Doctoral student from ENBT's Postgraduate Program in Botany receives award from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Last October, doctoral student Alexandre Gibau de Lima received an award of 100,000 Swedish kronor (around R$55,000) from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for the advancement of his research project. Alexandre is carrying out taxonomic and evolutionary studies on the genus Senna, which belongs to the bean family (Leguminosae) and is made up of approximately 300 species distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions. Gibau de Lima's doctorate aims to study the evolutionary history of this genus using genomic, ecological and morphological data, as well as carrying out taxonomic revisions. “Some discoveries have already been published, such as new species and nomenclatural changes,” explains the researcher.

Alexandre is carrying out his doctoral research on a dual-title basis between the National School of Tropical Botany (ENBT), linked to the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden Research Institute (JBRJ), and the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. He is being supervised in Brazil by Dr. Marcelo Trovó and Dr. Vidal de Freitas Mansano, and in Sweden by Dr. Christine Bacon.

The researcher's doctoral work has already been selected by institutions such as the Society of Systematic Biologists, the International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT), the Lars Hierta Foundation, Idea Wild and now the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. “A valuable tip is to read the requirements of each call carefully and present a proposal with clear objectives and methodology. It's worth mentioning that many of my colleagues have been successful in winning awards and obtaining funding, and this is also the result of the institutional effort that ENBT makes to increase the inclusion of students on the national and international stage,” comments Alexandre Gibau de Lima.
Founded in 1739, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is an institution renowned for promoting the development of science in various fields. Recognized for its responsibility in selecting Nobel Prize winners in the fields of Physics and Chemistry, the academy plays a central role in promoting innovative scientific discoveries.