We would like to thank all of the students, researchers, professors, and visitors who have passed through its doors over the years, since it was first established in 1999 by Prof. Brazil’s participation in the construction and operation of the International Space Station provided motivation for many Brazilian research institutions and universities to establish centres of study related to Aerospace
Science. With more than 60 years of tradition, PUCRS today is a leading and pioneering Brazilian University in the areas of Aeronautics and Astronautics, demonstrated by its creation of the first South American university course dedicated to the qualification of commercial pilots, the School of Aeronautical Sciences, in 1993. The decision to build the first Brazilian laboratory aimed at the study of human physiology in the aerospace environment and in simulations of microgravity on earth constituted a step further. Established in 1999, the Laboratory of Microgravity, initially located in the Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (ISTR), was the result of a joint effort by the Schools of Medicine, Aeronautical Sciences and Engineering. Continued expansion followed, as well as international acknowledgement of the innovative and highly accomplished work carried out there. This led on to its transformation in 2006 into the Microgravity Centre (MicroG), officially integrating the research of the Academic Units of PUCRS. The administrative centre of the MicroG is currently located at Tecnopuc (Technological Park of PUCRS), and the research and development areas situated together in three rooms at the School of Engineering Building, Block F, providing around 500 square meters of research facility. Today, the MicroG is, par excellence, a unique and pioneering research centre contributing to both undergraduate and graduate study in various areas of knowledge. It is an excellent example of inter-, trans- and multidisciplinary work, and has gained both national and international recognition. The principal activities of the MicroG are the development of research projects focused on: biomedicine before, during and after simulations of hypergravity, hypogravity, microgravity and parabolic flights; aviation medicine for the 21st century; aerospace biomedical engineering; and eHealth.