Blog
USP and CNRS scientists gather at new research center to study a world in transition
Located in University Town, the International Research Center Worlds in Transitions is a French National Center for Scientific Research unit dedicated to carrying out research in partnership with USP.
Maison du CNRS, in the Armando de Salles Oliveira University Town – Photo: Marcos
Santos/USP Images
A little over a year ago, USP and the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS, in the French acronym), France’s largest public research institution, began a major partnership to facilitate interdisciplinary cooperation between the University’s and the Center’s scientific communities.
The International Research Center Worlds in Transitions (IRC Transitions) is a unit of the CNRS in São Paulo, created in partnership with USP to promote collaboration between the two institutions in the development of joint research and high-quality academic training, involving both institutional governance and the scientific community.
“The international centers created at USP will provide a qualified research and innovation experience, increasing the possibilities of external funding and allowing our students to have an international experience without having to travel to other countries. The one-year review of the CNRS-USP agreement was very positive. The seven pillars showed progress and signaled a lasting partnership between the institutions. In addition, Fapesp’s (São Paulo Research Foundation) funding for the international centers was a decision that certainly qualifies the initiative,” emphasizes USP’s president, Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Junior.
For CNRS Chairman and CEO Antoine Petit, “IRC Transitions represents a unique opportunity to identify and tackle the challenges that lie ahead – challenges that transcend borders and disciplines and demand our collective expertise and creativity.”
Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Junior - Photo: Marcos Santos/USP Imagens
This is the sixth CNRS center in the IRC model, the most advanced form of cooperation the French institution maintains with its partners abroad. Similar partnerships have already been established with the universities of Arizona and Chicago (United States), Imperial College London (United Kingdom), the University of Sherbrooke (Canada) and the University of Tokyo (Japan).
Petit was in São Paulo in March 2024 for the opening of the IRC Transitions headquarters in the Armando de Salles Oliveira University Town.
IRC Worlds in Transitions
IRC Transitions is coordinated by USP and CNRS representatives, assisted by the two institutions’ steering and advisory committees.
“From a scientific point of view, the IRC is structured around seven thematic pillars, without prejudice to the fact that it may include others; from an administrative point of view, the IRC is co-chaired by the president of USP and the chairman of the CNRS, with a director-general, a steering committee and an external committee and an external advisory board, both with members appointed by the two partners,” explains Fernando Menezes, a professor at USP’s Faculty of Law and managing director of Fapesp, who has been involved in the negotiations on setting up the center.
According to Menezes, “the IRC is open, according to its own rules, to USP researchers who want to take advantage of this structure to develop their research, and benefits from a special budget in Fapesp’s new program for fostering International Research Centers, just as CNRS researchers based at the IRC Transitions are treated by Fapesp as researchers connected to a São Paulo research institution.”
On the USP side, the Steering Committee includes the Provost for Research and Innovation, Paulo Nussenzveig; the Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Eloisa Silva Dutra de Oliveira Bonfá; and the director of the Research Center for Greenhouse Gas Innovation, Julio Romano Meneghini. The University’s Advisory Committee is made up of Ricardo Lewandowski, Brazil’s Minister of Justice and Public Security and retired professor at the Faculty of Law, and Gilberto Kassab, Secretary of Government and Institutional Relations for the State of São Paulo.
Liviu Nicu, director of the CNRS South America Office, emphasizes that “the CNRS USP IRC seeks to perform fundamental research at the highest international level, strengthening strategic collaborations and promoting interdisciplinarity. In addition, it aims to train the next generation of scientists through sustainable partnerships and leverage funding opportunities to tackle global challenges.” Nicu is also the scientific director of IRC Transitions.
Liviu Nicu - Photo: LAAS/CNRS
A year of activities
The first High-Level Meeting of the International Research Center Worlds in Transitions was held at the CNRS headquarters in Paris on January 9 and 10. The meeting was an opportunity for the institutions to review one year of the partnership and propose expanding the center’s scope of action to include new areas, such as engineering.
“During our visit, the CNRS, one of the most important research institutions in the world, showed a significant commitment to promoting knowledge and innovation in crucial areas for the future of humanity, such as decarbonization of agriculture, quantum technology, sustainable exploitation of the oceans, artificial intelligence, immunology, and social sciences. The one-year presentation of the partnership projects with USP was enthusiastically received, demonstrating a very high technical and scientific level, as well as promising prospects for joint advances in these global issues,” said Eloisa Bonfá and Julio Meneghini, members of the Steering Committee who attended the meeting.
On the occasion, in the presence of the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Ricardo Lewandowski, a memorandum of understanding was signed between USP, the Brazilian Ministry of Justice and Public Security, and the CNRS to consider opportunities for joint work on issues such as illegal gold mining, Indigenous populations, and crime in peri-urban areas.
The seven pillars of research
Under the name Worlds in Transitions, the IRC will focus its research on crucial issues for the future of humanity, at a time when transitions of global impact are taking place in various areas, promoting knowledge and innovation.
As Liviu Nicu explains, “the IRC is called Worlds in Transitions because it is dedicated to studying and following the major scientific, technological, and social transitions that shape the contemporary world. Its focus is on adaptation and transformation in areas such as climate change, energy transitions, ecosystem evolution, technological innovation, and social dynamics, promoting interdisciplinary approaches to tackle these challenges.”
Initially, seven main areas for action were defined: oceans, quantum technology, computing and data, the environment, humanities, immunology, and decarbonization. Each of the areas is coordinated by a USP researcher and a researcher related to the CNRS.
Find out a little more about what each of the Center's seven research areas is developing:
Read more +
Política de uso
A reprodução de matérias e fotografias é livre mediante a citação do Jornal da USP e do autor. No caso dos arquivos de áudio, deverão constar dos créditos a Rádio USP e, em sendo explicitados, os autores. Para uso de arquivos de vídeo, esses créditos deverão mencionar a TV USP e, caso estejam explicitados, os autores. Fotos devem ser creditadas como USP Imagens e o nome do fotógrafo.
A reprodução de matérias e fotografias é livre mediante a citação do Jornal da USP e do autor. No caso dos arquivos de áudio, deverão constar dos créditos a Rádio USP e, em sendo explicitados, os autores. Para uso de arquivos de vídeo, esses créditos deverão mencionar a TV USP e, caso estejam explicitados, os autores. Fotos devem ser creditadas como USP Imagens e o nome do fotógrafo.