FAPESP offers opportunities for scientists from other countries to conduct research in São Paulo

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Agência FAPESP* –By Elton Alisson
Agência FAPESP – On August 22, 2012, FAPESP hosted a meeting of the presidents of affiliates of the InterAmerican Network of Academies of Sciences (Ianas) from academies of sciences throughout the region.
The objective of the meeting was to discuss the opportunities for researchers from São Paulo State to cooperate with researchers from countries in South, Central and North America and the Caribbean through the existing academies of sciences in these regions.
During the event, representatives of FAPESP and Ianas announced a series of opportunities that will allow researchers nominated by Ianas-affiliated national academies of sciences to submit project proposals to FAPESP for potential funding. The Call for Proposals, issued on September 14, 2012, is available at: www.fapesp.br/en/7024.
Research can be in any field of knowledge and should be conducted at research universities and institutions in São Paulo State. Interested researchers should submit project proposals to the academy of sciences in their country of origin, which will then submit the proposals to Ianas.
The research projects of candidates who are pre-selected by their respective Ianas- affiliated academies will be eligible for the FAPESP analysis process, which is based solely on scientific merit and utilizes both ad hoc and peer evaluators from scientific committees to support its decisions.
FAPESP will fund the approved proposals through its post-doctoral fellowship, Young Investigators in Emerging Institutions Grants and Visiting Researcher Research Grants funding modalities.
FAPESP will grant post-doctoral fellowships to promising scientists who have obtained a doctorate within the past seven years. The Young Investigators in Emerging Institutions Grants program offers the necessary fellowships and funding for researchers to develop their projects.
The Visiting Researcher Grant covers the expenses associated with visits by experienced researchers linked to foreign or Brazilian research institutions to research institutions in São Paulo State for a period from two weeks to 12 months.
This type of FAPESP funding brought 240 foreign scientists to universities and research institutions in São Paulo State in 2011, an average of four researchers per week. The goal is to gradually increase this number over the next few years.
“FAPESP is concerned about developing collaboration opportunities so that researchers in São Paulo State can interact with colleagues from all countries,” said Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz, FAPESP scientific director.
“We don’t want to take scientists from their countries, but rather to offer opportunities for them to have a research experience in São Paulo State, develop scientific collaboration with researchers here and later return to their countries and continue their work,” said Brito Cruz.
He affirmed that FAPESP is currently conducting São Paulo Excellence Chairs as a pilot program and should launch the new program in the coming months. The new program will offer highly trained and world-renowned scientists the opportunity to conduct research in São Paulo State for up to 12 weeks over the period of one year.
Currently, two researchers participate in the project: Andrea Dessen de Souza e Silva, from the Institute of Structural Biology in Grenoble, France, who conducts studies at the Brazilian Biosciences National Laboratory (LNBio) in Campinas, and Victor Nussenzweig, professor at the Pathology Department at New York University, who will be coming to Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp) in October to develop research on malaria.
“Our hope is to bring prominent scientists who have jobs that they will not abandon, but who want to have additional funding, to conduct research activity here in São Paulo State,” said Brito Cruz.
As a counterpart to the opportunities FAPESP offers for scientists from abroad to conduct their research in São Paulo, Brito Cruz notes that the Foundation also has funding to send researchers in São Paulo State to other countries.
“In 2010, FAPESP sent 900 scientists from São Paulo State to conduct short-term internships abroad, and we have another type of funding that allows fellows to request additional resources to develop research at good laboratories outside Brazil for a period of four to 12 months," he explained.
 
Strengthening the academies of sciences
According to Hernan Chaimovich, special aide to FAPESP’s scientific department, the partnership between FAPESP and Ianas will allow both parties to attain different objectives, such as strengthening national academies of sciences in South, Central and North America and the Caribbean, facilitating the discovery of scientific talent, and increasing cooperation and scientific integration in these regions.
“There is a huge information gap that prevents the best young scientists from countries in the region from conducting research,” Chaimovich said to Agência FAPESP.
“As national academies of science become aware of the research funding opportunities in their own region and participate in the process of nominating and selecting researchers from their countries, they strengthen and help FAPESP to identify the best scientists who are not in the United States and Europe,” he said.
The meeting participants included  Jacob Palis, president of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC); Helena Nader, president of the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science (SBPC); José Eduardo Krieger, president of the Academy of Sciences of São Paulo State (Aciesp); Carlos Gonzales, president of the Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences in Guatemala; Claudio Bifano, president of the Academy of Physical, Mathematical and Natural Sciences of Venezuela; Hollis Charles, president of the Caribbean Academy of Sciences; Jaime Rodríguez-Lara, president of the Caribbean Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of Colombia; Jorge Huete-Pérez, president of the Academy of Sciences of Nicaragua; José Franco, president of the Mexican Academy of Sciences; Milcíades Mejía, president of the Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic; Roberto Cignoli, president of the National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of Argentina; and Gustavo Gonzales, president of the Academy of Sciences of Peru.

