The rector of Unicamp, professor Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles, was in Brasília between the 8th and 9th of February for audiences with four ministers and initiated a series of articulations for the establishment of partnerships between the University and the various areas of government.
Meirelles met with the Minister of Education, Camilo Santana, with the Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, with the Minister of Science and Technology, Luciana Santos, and with the Minister of Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha.
“All our conversations were aimed at expressing our availability for partnerships, to strengthen collaboration ties for the development of joint projects and activities”, explained the dean, who traveled accompanied by the superintendent of Unicamp's Hospital das Clínicas, Elaine Ataíde.
For the dean, the visits were important to make the relationship with the government more fluid, making clear the University's willingness to collaborate.
At the Ministry of Education, the dean spoke with the minister about expanding the role of teaching degrees and how much this could contribute to improving the quality of public education.
“An example that already exists and could be expanded is the pedagogical residency. This mechanism could have a wider scope in high school. We have several technical degrees — physics, chemistry, mathematics, some specific ones, such as nursing, physical education, and many others in the humanities. What I suggested is that students in our courses could play roles with public schools and that this would also be an element of help in supporting quota students in these specialties. The objective would be, in addition to contributing to improving public education, to increase the strength of permanence programs at universities”, argued the dean.
“In this way, we would have an expanded public policy, helping to resolve issues ranging from improving the quality of pre-university public education to keeping low-income students in universities,” he added.
The dean asked the government for assistance in expanding inclusion programs at universities, improving student retention policies.
“Our programs for inclusion and permanence at Unicamp are already quite consolidated, but we would like to partner on this, because it (the policy) is still insufficient. Due to the economic crisis, we lost students. We want to expand these programs, but asking the federal government for support in permanence initiatives — which could make inclusion policies fully viable”, he says.
Last year, Unicamp invested R$ 101 million in inclusion and permanence programs. In 2023, the value rose to R$ 112 million.
Health
In health, the dean and the superintendent of the Hospital das Clínicas suggested actions to regulate the provision of public assistance services in the region.
“We want to contribute to improving the organization of health care in the regions served by the HC — in this case, the DRSs (Regional Health Departments) 7, 10 and 14. Unicamp's health area can be the one that helps to think about public health throughout the region”, believes the dean.
Meirelles also recalled that the Ministry of Health is working in conjunction with state governments to implement a program to reduce queues for elective surgeries, but informed that the Ministry wants, based on this first initiative, to form a basis for structuring actions to avoid the phenomenon of long queues to form again. “And it is possible that this initiative and subsequent structuring actions will be launched at an event at Unicamp”, said the dean.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
The dean presented to the Minister of Science & Technology, Luciana Santos, a series of researches carried out at Unicamp.
He recalled Unicamp's role in basic science research and highlighted the University's contribution to the consortium associated with DUNE (Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment) — an international consortium that investigates the fundamental properties of neutrinos, leptonic particles that may play an important role in solving open questions in the field of particle physics. Unicamp coordinates the Brazilian team that is part of the consortium.
“We showed her the importance of Unicamp in the Innovation agenda — the Technological Park, the Incubator, Inova and HIDS, the International Hub for Sustainable Development. The latter is being installed in the form of an intelligent district and involves more than a dozen institutions, some of which, like CNPEM, are linked to the federal government. I highlighted that it will be very important, particularly in the case of this last initiative, an active partnership with the Ministry of Science and Technology”, said the dean.
“In addition, we presented the minister with our recent initiative to discuss a social entrepreneurship policy, to help vulnerable groups and small businesses,” he added.
Institutional Relations
The dean and superintendent of HC also met with the minister of institutional relations, Alexandre Padilha. The minister has a historical connection with the University, where he trained as an infectologist, received his doctorate and taught as a collaborating professor in the disciplines of the professional master's degree at the Department of Collective Health.
“We think it would be important to have a meeting with the minister, because he can be a link between Unicamp and the various ministries. We were with four ministers, but we want partnerships in many others — such as those dealing with Indigenous Peoples, Human Rights, the Ministry of Sports, Culture, Defense, Agriculture and many others ”, he explained. “We want to establish close and collaborative relationships with the various ministries”, he concluded.
