The present work is based on historical research on the formation of the cosmic ray research group at the Faculty of Philosophy, Science and Letters, in the University of São Paulo, led by Gleb Wataghin. In this sense, the work seeks to understand how the formation of the new university in the state of São Paulo and the hiring of foreign professors was a factor that generated reflections on the research carried out there. Based on the analysis of the correspondence exchanged between the characters of this historical episode, we also sought to understand how the process of circulation of people, ideas and techniques took place. This process contributed for this research group to establish itself and maintain contact with major centers of world science, thus allowing Brazilian science to have some prominence on the international scene in the post-war period and also boosted the institutionalization of nuclear physics in the country.
Keywords:
History of National Science; Cultural History of Science; Nuclear Physics; National Science; USP