Foreign students will help restore the National Museum’s collections

To help with the reconstruction of the National Museum, which is part of the Science and Culture Forum of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), one of the possibilities is to advance in the training of human resources. This statement was made this Wednesday (31) by the director of the museum, Professor Alexander Kellner. With this focus, the government of Portugal is raising the possibility for students from all over the world to enroll in postgraduate programs shared between the National Museum and the three main universities in Portugal: Coimbra, Lisbon and Porto. “In fact, this will help us rebuild our collections”, said Kellner to Agência Brasil. Applications can be made on the Euraxess network website until June 16th. The selected students will be guided by a researcher from one of the Portuguese universities and one from the National Museum and will work, for example, on the issue involving biodiversity. Studies can be done anywhere in the world. The students will collect material. “In this collection of material, it is already foreseen that a piece of the collection will come to the National Museum. It’s a way to recompose our collections,” said Kellner. For the director of the National Museum, the partnership represents a way of strengthening the scientific ties that are being developed between Portugal and Brazil. According to Kellner, the great architect of this idea was the head professor of the Department of Biology at the University of Porto, Nuno Miguel dos Santos Ferrand de Almeida. “We’re very excited.” Right after the selection of enrolled students, the idea is to implement the process “as soon as possible”, said Kellner. Selected students will win scholarships from the Portuguese government. “We are very happy with this help and very grateful”, added the professor. He added that the initiative is of interest to both countries and that Portugal will have the opportunity to develop research together with the National Museum. Shortly after the fire that destroyed much of the National Museum’s collection, in September 2018, the Smithsonian Institute, in the United States, gave scholarships for one to two months so that students at the Brazilian institution could complete research. “It was also very positive,” said Alexander Kellner.

Agência Brasil