University of São Paulo: SBPC holds a series of debates on the role of the MCTI research units

The Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science (SBPC) is holding this Thursday, 24th, at 4 pm, the first online seminar that will discuss the current and future role of the Research Units (UPs) of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI). The event will be broadcast on the SBPC channel on YouTube .

Altogether, MCTI has 16 UPs, covering different areas of knowledge and which are strategic for national development. The first UP to be debated will be the National Center for Monitoring and Alerts for Natural Disasters (Cemaden), since the increase in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters is bringing important socioeconomic damages to society, and the institution, together with the Civil Defense , has a strategic role in this issue.

The event will count on the participation of Osvaldo Luiz de Moraes, director of Cemaden; Maria Assunção Faus da Silva Dias, from the Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences (IAG) at USP; Carlos Nobre, researcher at the Institute for Advanced Studies (IEA) at USP; and Moacyr Araújo, coordinator of the MCTI Climate Network and vice-rector of the Federal University of Pernambuco. The event will be mediated by Renato Janine Ribeiro and Paulo Artaxo, respectively, professors at the Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences (FFLCH) at USP and at the Institute of Physics (IF) at USP, and president and vice-president of SBPC.

For Paulo Artaxo, this first debate on research units that focuses on Cemaden, right after a series of disasters in Petrópolis, Bahia, Minas Gerais and others, shows that Brazil still has a long way to go in protecting the vulnerable population. in relation to extreme weather events. “The synchrony between Cemaden’s action with the Civil Defense and city halls needs to be improved, so that science can help protect the population,” he says.