The Federal University of Rio of January (UFRJ) performs, from Monday (14) to fridayon the 18th, the 11th Academic Integration Week (SIAc). In all, more than 5,800 research, teaching and extension works developed at the institution in various areas will be presented. Due to the pandemic, the event will be online, free and open to anyone who wants to participate. At Applications can be made online until the last day of the event. 
“The Academic Integration Week is the biggest academic event at UFRJ”, says the Dean of Extension at UFRJ and one of those responsible for organizing the event, Ivana Bentes. “The week has this function of presenting the results of the research, of the formation of the students. It is a very significant showcase of UFRJ’s scientific and cultural production”, she adds.
The public will be able to participate in debates, thematic tables, workshops, mini-courses and take virtual guided tours. Among the highlights are topics such as artificial intelligence, development of vaccines against covid-19, climate change and circular economy.
“We will be able to expose our work so that people can see the importance of everything we do in the laboratory. Sometimes you get the idea that science is very far away, that it’s something very impossible, but it’s not. It is something that is much closer than we imagine”, says the bioprocess engineering student and biotechnology researcher, Eduardo Oliveira Júnior.
As a scientific initiation project developed in partnership with Petrobras, the student works with biodegradable detergents capable of diluting oils and petroleum in oceans and soil. “Imagine you have an oil spill or oil spill. We make a solution and apply it on the spot. It will disperse the contaminants and make that material available to the microorganisms in that region. With that, that oil will be degraded at a higher speed than when it was very concentrated”, he explains.
Although the focus of the project is the dilution of oil, Júnior says that the substance he works with has several other uses. “It has great potential to be applied in cosmetic products and even in some medicines, as it is compatible with our skin and is less toxic to marine animals”.
Another project that will integrate the SIAc is the Take this song as a kiss, an extension work, linked to the music therapy course at UFRJ. Developed in partnership with psychology professionals working at the Pedro Ernesto University Hospital, at the State University of Rio de Janeiro of January (UERJ), the project takes voice messages and songs sent by family members to relatives who are hospitalized with covid-19, in addition to offering support to families, with support groups.
“We believe that the voice modulates affections, establishes bonds. We believe in this possibility, both bringing the will to live and being important for the family to address this message”, says nursing student Bárbara Franco, one of the project members.
For Bárbara, the project certainly helps her to be a better professional in the future. “We leave the academy a lot with technical-scientific training, we learn to perform the proper tactics for proper care. The project has shown me a new way of caring and looking at the patient. It allows me to look at the subject as a subject and not an object of care”, says the student. “Sometimes I have the technique I need to do, but the patient is not comfortable and I have to identify it. It is a new look at the subject and at the suffering of the family member”.
The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) holds, between Monday (14) and Friday (18), the 11th Academic Integration Week (SIAc). – Raphael Pizzino – Coordcom/UFRJ
online event
After two years of interruption, due to the pandemic, this is the first time that SIAc will be done online. There will be 5,826 works presented. Certificates will be issued for listeners and for workshops and mini-courses that require prior registration. The live tables will feature interpretation into Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) and, on Facebook, with automatic subtitles. The event will be from 14 to February 18thfrom 10 am to 8.30 pm.
“People from anywhere can participate, they can get to know the university, whether, for example, high school students or professors who work with certain topics that are being researched here and want to know about hot research, because research is ongoing in every field of production of knowledge”, says Ivana.
University extension is the sector responsible for connecting the university to other sectors of society. According to UFRJ, at the institution, the actions are carried out by 50,000 students, involved in 3,000 initiatives in different areas. The actions, according to the university, benefit an audience of more than 2 million people a year, in Rio and in other states, with research, events, courses, workshops and training.
