Brasília - The new minister of Science and Technology, Sérgio Rezende, who substitutes Eduardo Campos, took office yesterday.

Sérgio Rezende has been the president of the Studies and Projects Financer (Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos) (Finep) since 2003. He majored in eletronic engineering at the Rio Catholic University (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro) (PUC-RJ), graduating in 1963, Rezende did post graduate work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). From 1984 to 1988 he was the director of the Center of Exact Sciences and Nature, at the Federal University of Pernambuco. In 2002, he was elected vice president of the Internacional Union for Pure and Applied Physics. Rezende is 65 years old.

Translator: Allen Bennett