Free event at Ilum School of Science welcomes high school students and visitors interested in science on September 26 in Campinas
Registration is open from June 29 to September 13 for Ilum de Portas Abertas (IPA) 2026, the annual open house at the Ilum School of Science, a free public undergraduate degree program offered by the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) in Campinas, São Paulo. On September 26, high school students and others interested in science can get a close look at Ilum’s innovative educational program with visits divided into morning or afternoon sessions. More information about registration can be found at the event website.
The IPA open house has become a feature of Ilum’s traditional event calendar and directly involves the students and professors in the bachelor’s degree program in science and technology, who prepare hands-on activities inspired by projects throughout their learning trajectory. Under the supervision of their teachers and coordinators, the undergrads at Ilum introduce the program to visitors, with spaces that replicate class activities and guided visits to the laboratories. During the event, participants can talk to the students and professors, see the research infrastructure, and learn more about Ilum’s unique teaching mission to provide an interdisciplinary education that focuses on solving real problems.
“Ilum de Portas Abertas is an outreach event that introduces the community to the activities Ilum students carry out during their undergraduate program. As part of these activities, IPA 2026 involves experiments in a wide range of scientific areas, allowing visitors to get a close look at student projects, participate in interactive activities, and explore topics that include math, biology, chemistry, physics and computation. Along with the activities prepared by the students, visitors will also experience the environment of an institution dedicated to top-level scientific education, seeing the laboratories, cutting-edge equipment and some of the research infrastructure present at Ilum/CNPEM,” said Vinícius Francisco Wasques, an Ilum professor and organizer of the event.
The free IPA event is intended to showcase Ilum’s unique characteristics, like the advanced infrastructure of CNPEM’s laboratories, the admissions process (which is very different from conventional entrance exams) and the benefits offered to students during their undergraduate program. Ilum de Portas Abertas was integrated into the outreach component of the Ilum syllabus as a way to attract young people interested in careers related to biology, chemistry, math, data science, physics and technology.
About the Ilum School of Science
Ilum offers a free undergraduate degree program that utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to train scientists and professionals in science and technology. With an innovative educational model, the three-year full-time bachelor program offers courses that connect life sciences, materials science, data science, artificial intelligence, and the humanities in order to prepare researchers to work in an ethical and collaborative manner in the search for solutions to the global challenges of the twenty-first century. The Ilum School of Science is funded by the Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC) and is part of the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) in Campinas, São Paulo, a social organization overseen by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI). Ilum’s educational mission offers early contact with experimental activities, in teaching labs at the school as well as at CNPEM, in projects carried out together with researchers.
About CNPEM
The Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) is home to a state-of-the-art, multi-user and multidisciplinary scientific environment and works on different fronts within the Brazilian National System for Science, Technology and Innovation. A social organization overseen by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), CNPEM is driven by research that impacts the areas of health, energy, renewable materials, and sustainability. It is responsible for Sirius, the largest assembly of scientific equipment constructed in the country, and is currently constructing Project Orion, a laboratory complex for advanced pathogen research. Highly specialized science and engineering teams, sophisticated infrastructure open to the scientific community, strategic lines of investigation, innovative projects involving the productive sector, and training for researchers and students are the pillars of this institution that is unique in Brazil and able to serve as a bridge between knowledge and innovation. CNPEM’s research and development activities are carried out through its four National Laboratories: Synchrotron Light (LNLS), Biosciences (LNBio), Nanotechnology (LNNano), Biorenewables (LNBR), as well as its Technology Unit (DAT) and the Ilum School of Science — an undergraduate program in Science and Technology supported by the Ministry of Education (MEC).
