Engineering Research Centers

Partnership ended

Text published in 2017:

With support from FAPESP and Natura, the Center for Applied Research in Human Wellbeing and Behavior is hosted by the Psychology Institute at the University of São Paulo (USP).

The Center’s team is made up of a network of researchers in psychology and neuroscience from the University of São Paulo (USP), the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) and Mackenzie Presbyterian University (UPM).

Their mission is to build a solid knowledge base on human wellbeing by integrating several areas, such as neuroscience, positive psychology, social psychology, and health, human and applied social sciences. As Brazil’s largest scientific wellbeing research center, it will aim to grow knowledge in these fields on the basis of multidisciplinary research activities.

Natura and FAPESP will invest up to BRL 20 million (BRL 10 million each) in ten years. The partner universities will also contribute by providing institutional and administrative support for the researchers involved.

The projects are designed and developed jointly by Natura’s researchers and scientists affiliated with the universities. The Center will not have dedicated physical premises but will use the partners’ infrastructure. The knowledge areas involved are neuroscience, psychology, and health, human and applied social sciences.

The initiative is unique in the domestic and international spheres in its combination of cutting-edge science, application, innovation, and the desire to have a positive impact in society by understanding wellbeing through collaboration between private enterprise and a network of partners in academia, government and elsewhere.

This is the first center for research in humanities created on the basis of a shared funding model between a private company and a public research support agency.

The Center will create intersections with applied human and social sciences, generating new opportunities for innovative research in this field. Above all the Center rests on two pillars: psychology, emphasizing positive psychology and its notion of wellbeing, including the objective conditions of life, health, nutrition, and housing; and neuroscience.

The Center’s researchers will conduct 11 projects focusing on the development of wellbeing indicators through studies on the recognition and regulation of emotions, and the influence of the family context and society on human relationships. Themes linked to the cosmetics industry, such as how fragrances and makeup can change mood and self-esteem, will also be studied.

The Center website is https://cpbec.org.br. 

More information at https://bv.fapesp.br/en/auxilios/94024.