Event at PUCRS featured students and former students, researchers and representatives of institutions to discuss possibilities for research collaboration
Presidents of PUCRS, UFRGS and international guests at the opening / Image: Camila Cunha
PUCRS opened its doors to Humboldt-Kolleg, a regional and interdisciplinary conference organized by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, from Germany. The event occurred from May 15 – 17, at the auditorium of Living 360º (Building 15 on the Main Campus). The theme was Neurosciences and Humanities: Is it possible to foster mutual learning? The event featured the Foundation’s current and former students from Brazil, as well as researchers and representatives of relevant institutions to strengthen interdisciplinary cooperation networks and create new forms to do science together.
The ceremony featured the president of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Hans-Christian Pape, the President of PUCRS, Br. Evilázio Borges Teixeira, the Senior Vice President Jaderson Costa da Costa, the President of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Rui Oppermann, the Vice President of Planning of Ulbra, José Paulinho Brand, the General Consul of Germany in Porto Alegre, Thomas Schmitt, and the President of the National Council of Education (CNE), Luiz Roberto Liza Curi. The event was organized in partnership with the Center for European and German Studies (CDEA).
The President of PUCRS discussed the current moment the University is going through and the need to interface with society. Teixeira also talked about the importance of the event’s theme, as it connected several areas and made a call for important interdisciplinary discussions for the future.
Emotions and neuroscience
President of Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Hans-Christian Pape / Image: Camila Cunha
The Professor of the University of Münster, Hans-Christian Pape delivered the opening conference entitled Rhythms of Fear in the Brain. Mechanisms and Impact of an Emotion. Pape is one of the most important specialists in neurophysiological fundamentals of emotional behavior. He gained special reputation for his research on anxiety disorders, fear and memory of fear, as well as the process that regulate sleep and wakefulness. In his presentation at PUCRS, he discussed the organization of the neuron structure for complex cognitive processing and memory storage and its relations with the development of the memory of fear.
Visit to BraIns
In the afternoon, Pape visited the Brain Institute of RS (BraIns). He was welcomed by its Director and Senior Vice President of PUCRS, Dr Jaderson Costa da Costa, and by the Deputy Director Magda Lahorgue Nunes. At the Institute, he had the chance to find out more about the infrastructure of BraIns and talked to some associate researchers. At the meeting, they all talked about their lines of research, which embrace individuals of all ages, from child neurodevelopment up to elderly neurodevelopment. These areas include multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, stem cells, sleep, teenage violence, memory and depression.
Pape also learned more about the expansion activities of BraIns. The Institute is supposed to be three times as large as seven new cutting-edge laboratories are going to be open. It will also feature nine research facilities and another magnetic resonance and computerized tomography machines.
Lastly, he paid a visit to the Center for Production of Radiopharmaceuticals, which specializes in the production of radiopharmaceuticals for oncology patients in an effort to produce better imaging exams. He also visited the Center for Pre-Clinical Research, which specializes in experimental research using the microPET/CT, for animals, and the neuroscience laboratories at the São Lucas Hospital of PUCRS.
How does the brain organize itself?
The Vice President of PUCRS and Director of the Brain Institute of RS (BraIns), Dr Jaderson Costa da Costa, delivered a session entitled The Brain that Reorganizes itself, on May 16. Costa presented empirical evidence of the ability of the brain to mobilize cells and protection factors to cure and / or minimize brain injuries. He suggested neuroscientists and philosophers join efforts to study the impact of the process of re-organization of the brain in our own self.
About the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is intended to promote scientific cooperation between researchers of excellence of Germany and other countries. Today, it is keen to award more than 700 grants and awards for scholars from all over the world for research in their areas of interest. In Brazil, the foundation has supported more than 350 projects in partnership with the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brazilian Federal Agency for Evaluation and Support of Higher Education – Capes.
