Education for science and science for education: more than a play upon words

Abstract

In the celebration of the centenary of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC), the theme "Educational Basis for Biomedical Research" was chosen to open the International Symposium in order to stress the institution's concern with the relationship between its two missions: research and education. This is an attempt to bring up for debate the integration of the two as an expression of the institutional project. In addition to its goal of qualifying health professionals by conveying scientific knowledge, the Institute also holds the responsibility of being a locus of criticism, capable of reproducing but also, and mainly, of questioning and producing new knowledge. This capacity has been the hallmark of IOC academic predicates during this century, which have made the Institute stand out in the field of biomedical research at the national and international levels.In this round-table we asked outstanding colleagues to address those issues. All the invited speakers collaborated effectively for the development of science education and popularization, especially in the domain of life sciences. They all innovate in science, and were (and still are) important masters of many generations of scientists engaged on a humanistic position. These masters testify the integration between research and education, by acting at many levels and by contributing for the development of different scientific education project for teachers or for the production of educational products and materials. Their contributions will help us to analyze our own reality and pave ways that support the pioneer position of this institution, in its search to predict issues linked to health and science education.As the title of our contribution depicts, the speakers in this round-table will approach two main questions:(1) what are the educational basis required for science and technology activities on health sciences for the future years? How can knowledge be taught and promoted?; and (2) what can science do to improve scientific education for citizenship? As "chairwomen" of this session, we want to address these questions briefly, by indicating how scientists in this Institute are dealing with them and what the perspectives are for an effective intervention on this area in the coming years.+ Corresponding