EU-Brazilian S&T Collaboration

 

The political framework of Brazilian-European cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation

Brazil is the 5th largest country in the world, both in terms of territory and of population. As a key emerging world economic power, Brazil is an important partner country for the EU in Latin America.

EU-Brazil research cooperation has a long tradition, already starting in the 3rd Framework Programme (1990-1994). Brazil is considered as a significant partner for European ST&I. Next to various bilateral S&T agreements with individual European countries, an agreement on scientific and technological cooperation is in force between the European Union and Brazil since 2006, aimed at strengthening cooperation in areas of mutual interest and benefit. The S&T agreement can be downloaded on the European Commission's website for international cooperation in research. Within the timespan of FP7, two coordinated calls – on Biofuels and just recently on ICT – have been launched. 

In the context of the 2nd Brazil-European Union Summit (Rio de Janeiro on December 22nd, 2008) both the European Union as well as Brazil once again stated their commitment to collaborate in the field of Science and Technology and to foster cooperation in these areas. As an Access4EU-project directed at Brazil, APORTA wishes to contribute to these goals.

 

Brazilian-European Cooperation in ST&I from a researcher's perspective

Through FP7 and through co-funded bilateral and multilateral agreements, funding for Brazilian-European researcher mobility and staff exchange is often available to support international cooperation. But even Brazilian thematic national funding programmes do offer opportunities for international cooperation. Scientific coordinators of projects funded in Brazil often count with a high level of autonomy regarding the allocation of project funds, if the legal framework is respected. Thus, if considered beneficial for the project and justified in the project proposal, funds can be allocated for international cooperation activities. For open calls and opportunities for European-Brazilian S&T cooperation within Brazilian funding programmes, please search our database!

In our download section, you find the most relevant documents and on Brazilian-European research cooperation. Our link section provides you with useful links related to EU-Brazil research cooperation.

 

How do I find a partner for joint Brazilian-European research?

If you are a European researcher interested in participating in a Brazilian call, the essential first step to initiate collaboration in a larger project is to identify a Brazilian researcher likely to be the coordinator of the project proposed.
Several search options exist to find partners for Brazilian-European cooperation in ST&I: 
  • The „Brazilian Bureau for Enhancing the International Cooperation with the European Union“ offers a partner search tool at http://balcao.bbice.unb.br/
  • CORDIS; the European Commission`s official Research and Development Information Service, offers an interactive Partners Service at http://cordis.europa.eu/partners
  • Lattes Plattform is the Brazilian database of researchers, institutions and research groups in S&T. It includes 1.8 Million CVs of Brazilian researchers, 27,000 research groups in 400 Brazilian institutions (in Portuguese, automatic English translation).
  • A further option for partnersearch is the Latin American RTD database at http://www.lac-database.eu/.

If you are rather looking for research institutions, the following sources might be of interest:

  • Brochure about the National Institutes of Science and Technology (INCT). Contains descriptions and contact data of individual thematic institutes. More information in Portuguese available at http://www.cnpq.br/programas/inct/_apresentacao/index.html
  • The „Brazilian Bureau for Enhancing the International Cooperation with the European Union“ offers a map of competencies, an interactive database that gathers information from research institutions and companies active in the fields of Science, Technology and Innovation throughout Brazil: http://mapa.bbice.unb.br/