Nobel Prize winners laud the São Paulo School of Advanced Sciences

Winners of the Nobel Prize participating in the Unicamp school, Ei-ichi Negishi and Kurt Wüthrich speak about the importance of FAPESP’s program for the development of Chemistry in Brazil.

By Fábio de Castro in Campinas (SP)

Agência FAPESP – A rare opportunity. That is how one could describe the São Paulo School of Advanced Sciences on “Natural Products, Medicinal Chemistry and Organic Synthesis,” held at the Convention Center of the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp) from August 14-18.

The reason is that participating students have the opportunity to watch classes and dialogue with some of the world’s biggest names in the field. Of the 20 professors invited, no fewer than four have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Japan’s Ei-ichi Negishi, Israel’s Ada Yonath, Richard Schrock from the United States and Switzerland’s Kurt Wüthrich.

“These and other scientists participating in the school were invited based on  their state-of-the-art research in Chemistry, not only in the field of natural products, but also medicinal chemistry and organic synthesis,” said Vanderlan Bolzani, professor at Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp) and coordinator of the School. The event is held as part of the São Paulo School of Advanced Sciences (ESPCA), a FAPESP-funded program.

The event is unique opportunity not only for the 100 post-graduate students, 50 of which from abroad, but also, according to reports, for the professors themselves. The professors also commented on the importance of being able to come to Brazil and exchange knowledge with local scientists.

Negishi, the 2009 Nobel Laureate, comments that Brazilian researchers have the potential to make important contributions to science. “Brazil is a very promising emerging nation in science and has all the conditions to win a Nobel Prize, for example. The first time a Japanese citizen won the prize was in 1949, only four years after the country was devastated by the Second World War,” he said.

According to him, the field of Chemistry is growing exceptionally fast in Brazil. “FAPESP’s ESPCA program is proof of this. I was very enthused by the format. I think it’s this type of initiative that will certainly have a large impact in the future on these young people and this country,” he said.  

“When I saw the Chemistry School’s program, I was surprised at the quality of the researchers invited. It’s not easy to get a group of lecturers of this level together. I don’t remember ever having been to anything like it,” he affirmed. 

Support for research

Wüthrich, the 2002 Nobel Laureate, noted that Brazil has increased its international scientific cooperation, but still needs to make this process more stable. “There are many people in the country working together for excellent research. But it’s very important to keep the process evolving continually,” he said. 

“I have the impression that there is a certain element of instability in Brazil. I was here over 30 years ago, when there were already excellent institutions working on large international cooperative efforts. But when funding would fall through, research came to a standstill. I think that stability is a fundamental question, with investments of ten or more years for research,” said Wüthrich, who praised FAPESP’s initiative through the ESPCA.

Another important point for Brazilian research according to Wüthrich would be improving basic education. “It’s very difficult to keep a good education stable and on a level of excellence in post-graduate work, if it is founded on mediocre basic education. My Brazilian colleagues really feel the effects of this. Brazil has excellent research, but needs to improve basic education so this process can become sustainable on the long term,” he affirmed. 

“International cooperation is extremely important. Brazil is evolving quite a bit in this sense. But a solid, stable, lasting base has to be established. It’s necessary to gain international trust. I believe the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup will help in this regard,” said Wüthrich, whose undergraduate degree is in Physical Education, his original field of work before dedicating himself to Chemistry. “Sports undoubtedly brought a great deal to my science. I began to work with chemistry because of my interest in questions dealing with doping. Being interdisciplinary is fundamental,” he affirmed. 

According to Wütrich, one of the most difficult challenges to Chemistry over the next hundred years isn’t of a scientific nature, nor is it technological: it’s the mission to win over society’s trust. “With advances in technology, we have many possibilities and Chemistry is making many discoveries. But there is still a great deal of mistrust from the population in terms of what we do. One of our main challenges is to gain—or regain—the trust and support of the population. I think it’s the only way we will get the support for more investment and to be able to better use our possibilities,” he affirmed.