Dr. Claudia Lucia Mendes de Oliveira, member of the board of directors of the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) and full professor at the Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences of the University of São Paulo (IAG/USP), was recently elected full member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC).

The professor received the news with enthusiasm and notes that it is very motivating to have her work recognized. She emphasizes the importance of partnerships to do high level research. “It is a huge honor for me, but I am well aware that this achievement was the result of great teamwork. Without the infrastructure to which I have access to and without the support of colleagues, students, postdocs and collaborators, I would not have reached this milestone”, she says.

To Dr. João Steiner, principal investigator of GMT-Fapesp and full professor at IAG/USP, the election of Professor Claudia for ABC is a symbol of great importance to the project. “It is a great honor for us to have a leader of this relevance, who has received a national recognition of great prestige - it certainly reinforces our activities and prospects for the GMT project,” he points out.

Sole new member of the Academy's Physical Sciences area, Dr. Claudia is one of the seven female researchers elected at the last ABC General Assembly on December 3. In total, 14 researchers were elected full members.

According to ABC, the female contingent among full members, correspondents and affiliates went from 15.5% to 16.4%. Gender disproportion is still large, but it is beginning to decrease. To Professor Claudia, it is important that there are more female researchers occupying prominent positions “so that young adolescents are inspired and pursue scientific careers and women scientists are motivated to continue their careers”.

Dr. Claudia Oliveira has a bachelor's degree in Physics from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (1985), a master's degree (1988) and a doctorate (1992) from the University of British Columbia in Canada. Since 1995 she is a researcher at the Department of Astronomy at IAG/USP, where she develops works on extragalactic astronomy and astronomical instrumentation. She is a reviewer of international journals such as the Astrophysical Journal and has been a member of the projects review committee of the São Paulo Research Foundation (Fapesp).