Group History
GEFAN emerged from discussions among several particle physics researchers, from different specializations, who wanted to focus their investigations on neutrinos. Among them were Vicente Pleitez from the Instituto de Física Teórica at UNESP, Renata Zukanovich Funchal from USP, and Marcelo Moraes Guzzo from the Theoretical Group at IFGW.
Starting in 1992, the group went through a learning process in this new subfield. Professors began supervising students who were sent abroad, and scientists from other countries joined the team. An informal group was formed, with meetings held at Unicamp, USP, and UNESP, where these scientists began collaborating on various research projects.
The original goal was to use neutrinos to test fundamental properties of elementary particles related to the current theoretical framework, the Standard Model. To this end, the informal group members from IFGW created the Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics Group, maintaining collaboration with researchers from USP and UNESP.
With the arrival of new researchers, the scope of research expanded to include studies of supernova neutrinos, solar neutrinos, non-standard interactions, and the relationship between neutrinos and cosmology.