Young people from all over the country have the opportunity to awaken their vocation for scientific careers during the activities of the National Science and Technology Week (SNCT), which will be held from October 15 to 21, 2018 with the theme “Science for the reduction of inequalities”. To encourage the holding of the 15th SNCT, the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations and Communications (MCTIC) launched a public call for R$ 6 million to support activities for the dissemination and popularization of science in states and municipalities. The announcement was made on June 13 by Minister Gilberto Kassab, in Brasília.
“During these two years as a minister, I met countless young people who, when visiting SNCT, had the opportunity to awaken this vocation. Therefore, I think this is the strong point of the event, which makes science, research and innovation increasingly present in the lives of Brazilians”, stated Kassab.
Held nationally since 2004, the SNCT is coordinated by MCTIC and counts on the collaboration of companies and public agencies, schools, support foundations, research institutes, museums, universities and state and municipal secretariats. Last year, a record number of participating municipalities was recorded: 1,311. During the event, 1,016 institutions developed more than 104 thousand activities throughout the Brazilian territory.
“I would like to highlight the importance of the National Science and Technology Week, with the amplitude it has already gained, because I think a State program was created, which is what we are looking for a lot in science and technology, initiatives that are independent. The prominence that the ministry has given to the Week and to its attribution nationally is expressed in the numbers”, pointed out the president of the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science (SBPC), Ildeu de Castro.
According to MCTIC's Secretary of Research and Development Policies and Programs, Alvaro Prata, the theme "Science for the reduction of inequalities" aims to discuss the role of science in mitigating the impacts of these inequalities in Brazil and is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), established by the United Nations (UN).
“Brazil is a thriving country, with many opportunities, but a great weakness is the inequalities of all kinds: regional, educational, social, economic, gender, race, color, among others. There is nothing like overcoming inequalities as a theme for our 2018 SNCT, which is also supported by this great guideline emanating from the Sustainable Development Goals”, highlighted Prata.
Notice
To boost SNCT 2018, MCTIC launched a public notice worth R$ 6.020 million. Of this total, R$ 5.020 million will be made available through the Secretariat of Policies and Programs for Policy and Development (Seped) and another R$ 1 million through the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). Institutions have until July 3 to submit their interest in financing SNCT activities.
Two support lines will be available. Line A is aimed at state projects, with up to R$ 100 thousand for each proposal. The number of municipalities covered by this modality must be proportional to the total number of cities in the state. Line B is for inter-municipal projects, with up to R$ 20 thousand available per project, which must have at least two participating municipalities.
The total number of projects contemplated by federative unit and by support line depends on the total number of inhabitants of the state or district interested in participating in the SNCT. Seped's forecast is that 168 projects will be supported across the country, 31 on Line A and another 137 on Line B.
The call also provides for a technical support grant per project to help organize and register events and activities on SNCT's official website. In addition, projects involving nations and institutions of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) will have priority.
“All are invited to submit projects, proposals for events and those that include our confreres from Portuguese-speaking countries will prevail over the others”, said secretary Alvaro Prata.
In the opinion of the president of CNPq, Mario Neto Borges, the volume of proposals and resources portrays the importance of the SNCT as a disseminator of scientific knowledge. He compared the importance of the Week to the holding of the Brazilian Public School Mathematics Olympiad (Obmep), organized by the Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (Impa), with support from the MCTIC.
“Last year, we had almost 400 projects submitted for the call, and the resource was able to meet 186 of them. There is an intention and a desire in Brazil as a whole for this issue to reach the various municipalities and states. Together with Obmep, they are vectors that have shown society the importance of science and our culture for the development of a nation”, he observed.
FAP support
Another novelty for this year's SNCT will be the support that state research support foundations will give to projects that were not covered by the CNPq public notice. According to the president of the National Council of State Foundations for Research Support (Confap), Maria Zaira, initiatives approved on merit, but which did not have access to resources via CNPq, will benefit. For her, this is a way to expand the reach of the National Science and Technology Week.
“We do this with the certainty that it is a program of the greatest importance, that it has been carried out with great competence and that it has, in fact, had a capillarity and that it has been able to involve several actors. Having this opportunity gives our highly qualified scientific community the possibility of presenting to society what science has done to contribute to people's lives, with the reduction of inequalities at all levels", explained Maria Zaira, who also presides over the Goiás State Research Support Foundation (Fapeg).
Also present at the ceremony were the executive secretary of MCTIC, Elton Zacarias; the Secretary of Technological Development and Innovation, Maximiliano Martinhão; the president of the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), Juarez Quadros; the president of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB), José Raimundo Braga Coelho; the assistant secretary of Science, Technology and Innovation of the Federal District, Marcelo Chubaci; and the president of the Center for Management and Strategic Studies (CGEE), Márcio Miranda.
EN 
PT 
