IMPA Tech Nordeste featured in Folha de S.Paulo

The recent creation of IMPA Tech Nordeste, with a campus in Teresina, Piauí, was one of the highlights of an article published by Folha de S.Paulo on the expansion of institutions of excellence in science and technology outside the Rio-São Paulo axis. The article “Elite institutes target the Northeast and want to change the map of training in exact sciences”, by Gustavo Gonçalves, analyzes how the performance of students in highly competitive selection processes has driven changes in the map of elite training in the country.

Launched in 2024 in Rio de Janeiro, IMPA Tech focuses on professional training in areas such as technology, data science and artificial intelligence, mainly serving students with a track record in scientific Olympiads. IMPA Tech Nordeste, on the other hand, will offer up to 50 places per year and full support for students, including housing and subsistence allowance.

In an interview with Folha, IMPA’s director-general, Marcelo Viana, said that the decision was based both on the region’s historical tradition of training mathematicians and on recent evidence of academic excellence. He highlighted the significant participation of students from the northeast in math competitions in recent years. “There is a large contingent of talented young people who are potential candidates for IMPA Tech,” he told Folha.

The article also points out that the medals won by students from the region in math Olympiads reinforce the potential identified by the institute. For Viana, the aim of the course is to train professionals capable of working in a market that demands specialists with a solid mathematical basis to solve complex problems.

In addition to IMPA, the article also discusses the decision by ITA(TechnologicalInstitute ofAeronautics) to open a campus in Fortaleza from 2027, motivated by the high performance of candidates from the Northeast in the institution’s entrance exams. According to the newspaper, the new unit will offer courses in energy engineering and systems engineering, reinforcing the view that the Northeast is now playing a strategic role in high-level scientific and technological training in Brazil.