Ceremony presents winning research from the 5th Unicamp-Vladimir Herzog Institute award

The award ceremony for the “V Unicamp-Instituto Vladimir Herzog Academic Recognition Award in Human Rights” (Pradh) will take place next Monday (15), starting at 9 am. The event will feature a seminar for the presentation and discussion of the 13 award-winning research projects, as well as a tribute to Erika Hilton, Father Júlio Lancellotti and Célia Tupinambá.

The programming will take place in a manner Online, broadcast live on the channel Youtube of the Vladimir Herzog Institute and the Human Rights Executive Board (DEDH) from Unicamp, and interpretation into Libras. In the morning, the honorees will be introduced and the winners will be recognized—they will receive their trophy and diploma later at their homes.

In the afternoon, between 13:30 and 17:30 p.m., the authors will present and discuss their award-winning research with the public. "It's very interesting that we're able to bring together all areas at this event—to emphasize that Human Rights Education fits into all scientific fields, including the so-called 'hard sciences,'" emphasizes Heloisa Lins, a professor at Unicamp's School of Education (FE) and coordinator of the University's Human Rights Observatory, who chaired the Organizing Committee for the 2025 edition of the Prize.

Undergraduate and postgraduate academic research completed in 2024, carried out at public universities in the State of São Paulo in five categories, competed for the award: exact sciences, engineering and technology; biological and health sciences; human, social and economic sciences; arts, communication and language; and education. 

Lins also highlights the social engagement of approximately 50 professors from different Brazilian universities who volunteered on the thematic evaluation committees for the papers.

Human rights in academia

The "Unicamp–Vladimir Herzog Institute Academic Recognition Award in Human Rights" aims to strengthen the commitment between public universities and society in defending, directly or indirectly, the human rights of present and future generations. "The idea is to create this culture of human rights in academia, spilling over into the social environment—which, unfortunately, is very accustomed to all kinds of violence, which has attempted to dismantle the Democratic Rule of Law," argues the professor.

Academic recognition also plays a role in legitimizing human rights as an interdisciplinary scientific field—increasingly incorporating the topic into curricula. "For example, to combat anti-intellectualism, which only fuels denialism, not only of climate change but also of history. It's wonderful to see students wanting to pursue science linked to citizenship and the full possibilities of existence on the planet."

The professor also states that she has noticed an increase in research on this topic across various fields of knowledge, as well as an understanding of human rights linked to environmental rights. "Epistemologically, I see it as a major challenge to bring research that supports all five of these areas with the quality we saw [in this edition of the award]."

In the 2025 edition, the drop in the number of registrations was surprising: 58 research projects were evaluated, compared to 133 approved in the 2024 edition. “Unfortunately, if we analyze from the first edition onwards, we see a significant decrease.”

Lins argues that continued evaluation is necessary to better understand the phenomenon, but that adaptations are possible for future editions. There are plans, for example, to nationalize the Prize, expanding submissions to research from across the country.

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