General Information

The Environmental Sciences Laboratory (LIMA) is part of the Technology Center of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). It was established to strengthen the activities of the faculty and students of the Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute for Postgraduate Studies and Research in Engineering (COPPE) in the field of Environmental Engineering, and to enable joint studies and projects as well as consolidate interdisciplinary research lines.

LIMA was created in December 1997 with the assistance of the Environmental Sciences area of the Program to Support Scientific and Technological Development (PADCT/CIAMB), with resources from the World Bank and the Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology. The Laboratory is, in fact, the result of an integrated research program carried out in 1995/97, which involved research on Environmental Auditing methodologies and the consolidation of the Master’s and Doctoral Programs in the interdisciplinary area of Environmental Engineering at COPPE/UFRJ, delivering M.Sc. and D.Sc. degrees in eight Engineering fields with minors on Environmental Planning, Environmental Geotechnics, Environmental Management of Production, Environmental Technology, Environmental Modeling, Coastal Zone and River Basin Management, Environmental Acoustics, Transport and Environment.

Since its creation, LIMA conducted hundreds of research projects, many of which were made in close collaboration with international organizations. Manypartnerships, cooperation agreements and contracts were signed with public entities at the federal, state and city level, and with private and non-governmental organizations. These research activities led to the publication of several hundreds of scientific papers, including papers in national and international scientific journals, books and book chapters, communications in conference proceedings and articles in magazines and newspapers. Furthermore, the activities provided material for the preparation of dozens of M.Sc. dissertations and D.Sc. theses for student researchers at the Energy Planning Program (PPE) at COPPE/UFRJ. A continuous flow of M.Sc. dissertations and D.Sc. theses is generated by the research conducted at LIMA.

Institutional Organization

LIMA falls under the administrative responsibility of the Energy Planning Program (PPE) at COPPE/UFRJ. The coordinator of the Laboratory, Prof. Emilio Lèbre La Rovere, and supporting staff are linked to this Program. From the year of its creation, in 1963, COPPE/UFRJ has developed to the point of becoming the largest center of excellence in the field of engineering in Latin America. It currently has 325 full-time members in its teaching staff (all with doctoral degree) and 350 employees throughout its twelve programs (departments). The master’s and doctoral degree programs at COPPE/UFRJ currently have about 2800 students, with approximately 500 M.Sc. dissertations and D.Sc. theses approved each year.

The Program of Activities detailing LIMA´s research lines was approved by the Director of COPPE/UFRJ. The activities are mostly being carried out by full-time researchers, faculty members and M.Sc. and D.Sc. students in COPPE/UFRJ´s interdisciplinary area of Environmental Engineering. The agreements and contracts for LIMA research projects in partnership with other institutions are handled by COPPETEC Foundation in accordance with the financial and legal management regulations adopted in the agreement by the Foundation and COPPE/UFRJ.

Facilities and Equipment

LIMA is located in Block I-2000 of the UFRJ Technology Center, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, and has recently undergone a major renovation of its facilities. LIMA has the following:

Offices and meeting rooms for researchers and students;

• A documentation center connected to the UFRJ libraries with recent publications in the field of environmental sciences;
• Equipment and software for Geographical Information System (GIS) use, workstations, and notebooks connected to the Internet
• and to COPPE’s Cray supercomputer through the UFRJ optic fiber network.