Graduate Program in Physics at UFSC, Florianópolis

Elected directors of the SBPMat

Professor Ivan Bechtold, from the Department of Physics at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), has been elected for a second two-year term (2026–2027) as President of the Brazilian Materials Research Society (SBPMat). SBPMat was founded in 2002, and Professor Ivan is the first researcher from outside the Southeast region to lead it.

The society brings together researchers from fields such as Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology, Health Sciences, Agricultural Sciences, and Engineering, all focused on the study and technological applications of materials. SBPMat’s annual event, internationally recognized in the field of materials, the Brazilian Materials Research Society (B-MRS), gathers around 2,000 participants from nearly every state in Brazil and also from abroad.

Ivan joined UFSC in 2006 and is currently a Full Professor in the Department of Physics. He is also a permanent faculty member of UFSC’s Graduate Programs in Physics (PPGFSC) and Chemistry (PPGQ).

Mice tested in the study were able to create mental maps without using visual references. Photo: Reproduction/Getty Images

Have you ever tried walking in the dark and, even without seeing, managed to find your way? This happens because the human brain is capable of calculating where we are based on our own movements, without relying on visual reference points like signs or buildings.

A study led by Professor Maurício Girardi-Schappo from the Neurophysics Lab, from the Department of Physics at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), revealed through experimental tests that, like humans, mice are capable of creating mental maps without using visual references.

According to the international biology journal eLife, where the research was published in November 2024, the documentation of animals’ ability to build cognitive maps is “something rarely, if ever, reported outside the literature on human beings.” The journal also classified the work as “fundamental” for the advancement of fields such as biology, neuroscience, and cognitive psychology.

The study was developed in collaboration with researchers Leonard Maler, André Longtin, and Jean-Claude Béïque, and with doctoral student Jiayun Xu from the Center for Neural Dynamics and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Ottawa, in Canada.

According to Professor Schappo, the discovery contributes to breaking the premise that humans occupy a “privileged position” both within the universe and among different animal species. “For centuries, science has been deconstructing this idea, but in recent decades we’ve begun to have better tools to dismantle it,” he says.

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Every year, the city of Lindau in Germany hosts a meeting between Nobel Prize winners and young scientists. In the 2023 edition, which was dedicated to medicine, five Brazilian students were selected for the event. This year, the 2024 meeting will focus on physics. We are very proud to hear that our students, Carline Biesdorf and Cheryl Henkels, have been shortlisted by the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC). It’s worth remembering that Brazil can only nominate four people in this edition, which means we get half the places! The PPGFSC congratulates the students and their advisors on this achievement!

The Graduate Program in Physics (PPGFSC) of UFSC makes public the admission process’s notice to the Master and PhD programs entrance at the semester 2018/1.

Registration will be made up November 6, 2017 until 5 pm on November 27, 2017, The PPGFSC regards the grade of the Exame Unificado de Pós-Graduações em Física – EUF (Unified Physics Exam) to the entrance at the master and PhD programs.

Click here to access the admission process website of the PPGFSC/UFSC

The Graduate Program in Physics of UFSC makes public the admission process’s notice to the Master and PhD programs entrance at the semester 2 (2017/2).

Registration will be made up May 3, 2017 until 5 pm on June 12, 2017, The PPGFSC regards the grade of the Exame Unificado de Pós-Graduações em Física – EUF to the entrance at the master and PhD programs .

Click here to access the admission process website of the PPGFSC/UFSC

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