Kiyo Costa Higuchi selected among applicants from all over the world for international Physics event in Germany
The student from the Graduate Program in Engineering and Materials Technology (PGETEMA), Kiyo Costa Higuchi, will be representing PUCRS in one of the most important academic events on the planet: the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting 2019, from Jun 30 to Jul 5, in Germany. The event occurs every year and congregates from 30 to 40 Nobel Prize winners to learn more about the new generation of scientists from all over the world. In 2019, they are focusing on Physics. Because of the partnership between Lindau Foundation, the organizer, and Columbus Association, an institution of which PUCRS is a member, Kiyo will receive a full waiver for the event (in the amount of 5,000 €).
Kiyo holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Physics from PUCRS and is very excited about the opportunity. “I’m very curious about the event, especially because the topics they will be discussing this year are very recent, such as the gravitational waves. They were detected for the first time in 2015. I will have the once in a lifetime chance to hear from the most renowned researchers in these and other areas. I also hope to meet scientists from different generations and countries. This is always quite an enriching experience”, the student says.
Selected among applicants from all over the world
Photo: Christian Flemming
The coordinator of the Physics program, embraced by the School of Sciences, Dr Cássio Stein de Moura, selected Higuchi for the event. He is also very happy about the opportunity. “Physicist Kiyo was one of the 58- applicants who were selected among people from around the globe. 29 former winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics have confirmed their presences, including Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, who wrote a book about Quantum Physics, which Kiyo studied as she worked on her undergraduate degree. It will be a great opportunity to meet these scientists who changed the world with their ideas. They will be influential for society in the future and an inspiration for each one of the participants to fly higher”, he says.
The Executive Coordinator of the Office for International Cooperation, who mediated the indication of the student with the Columbus Association, Dr Heloísa Delgado, claims that the opportunity epitomizes the quality and capacity of PUCRS students in major international events like this. “We’ll keep fighting to accomplish the mission to make our community recognized all over the world”, she adds.
Since 2017, Kiyo has been a member of LaNeurotox, the Laboratory of Neurotoxins of the Brain Institute of Rio Grande do Sul (BraIns), which is coordinated by Prof. Dr Célia Carlini. The student in involved in several research projects on urease: enzymes that are found in plants, fungi and bacteria, which are responsible for catalyzing the reaction of urea hydrolysis. In her Master’s, she wants to study the neurotoxicity of the urease of the bacteria Helicobacter pylori. H. pylori was the first bacteria to be classified as carcinogenic by the World Health Organization. It affects around 60% of the world population although most people infected are asymptomatic. “I’m looking at several imaging methodologies with fluorescent molecules. I’m working together with NanoPUC, under the advising of Professor Ricardo Papaléo”, Kiyo says.
