A graduate of the Computer Engineering course at the Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science (ICMC) at USP in São Carlos, Alice Valença De Lorenci has been awarded a scholarship from a British university ranked among the top ten worldwide. Alice will join the group of fellows of the President’s PhD Scholarship at Imperial College in the United Kingdom. This PhD scholarship program is highly competitive, selecting the 50 best students from universities around the world to pursue cutting-edge research. In mathematics, just three spots are available.
“Since elementary school, I’ve had a natural affinity for mathematics and, with my parents’ support and a clear dream of pursuing an academic career, I enrolled in the Computer Engineering program at ICMC, where I discovered my calling in mathematical research,” says Alice. At Imperial College, she will study complex systems — structures with multiple interconnected components, such as neural or social networks. This research area aims to predict the behavior of such systems and infer their functioning models based on data.
Since entering USP, Alice has participated in study and advanced mathematics groups. At the time, professor Hildebrando Munhoz Rodrigues, who passed away in 2023, recognized the student’s talent and introduced her to early advisory with Tiago Pereira. A professor at ICMC and member of the Center for Mathematical Sciences Applied to Industry (CeMEAI), Pereira recalls the early days of his student at the University.
“When Alice arrived in her first year, professor Hildebrando told me: ‘There’s a girl here who is simply exceptional.’ And he was right,” the advisor proudly recalls.
Because of her academic performance, Alice completed a double degree in France, studying mathematical applications for machine learning at the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The international experience broadened her horizons but also strengthened her desire to explore mathematics in its purest form. Upon returning to Brazil, Alice resumed her collaboration with Pereira’s group and decided to pursue a PhD.
The professor points out that the President’s PhD Scholarship has a rigorous selection process, evaluating technical knowledge, innovation capacity, and leadership potential. “This scholarship is like a Nobel Prize for young researchers,” Tiago Pereira emphasizes.
Women in STEM
Alice’s achievement is also good news when looking at the scientific landscape through a gender lens. According to a report by Elsevier published in 2024, the global participation of women in scientific research has increased over the past two decades, reaching the “parity zone” for the first time in 2022. The report defines the parity zone as a participation share between 40% and 60% of the total scientific output recorded in the Scopus database.
For Ibero-American countries, data from the Ibero-American Network of Higher Education Indicators (Red IndicES) indicate a scenario of relative gender parity in the proportion of higher education staff whose main responsibilities involve teaching, research, technological development, and extension. In Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, Uruguay, and the territory of Puerto Rico, women make up the majority of employed academic staff.
But despite global and regional progress, the underrepresentation of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) remains a persistent issue. According to the Elsevier report, women in STEM still represent only 39% of the world’s active researchers, below the parity zone.
Recognizing this reality, Alice shares a message with young women who wish to pursue careers in the exact sciences: “We are a minority, but each of us matters. I hope our journeys show that there is space and that it is possible. To the girls who dream of mathematics: your place is here, and it begins when you believe you deserve to be.”
With information from CeMEAI
English version: Nexus Traduções, edited by Denis Pacheco
