Infrastructure for research at the Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture (CENA / USP) - Year 2020

• Grant number: 20/10692-0
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Technical Reserve for Institutional Research Infrastructure
• Duration: November 01, 2020 - August 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Nuclear Engineering - Applications of Radioisotopes
• Principal Investigator: Ernani Pinto Junior
• Grantee: Ernani Pinto Junior
• Host Institution: Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In December 2019, CENA / USP, the Specialized Institute and Integration Body of the University of São Paulo, had its own staff of 31 Professors hired in RDIDP, of which 9 are Full Professors (29.0%), 13 Associate Professors (42 , 0%) and 9 PhD Professors (29.0%), assigned to three Scientific Divisions. Among the Associate Professors, 12 obtained the title of Free Lecturer more than 5 years ago and 8 are MS Professors 5.3. These Teachers demonstrate excellence in university activities, highlighting the training of qualified human resources, as well as scientific production in renowned magazines at national and international level, with a high impact index. The high scientific productivity of the CENA Professors can also be evidenced by the high number of CNPq Productivity Scholarships: of the current 31 professors, 22 are scholarship holders (71.0% of the staff), 16 in category 1 (72.7 %), including 5 in category 1A. Other performance indicators in research that deserve to be highlighted are the number of active faculty members of CENA who are members of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, 4 (12.9% of the faculty) and a TWAS.Although CENA is classified as a Specialized Institute, teaching activities (Graduation - ESALQ / USP courses and two CAPES level 7 Graduate Programs), research (excellence) and extension, can perfectly qualify CENA as a Full Teaching, Research and Extension Unit.CENA has participated in the last six years in thematic networks with the development of nine (9) Thematic Projects (FAPESP - Resources in the order of R $ 18 million reais).In 2019, CENA Professors / Researchers maintained 48 research and infrastructure projects (19 FAPESP, 8 CNPq, 3 CAPES / PROEX, 13 FEALQ, 3 IAEA, 1 Embrapa and 1 company) and 162 scholarships (50 Technical Training, 9 of Scientific Pre-Initiation, 46 of Scientific Initiation, 27 internship paid by USP, 20 Master's, 60 Doctorate, 1 Direct Doctorate, 23 Post-Doctorate and 12 scholarships abroad - Doctorate, Master and IC), with funds obtained various development agencies and private initiative (FAPESP, CNPq, CAPES, FEALQ, IAEA, others), totaling R $ 6,381,705.23 (six million, three hundred and eighty-one thousand, seven hundred and five reais, twenty-two three cents).The research works that best highlight the activities of CENA teachers are distributed in the areas of Agriculture and Biological Sciences (32%), Environmental Sciences (15%), Chemistry (10%), Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (9% ) and Earth Sciences (6%), in addition to articles published in Nature / Nature Climate Change, among other internationally renowned journals indexed in important databases, which correspond to the objectives of the Scientific Divisions of CENA / USP.It should also be noted that CENA receives a large number of Post-Doctoral students each year (currently there are 32 post-docs enrolled in the CENA program), supervised by Professors and distributed in the three Scientific Divisions, which develop research projects and collaborate in the activities of Teachers, Post-Graduates and Interns, integrating with the groups and activities under development.Regarding FAPESP's Institutional Technical Reserve, it was approved at the 3rd regular meeting of the CENA's Deliberative Council, held on June 9, 2020, to which the application should primarily support projects involving: the institution's research laboratories; destination and disposal of class I solid waste and important improvements in infrastructure for research activities that can be carried out remotely. (AU)