FAPESP Week California to discuss Brazil-USA scientific research cooperation

Brazilian and U.S. scientists will present study findings and discuss collaborative research in renewable energies, advanced materials, education, health, and State-society relations.

Agência FAPESP – The next edition of FAPESP Week symposiums will take place at California’s UC Berkeley and UC Davis, November 17 – 21, 2014. Brazilian and U.S. researchers at the gathering will present research findings and discuss topics of interest for cooperation through exchanges and the development of joint projects.

The seminar is sponsored by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), with support from the Brazil Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, in Washington, DC. The agenda for FAPESP Week California includes discussions of topics related to health, advanced materials, climate, economics and society.

Some examples of what will be presented are recent findings from research carried out in São Paulo that includes studies about obesity induced by hypothalamic dysfunction, the inflammatory processes involved in cancer progression, and genomic alterations in carcinoma of the head and neck. In the field of advanced materials, scientists will demonstrate applications of glass-ceramics for bone tissue growth and important orthopedic and dental implants, in addition to projects for developing stronger and lighter parts and structures.

Additional topics of mutual research interest presented at the symposium will include South Atlantic climate modeling, recovery techniques in areas and waters contaminated by chemicals, reducing inequalities and the development of democracy within the context of Brazil, and a project on 19th century novelist and traveler impressions of the Amazon shared with the outside world.

FAPESP Week seminars are part of the Foundation’s internationalization strategy, based on the principal that world class collaboration between distinguished scientists in all fields of knowledge is essential for achieving excellence in scientific and technological research.

At the same time, FAPESP has expanded the number of cooperation agreements for international research it has with research-funding agencies, universities and other research institutions. With the backing of these instruments, the Foundation has shared the support to joint research projects carried out in 22 countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe, recognized by the quality of the scientific and technological research they generate.

Since 2011, FAPESP has organized eight other FAPESP Week symposiums for the purpose of promoting international cooperation in seven countries, in the cities of Washington DC, Morgantown, Cambridge, Charlotte, Raleigh and Chapel Hill (US), Toronto (Canada), Salamanca and Madrid (Spain), Tokyo (Japan), London (United Kingdom), Peking (China) and Munich (Germany).

Cooperation with the United States

FAPESP has 23 cooperation agreements in the United States, involving seven research-funding agencies, 14 universities, research institutes and laboratories, – including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), known as California’s Stem Cell Agency, and UC Davis – which is hosting part of the activities related to FAPESP Week California. The Foundation also has agreements with two U.S. Companies: Microsoft Corporation and Agilent Technologies.

Under the scope of these cooperation agreements, 66 joint research projects are underway, involving the participation of Brazilian scientists associated with institutions such as the University of São Paulo (USP), the University of Campinas (Unicamp), São Paulo State University (Unesp), and the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), and U.S. scientists associated with eight universities, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and MIT.