Scholarships have already attracted more than 70 PhDs from Brazil and abroad to Sergipe.

ASN - The Regional Development/Attraction and Retention of PhDs Program in the State of Sergipe (Prodoc) has, over the past six years, included various actions that stimulate and integrate researchers in the State, in the field of science and technology. The initiative, which has the support of the Government of Sergipe, through the Foundation for Support of Research and Technological Innovation of the State of Sergipe (Fapitec/SE), and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), achieved a total of 74 Regional Scientific Development (DCR) scholarships during the period from 2007 to 2012. An average of 12 scholarship recipients per call for proposals per year.

The program aims to encourage, through the granting of scholarships, the attraction and retention of PhD holders from various states of Brazil or from abroad, with experience in science, technology and innovation and recognized professional competence in higher education and research institutions in the State. The resources for the payment of scholarship recipients come from the Fapitec/SE/CNPq agreement - Technical Support Scholarship Program – PBAT, and are paid directly by the Foundation.

The Secretary of Sedetec, Saumíneo Nascimento, emphasizes that this demonstrates Governor Marcelo Déda's determination to promote research and innovation in Sergipe. "These scientists disseminate and transfer knowledge in Science and Technology, contributing to the sustainable development of the State."

According to Marcelo Mendonça, technical director of Fapitec/SE, the program's objective is to reduce inequalities in microregions with low scientific and technological development in the state, as recognized by CNPq and Fapitec. “The program operates on two fronts: regionalization, characterized by attracting PhDs to teaching and research institutions located in Greater Aracaju. In this case, scholarships are not granted to PhDs who graduated or are based in the state itself; and interiorization, characterized by attracting PhDs to microregions with low scientific and technological development, outside metropolitan areas, allowing scholarships to be granted to PhDs who graduated or are based in the state itself,” he explains.

To achieve these objectives, the calls for proposals prioritized projects whose themes encompass the strategic areas of the state of Sergipe. “Biological sciences, agricultural sciences, and engineering are where we attract the largest number of scholarship recipients. It's worth noting that this program is geared towards the North and Northeast regions, because that's where we have the lowest concentration of researchers and PhDs, so it's an idea to encourage them to move to these regions and fill positions,” says Marcelo.

According to the director, the important thing is to keep the scholarship recipient in Sergipe or in the Northeast region. “The candidate approved in the call for proposals has 36 months to develop their project, but the main goal is that, within this timeframe, the teaching and research institutions in Sergipe can absorb this scholarship recipient into their professional staff, that is, manage to keep them in the state. In this way, we strengthen the research groups that already exist here, through the participation of these PhDs from outside the state, and we also strengthen postgraduate programs, bringing in people with high-quality resumes.”

According to the CEO of Fapitec, Ricardo Santana, the success of the DCR Scholarships has been achieved not only by complementing the training of scholarship recipients, but also by integrating qualified professionals into local research groups or even creating new groups, as it has attracted and retained recent PhDs from other states in research/teaching institutions in Sergipe. “This is a fundamental program for attracting to the state certain skills that are not yet highly developed, and thus, working together with research groups here. This enhances our academic output.”

Ricardo assures that Sergipe has already received experiences from PhDs from various states and countries who came here, including France. “In particular, our state has achieved quite significant success. For the Government of Sergipe, this is a program of great relevance in increasing science and technology, as it provides a research grant of R$ 20 for the candidate to develop the project over three years, and CNPq, as a federal funding agency, provides a scholarship that starts at R$ 2.800 per month. The calls for proposals are published on the Fapitec website (www.fapitec.se.gov.br/),” Ricardo advises.

Photos: Vieira Neto/Sedetec