FAPESP Week Beijing promotes scientific cooperation between Brazil and China

Peking University and FAPESP open symposium to broaden the exchange of research between the two countries.

By Heitor Shimizu, in Beijing

Agência FAPESP – Brazil-China Scientific Collaboration – FAPESP Week Beijing began on Wednesday, April 16, at the Yingjie Exchange Center, Peking University.

Brazilian and Chinese researchers, along with scientists from other countries who are currently in the Chinese capital, will meet through April 18 to learn about findings from advanced studies and establish contacts that could lead to future research partnerships.

“It is a great honor for Peking University to be able to host FAPESP Week Beijing, FAPESP’s first international symposium in China,” said Enge Wang, Peking University president. “International collaboration is essential for the future of our institution, and therefore the partnership with FAPESP is an important means of broadening the exchange between Brazilian and Chinese researchers.”

“This symposium, organized jointly by Peking University and FAPESP, is a great platform for researchers from our two countries to exchange ideas that could be important in their research,” said Wang, who came to São Paulo in October 2013 on a visit to FAPESP and was welcomed by officials of the Foundation.

“Science is increasingly the result of the collaborative work and efforts of researchers scattered throughout the world, and it is the role of institutions like FAPESP to create ways to bring researchers together and promote the internationalization of science,” said Celso Lafer, president of FAPESP.

“Regardless of their country of origin, researchers share a quest for broader knowledge, and that common goal is an excellent starting point for cooperation and stimulation of productive international relations,” Lafer said.

The FAPESP president noted that 2014 marks the 40th anniversary of the reestablishment of diplomatic ties between Brazil and China. Since that time, the Asian country has become Brazil’s principal trading partner.

“What Brazil and China have already done together is a model of collaboration that provides benefits beyond just our two countries. One example is the CBERS [China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite] Program, which provides data that are used by nations in Africa, for instance,” said Valdemar Carneiro Leão, the Brazilian ambassador to China.

“There are many opportunities for collaboration between Brazil and China, and FAPESP Week Beijing offers an opportunity for scientists to engage in discussion about areas in which they can develop partnerships. Governments can encourage such partnerships, but it depends on you, the scientists, to find areas of shared interest in which to establish the scientific exchange,” Leão said.

Fang Jun, Deputy Director of International Cooperation of China’s Ministry of Education, highlighted the existing cooperation between the two countries in education and research.

According to Jun, there are about 1,500 Brazilians studying in China, 300 of whom have come on scholarships from the Chinese government. “We have about 1.5 million Chinese studying in other countries, including 4,000 in Brazil. These numbers are significant but still small. There is much room for growth,” he said.

Peking University and FAPESP

Located in the Haidian district in western Beijing – between Yuanmingyuan Park and the Summer Palace, one of the Chinese capital’s principal tourist spots – the Peking University campus occupies an area of 2.7 million square meters.

The country’s principal national institution of higher education was founded in 1898 and today has 38,800 students – including 2,600 from other countries – in five colleges and 53 schools and departments. It has 6,200 professors and staff, 14,700 master’s students and 8,500 doctoral students.

With an annual research budget of US$400 million, Peking University has shown a notable increase in scientific production in recent years. In 2013, researchers at the university published 6,247 papers as first author; in 2014, the number stands at 2,417.

The data were presented by Shiyi Chen, Peking University vice president, in a speech on the first day of FAPESP Week Beijing.

According to Chen, one reason for the growth is increased cooperation with scientists from other countries. Before 2000, for example, the number of papers published by Chinese researchers in collaboration with researchers from the United States totaled no more than 100 per year. By the end of the decade, the number had risen to more than 600.

“Peking University has a goal of becoming one of the world’s most important research institutions. By 2020, we want to have a world-class institution with researchers and professors who are leaders in a number of important areas,” Chen said.

“International collaboration is very important in order to accomplish this goal. We want to attract 400 to 500 talented, prominent researchers in the next few years,” he said.

Discussing the mechanisms that Peking University currently uses to attract foreign scientists, Chen pointed to the Global Specialists Recruitment Program, through which more than 40 researchers from several countries are presently working in the university’s laboratories.

In his talk, Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz, scientific director of FAPESP, presented a brief overview of science and technology in the state of São Paulo. “São Paulo ranks first among the Brazilian states in investment in science and technology, investing twice as much as Rio de Janeiro, which ranks second,” he explained to the attendees.

“FAPESP plays an important role in defining and developing research strategies in São Paulo, and its mission is to support research in all fields of knowledge,” said Brito Cruz. “In 2012 we received more than 20,000 research proposals, and we have a certain amount of pride in the fact that proposals are reviewed in 65 days on average, which is very fast.”

Brito Cruz also mentioned the cooperation agreements that the Foundation maintains with institutions in other countries, as well as the mechanisms offered by FAPESP to stimulate international exchange in research. These mechanisms include programs such as Young Investigators in Emerging Institutions, São Paulo Excellence Chairs (SPEC), the São Paulo School of Advanced Science (ESPCA), Visiting Researcher grants, post-doctoral research grants and research internships abroad.

“On average, we bring in a visitor each day from another country, for a stay ranging from two weeks to a year. So every day, a country somewhere in the world sends a scientist to Brazil to collaborate with colleagues in the State of São Paulo,” he said.