Professor Glaucius Oliva occupies a number of high profile roles in Higher Education in Brazil. As President of CNPq he oversees the promotion and quality of science and technological research across the country. Oliva is a Professor at the Institute of Physics of São Carlos, University of São Paulo (IFSC/USP), where he has taught since 1982.

He heads the Centre for Structural Molecular Biotechnology, which is one of the centres for Research, Innovation and Diffusion of FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo).

Oliva’s main research interests are focused on the structure and function of biological macromolecules and their application to planning and development of new drugs, with particular emphasis on tropical and infectious diseases. He actively fights for the consolidation of Crystallography of Proteins research in Brazil and its’ integration into the national programme for research on drugs and medicines.

In 1997, he co-ordinated several protein crystallisation experiments in microgravity aboard the NASA space shuttle. Glaucius Oliva was awarded his PhD in Protein Crystallography at the University of London in 1988, where he worked with the renowned British scientist Sir Tom L. Blundell. He currently leads a team of about 80 researchers, including physicists, biologists and chemists.