos Dumont Institute (ISD), located in the rural area of the municipality. 1st year high school students at the Centro de Atenção Integrada à Criança (CAIC) in Macaíba, Wesley and Natan are Junior Scientific Initiation researchers and develop research activities alongside master's and doctoral students from ISD. “Being here has greatly expanded my view of the world itself, and of what I understand research can be. Today, my perspective on science is completely different, I know I can be part of it”, says Wesley Davi.
The young people were awarded Junior Scientific Initiation scholarships, an award given to outstanding work developed by public school students at the 1st ISD Science Fair, which took place in 2022. The scholarship is financed by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq ) At the event, students from various educational institutions submitted scientific projects, and participated in mentoring with students and professors from ISD's Master's Degree in Neuroengineering to bring their ideas to life. In the case of Wesley and Natan, the objective was to try to use the Metaverse in a positive way in the health area.
Almost a year after joining ISD, circuits, robotics and programming became part of the daily vocabulary of students, who carry out activities in the institution's various laboratories. “Currently, I am very connected to the robotics part. I started to love tinkering and trying to understand these robots better”, says Natan. He, whose dream is to be a filmmaker, states that the scientific knowledge acquired is something that will directly contribute to his future practice. “It may seem unrelated at first, but everything I'm learning here will impact what I want to do in the future. More than technical knowledge, welcoming people and space allows us to learn new things all the time”, he adds.
Wesley, in turn, intends to continue his scientific career and become a programmer. “Programming is an area that I am getting closer and closer to, and today I have the dream of continuing to persist in this area and, in the future, becoming a programmer”, highlights the young man.
Young Scientists Program – Science, Technology and Innovation for Global Challenges.
Currently, ISD has an open notice for the first edition of the Young Scientists Program – Science, Technology and Innovation for Global Challenges. The program is aimed at students from public high school and technical schools in Macaíba, with the aim of stimulating the development of viable solutions to global challenges and expanding the presence of young people in science.
“It is at school that we often begin to awaken an interest in science. We believe that it is essential to plant this seed from an early age, so that these students see that this is a real possibility and that it can be pursued. Furthermore, the interaction between them and master's students, for example, makes the environment very rich in exchanging experiences”, highlights the Coordinator of the Postgraduate Program in Neuroengineering at ISD, Carolina Gonzalez.
The deadline for submission is October 1st, via the form available at the link: https://forms.gle/jGsdAYWFViVjygg88. The complete notice is available at www.isd.org.br > “Communication and Events” > “Neuroengineering Symposium”. Six of the submitted projects will be chosen for presentation at the IX Neuroengineering Symposium, which will take place between October 16th and 19th, 2023 at the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience (IIN-ELS), one of the ISD headquarters in Macaíba. Furthermore, among these proposals presented, three will be selected for mentoring with ISD research professors, during the 20th National Science and Technology Week.
ABOUT ISD
The Santos Dumont Institute is a Social Organization linked to the Ministry of Education (MEC) and includes the Edmond and Lily Safra International Neuroscience Institute and the Anita Garibaldi Health Education and Research Center, both in Macaíba. ISD's mission is to promote education for life, forming citizens through integrated teaching, research and extension actions, in addition to contributing to a fairer and more humane transformation of Brazilian social reality.
