The Pará government will provide 295 additional scientific scholarships to 144 municipalities

Support for the development of a statistical information system was what Jacqueline Meirelles needed to implement a project that was born when she finished her MA in Genetics and Molecular Biology with a focus on Bioinformatics, at Universidade do Estado do Pará (Uepa). “I realized that I could develop a tool that collects statistical data from all regions of Para. It is an integrated research system to facilitate the access of the population”, explains the researcher.

Today, Jacqueline is a fellow in the “Bolsa Pará” program, of the Amazon Foundation for Studies and Research (Fapespa), an agency of the state government. “The scholarship is of paramount importance not only as a form of incentive, but also for our daily expenses. Without the scholarship, it is absolutely useless to sustain ourselves,” he adds.

circularTo increase the incentive for research, the Pará Government will offer another 295 scientific start-up grants under the “Forma Pará” programme, coordinated by the State Secretariat for Science, Technology, Higher Education, Vocational and Technological (Sectet).

The proposal is to give the opportunity to students of all classes studying in the six public higher education institutions participating in the programme. The initiative is working to popularize research in 144 municipalities of Pará.

“We hope to be able to enhance the scientific culture in the state, so that we can generate students interested in pursuing a scientific career, and in contact with science, technology and innovation right from the start of their academic training,” emphasizes Deyvison Medrado, Scientific Director of Fapespa.

From 2019 to 2022, Fapespa has offered more than 4,400 scholarly initiatives, MSc, PhD, Junior Postdoctoral and Postdoctoral fellowships. The investment exceeds 160 million R$. “With the increased investment, it was possible to expand the research horizons supported by the Foundation, and to generate scientific products in all areas of knowledge,” adds Marcel Botelau, President of Fabispa.