By Pioneer Science | Published on February 19, 2026 | Last updated on May 14, 2026
Pioneer Science announced the eight selected projects in the Pioneer Seeds call, an initiative created to foster unprecedented and disruptive collaborations among researchers supported by the organization. The program aims to stimulate new scientific questions, bold approaches, and high-risk explorations capable of generating transformative advances in science.
Directed at researchers and project leaders currently supported by Pioneer Science, the call encouraged the formation of groups composed of two or three proposers, necessarily linked to distinct projects. The submitted proposals should be original and different from the individually funded research, reinforcing the collaborative and innovative nature of the initiative.
The call included proposals in the areas of molecular and cellular biology, physics and mathematics of biology, and neuroscience and cognition, with a strong incentive for interdisciplinary projects that explored the boundaries between health sciences, biomedical sciences, and exact sciences.
🔹 The selection process considered four main criteria:
🔹 Originality and scientific risk of the proposal;
🔹 Synergy and complementarity among the proposing groups;
🔹 Potential for leveraging future larger-scale funding;
Training of people, with an emphasis on the participation of students and young researchers in the exchange between groups.
The program was structured in two phases:
In Phase 1 – Initial Explorations, the selected proposals will receive up to R$ 30,000 for a period of up to four months. The goal is to enable the discussion of ideas and research hypotheses and promote exchange among partner groups, with funding primarily aimed at travel, technical meetings, and joint planning activities.
At the end of this phase, up to two proposals may be selected for Phase 2 – Consolidated Proposals, with support of up to R$ 150,000 for up to 24 months. In this phase, funding may cover scholarships for team members, consumables, travel, and participation in scientific events, as well as publication fees.
The following projects were selected in Phase 1 of the Pioneer Seeds call:
🔹 Role of succinate in exercise-induced neuroprotection in Alzheimer’s disease – Luiz Bozi and Mychael Lourenço.
🔹 From cell to human: Multiscale approach to the complexity of signals for identifying biomarkers in Parkinson’s disease and therapeutic response – Fernanda Matias, Paulo Cezar Rocha, and Pedro Perdigão.
🔹 Antimicrobial potential of extracellular vesicles released by Caenorhabditis elegans – Juliana Rizzo and Ivan Domith.
🔹 Components of the proteasome in biological fluids in Alzheimer’s disease – Felipe Campos and Eduardo Zimmer.
🔹 Modulation of synaptogenesis by vaultRNAs in response to neuroinvasive infections and its impact on neuroplasticity and neurological disorders – Victor Geddes, Bruno Solano, and Thyago Calvo.
🔹 Endothelial cell in the digital world: applying microvascular bioengineering to the study of cell stress induced by electromagnetic fields and blue light. – Tiago Costa, Artur da Silva, and Fernando Seara
🔹 Mechanisms of Network Dysfunction in Dravet Syndrome Revealed by Patient-Derived Human Neurons and Organoids – Victor Santos, Prof. Dr. Stevens Rehen, and Prof. Dr. Renato Santana.
🔹 Multi-omic atlas of CNS channelopathies with CRISPR validation route in brain cell models. – Erik Aranha Rossi and Izabela Mamede.
With the Pioneer Seeds call, Pioneer Science reaffirms its commitment to creating conditions for innovative collaborations to flourish from their early stages, strengthening connections between groups and expanding the potential impact of frontier research.