<p><b>By Elton Alisson</b></p>
<p><b>Agência FAPESP</b> – On August 22, 2012, FAPESP hosted a meeting of the presidents of affiliates of the InterAmerican Network of Academies of Sciences (Ianas) from academies of sciences throughout the region.</p>
<p>The objective of the meeting was to discuss the opportunities for researchers from São Paulo State to cooperate with researchers from countries in South, Central and North America and the Caribbean through the existing academies of sciences in these regions.</p>
<p>During the event, representatives of FAPESP and Ianas announced a series of opportunities that will allow researchers nominated by Ianas-affiliated national academies of sciences to submit project proposals to FAPESP for potential funding. The Call for Proposals, issued on September 14, 2012, is available at: <a href="http://www.fapesp.br/en/7024"><b>www.fapesp.br/en/7024</b></a>.</p>
<p>Research can be in any field of knowledge and should be conducted at research universities and institutions in São Paulo State. Interested researchers should submit project proposals to the academy of sciences in their country of origin, which will then submit the proposals to Ianas.</p>
<p>The research projects of candidates who are pre-selected by their respective Ianas- affiliated academies will be eligible for the FAPESP analysis process, which is based solely on scientific merit and utilizes both ad hoc and peer evaluators from scientific committees to support its decisions.</p>
<p>FAPESP will fund the approved proposals through its post-doctoral fellowship, Young Investigators in Emerging Institutions Grants and Visiting Researcher Research Grants funding modalities.</p>
<p>FAPESP will grant post-doctoral fellowships to promising scientists who have obtained a doctorate within the past seven years. The Young Investigators in Emerging Institutions Grants program offers the necessary fellowships and funding for researchers to develop their projects.</p>
<p>The Visiting Researcher Grant covers the expenses associated with visits by experienced researchers linked to foreign or Brazilian research institutions to research institutions in São Paulo State for a period from two weeks to 12 months.</p>
<p>This type of FAPESP funding brought 240 foreign scientists to universities and research institutions in São Paulo State in 2011, an average of four researchers per week. The goal is to gradually increase this number over the next few years.</p>
<p>“FAPESP is concerned about developing collaboration opportunities so that researchers in São Paulo State can interact with colleagues from all countries,” said Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz, FAPESP scientific director.</p>
<p>“We don’t want to take scientists from their countries, but rather to offer opportunities for them to have a research experience in São Paulo State, develop scientific collaboration with researchers here and later return to their countries and continue their work,” said Brito Cruz.</p>
<p>He affirmed that FAPESP is currently conducting São Paulo Excellence Chairs as a pilot program and should launch the new program in the coming months. The new program will offer highly trained and world-renowned scientists the opportunity to conduct research in São Paulo State for up to 12 weeks over the period of one year.</p>
<p>Currently, two researchers participate in the project: Andrea Dessen de Souza e Silva, from the Institute of Structural Biology in Grenoble, France, who conducts studies at the Brazilian Biosciences National Laboratory (LNBio) in Campinas, and Victor Nussenzweig, professor at the Pathology Department at New York University, who will be coming to Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp) in October to develop research on malaria.</p>
<p>“Our hope is to bring prominent scientists who have jobs that they will not abandon, but who want to have additional funding, to conduct research activity here in São Paulo State,” said Brito Cruz.</p>
<p>As a counterpart to the opportunities FAPESP offers for scientists from abroad to conduct their research in São Paulo, Brito Cruz notes that the Foundation also has funding to send researchers in São Paulo State to other countries.</p>
<p>“In 2010, FAPESP sent 900 scientists from São Paulo State to conduct short-term internships abroad, and we have another type of funding that allows fellows to request additional resources to develop research at good laboratories outside Brazil for a period of four to 12 months," he explained.<br />
 <br />
<b>Strengthening the academies of sciences</b></p>
<p>According to Hernan Chaimovich, special aide to FAPESP’s scientific department, the partnership between FAPESP and Ianas will allow both parties to attain different objectives, such as strengthening national academies of sciences in South, Central and North America and the Caribbean, facilitating the discovery of scientific talent, and increasing cooperation and scientific integration in these regions.</p>
<p>“There is a huge information gap that prevents the best young scientists from countries in the region from conducting research,” Chaimovich said to Agência FAPESP.</p>
<p>“As national academies of science become aware of the research funding opportunities in their own region and participate in the process of nominating and selecting researchers from their countries, they strengthen and help FAPESP to identify the best scientists who are not in the United States and Europe,” he said.</p>
<p>The meeting participants included  Jacob Palis, president of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC); Helena Nader, president of the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science (SBPC); José Eduardo Krieger, president of the Academy of Sciences of São Paulo State (Aciesp); Carlos Gonzales, president of the Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences in Guatemala; Claudio Bifano, president of the Academy of Physical, Mathematical and Natural Sciences of Venezuela; Hollis Charles, president of the Caribbean Academy of Sciences; Jaime Rodríguez-Lara, president of the Caribbean Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of Colombia; Jorge Huete-Pérez, president of the Academy of Sciences of Nicaragua; José Franco, president of the Mexican Academy of Sciences; Milcíades Mejía, president of the Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic; Roberto Cignoli, president of the National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of Argentina; and Gustavo Gonzales, president of the Academy of Sciences of Peru.</p>
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