Marcelo Knobel was the Rector of the University of Campinas (Unicamp), in Brazil, institution to which he has been a faculty member for 25 years. The term was from April 2017 to April 2021.
After obtaining both his bachelor’s and his PhD degrees in Physics from Unicamp, Knobel spent some time in Europe as a postdoctoral researcher, where he had the opportunity to experience other cultures. He joined Unicamp again upon his return to Brazil, but this time as a faculty member.
Prior to becoming Rector, Knobel held several leadership roles at Unicamp. He was the first Executive Director of the Unicamp Exploratory Science Museum and served as Vice-Rector for Undergraduate Programs, just to mention a few examples. While in this last position, he was responsible for implementing an innovative interdisciplinary program, named ProFIS, which combines social inclusion with general higher education. This initiative secured him the 2013 Peter Muranyí Prize in Education.
Knobel held other important roles outside of Unicamp as well, including Vice-President of the Brazilian Physics Society and Executive Director of the Brazilian Nanotechnology National Laboratory (LNNano) at the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM).
A highly productive researcher with a strong interest in science dissemination and higher education studies, Knobel has already published more than 300 scientific papers, in addition to numerous opinion pieces in both national and international newspapers and magazines. He is Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials (Elsevier), and he was Editor-In-Chief of Ciência & Cultura, a science and technology magazine published by the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science (SBPC) for 10 years.
