This ariticle reports the experience of creating new Master and Doctoral programs in “Bioscience and Health Education” at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. It contextualizes the current crises in science education in Brazil, examining its causes and consequences, and discusses the epistomological and methodological aspects of these programs. The article then analyzes the factors that led a traditional research institution to become involved with the problems of formal and nonformal education, and, finally, it identifies new challenges.