FAPESP and US institutions discuss cooperation

Directors from the Brazilian Foundation discussed models of international cooperation in scientific research in a meeting with representatives from National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the US Department of Energy, and the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.


The scientific director and chief executive officer of the Executive Board of FAPESP, Professors Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz and José Arana Varela, took part in meetings held at the Brazil Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC on Tuesday. It was the third stop during FAPESP Week 2012. 

They joined 18 invited guests for lunch at the Wilson Center, where they discussed science policy. Among those in attendance were directors and researchers from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the US Department of Energy, and the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

For two hours they discussed models of international cooperation in scientific research, processes for submitting and evaluating project proposals sent to FAPESP and other entities represented, as well as other topics of interest.

Brito Cruz underscored the importance FAPESP places on having a balanced approach to international cooperation. He stressed how important it is that researchers and scholars from the two or more countries that are working together spend time in each other’s countries.

He also mentioned that for a long time, it was much more common to see Brazilians travel abroad rather than see foreigners travel to Brazil. Now though, a certain amount of equilibrium is needed so that the scientific communities of all nations involved are able to make the best use of the exchange programs.

To this end, FAPESP has several programs for attracting scientists, both those who are just beginning as well as those who are more experienced. One is the São Paulo School of Advanced Sciences (which is on its eighth call for proposals), the São Paulo Excellence Chair (in a pilot stage), the Visiting Scientist Program (that has involved nearly 250 people per year) and the Young Researchers program (that as brought six scientists each month on average to Brazil).

In comparing research proposal management, it was found that FAPESP performed well ahead of the standard of the NSF, for example. The latter receives nearly 40,000 proposals every year and takes an average of six months to respond to the interested researcher.

In 2011, FAPESP received 20,600 proposals and took an average of only 74 days to respond to the researcher. Furthermore, while the NSF has yearly deadlines for proposal submissions, FAPESP imposes no deadlines, opting instead to make decisions on a rolling basis.

In terms of success rates, the general average for FAPESP is 45%, but is much lower for programs that have longer terms and are more ambitious (10% for the RIDCs, 18% for the young researchers, 35% for five-year thematic projects). The average success rate in the US is roughly 15% while in the UK it is somewhere between 12 - 28%.

In the afternoon, Brito Cruz gave a presentation about FAPESP in the Wilson Center auditorium to an audience of nearly 50 that included professors from several universities, research institutes, scientific entities and technology companies from metropolitan Washington, DC and other states (like North Carolina and Nebraska), as well as journalists from important scientific publications such as Nature and Science.

His presentation revisited the process of internationalization that FAPESP engages in; one that the foundation has made a priority over the years. He explained that FAPESP believes in the importance of establishing agreements with universities, funding entities and companies so that it is best prepared to face what he understands will be the three most significant challenges for the next 5-10 years. Those challenges include increasing the number of working scientists in São Paulo (a number that is currently nearly one third of those in Spain, for example), increasing scientific production in companies in the state of São Paulo, and expanding the impact of São Paulo scientific studies (in terms both academic as well as social and economic).

Paulo Sotero, Director of the Brazil Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars that hosted Tuesday’s meeting and co-sponsors FAPESP Week 2012 said that cooperation between his entity and FAPESP over the past year to date is one of the ways FAPESP is able to fulfill its mission of showcasing Brazil and its capabilities to those who make public policy in the US. Sotero, Varela and Brito Cruz discussed how to further expand collaboration between the two institutions.