São Paulo Research Foundation – FAPESP – is an independent public foundation with the mission to foster research and the scientific and technological development of the State of São Paulo. This is achieved through the support of research projects carried out in higher education and research institutions, in all fields of knowledge.
The State of São Paulo has a population of forty million and generates 35% of Brazil’s GNP. State constitution establishes that 1% of all state taxes are transferred every month to the Foundation. The stability of the funding and autonomy of the Foundation allow for an efficient management of the resources with a sizable impact. São Paulo has 22% of the Brazilian population and 30% of the scientists with a doctorate in the country, but the state responds for 52% of the country’s scientific articles published in international journals.
The Foundation works in close contact with the scientific community: all proposals are peer reviewed with the help of area panels composed of active researchers. FAPESP has a portfolio of funding opportunities which include fellowships and research grants, mostly open all year round. At the same time, scientists are welcome to send in unsolicited proposals for new research programs that match world class research, in any existing or emerging field. These are carefully analyzed and, if deemed strong in academic terms, are shaped by the Foundation into research programs that might congregate a set of research projects.
In 2008 the Foundation announced broad research initiatives on Bioenergy and on Global Climate Change. The Foundation supports large research programs in Biodiversity and in Information Technology. A special program on Genomics has brought important scientific and technological results, generating a paper highlighted in the cover of the science magazine Nature and the first two Brazilian small businesses in the field.
FAPESP expects to invest R$ 755 million (approximately US$ 400 million) in research projects in 2009. One third of this value goes into fellowships for graduate and undergraduate students. About 55% goes into exploratory academic research, mostly fundamental in nature.
The remaining 10% is invested into application oriented research, in many cases performed in small businesses or in joint research performed by academia and industry. The percentage invested in applied research has been growing in recent years, consistently with the Foundation’s mandate to foster the scientific and technological development in the State of São Paulo.
Media Contacts
Fernando Cunha, FAPESP (www.fapesp.br)
cunha@fapesp.br / (+55) 11 3838-4151
São Paulo Research Foundation – FAPESP – is an independent public foundation with the mission to foster research and the scientific and technological development of the State of São Paulo, Brazil. This is achieved through the support of research projects carried out in higher education and research institutions, in all fields of knowledge.