Innovation is discussed by the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science

Heads of main research funding agencies meet to discuss strategies for bolstering innovation in Brazil.

By Samuel Antenor, in São Carlos

Agência FAPESP – Future directions and challenges for the progress of innovation in Brazil were the focus of a round-table discussion on the outlook for science and technology (S&T) in the country, which was held on July 14, during the 67th Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science (SBPC). The conference lasted until July 18 and took place at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) in São Paulo State.

Entitled “Policies and Incentives for Technological Innovation in S&T Institutions”, the discussion featured the heads of Brazil’s main research funding agencies: Carlos Afonso Nobre, President of CAPES, the Ministry of Education’s Office for Faculty Development; Hernan Chaimovich, President of CNPq, the National Scientific & Technological Development Council; Luis Manuel Rebelo Fernandes, President of FINEP, the Brazilian Innovation Agency; and Celso Lafer, President of FAPESP, the São Paulo Research Foundation. The mediator was Angela Maria Cohen Uller from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ).

Despite the enormous challenges, the discussants agreed that Brazil has the capacity to achieve comparable innovation rates to those of more advanced countries, as exemplified by the number of PhDs awarded, set to reach 17,000 in 2015.

FINEP President Fernandes said innovation has been part of Brazil’s political agenda since the Second National S&T Conference, held in 2001, and has gathered momentum since Congress passed Law 10,973, known as the Innovation Law, in 2004.

In just over a decade, between 2001 and 2012, investment in research and development rose from approximately 1% of gross domestic product (GDP) to 1.21%. The public sector contributed 0.68%, whereas 0.53% came from private enterprise. “Investment by the Brazilian government is in line with the global average. For example, we’re ahead of Japan [0.56%] and close to France [0.80%]. The challenge for us is to be more efficient and effective in promoting innovation in the business environment,” Fernandes said.

Brazil urgently needs to achieve significant numbers in innovation to avoid the risk of remaining dependent on other countries indefinitely, he added.

One way to do this, he stressed, is to replenish and revitalize the National Fund for S&T Development (FNDCT), the main source of support for research and innovation nationwide. “This fund complements government action and is no substitute for it,” he said. “FINEP wants to preserve this principle in order to continue sharing the technological risks inherent in the research projects implemented by the corporate sector.”

Allocation of oil exploration and production royalties to the FNDCT ceased in 2014 when the Presalt Social Fund was established. Today, it also awards study scholarships and grants to social organizations accredited by the Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation (MCTI).

Cross-cutting programs

CNPq President Chaimovich advocated an increase in his agency’s budget to meet the growing demand for research funding in Brazil. CNPq’s mission, he stressed, is to strengthen the foundations of S&T by incorporating new scientists into the nation’s science, technology and innovation (ST&I) support systems and developing cross-cutting programs that fulfill its strategic needs.

“We’ve achieved huge growth in Brazil’s science production. We’ve built solid foundations, but it’s time to use these to issue challenges: ideas generate new ideas, and new ideas drive progress in different fields of scientific knowledge,” he said.

Chaimovich noted the incorporation of new scientists into ST&I support systems as one of the challenges for innovation. “We need programs that enable researchers with PhDs who have recently been engaged by universities and research institutions to access funding for scientific investigations,” he said.

He also presented statistics on the Program for Education & Training of Human Resources in Strategic Areas (RHAE), established in 1987 to award grants to researchers responsible for research projects in innovative companies. Every US$1 million invested by the federal government in the initiative generates on average 26 products, 23 scientific articles, 19 processes, ten services and eight intellectual property registrations, among other outcomes.

Basic education

For CAPES President Carlos Nobre, sufficient numbers of well-trained professionals to perform research and generate innovation cannot be produced without major improvements to basic education. Investing in higher education is indispensable but insufficient. “In 2007, CAPES was asked to contribute to the effort to eliminate the historical deficit in basic education, especially via teacher training,” he said.

This contribution has so far included the Institutional Teaching Initiation Scholarship Program (PIBID) and the National Teacher Training Plan for Basic Education (PARFOR), which together have awarded grants to 162,000 teachers, among other initiatives.

“Brazil ranks 61st in innovation, 58th in mathematics, 59th in science, and 55th in reading,” Nobre said. “This means that to realize our innovative potential we must achieve significant improvements in basic education. We won’t be able to meet these targets without high-quality basic education. Unless Brazil’s basic education improves, we may find it hard to become an innovative country.”

Partnering with companies

FAPESP, the only research funding agency representing a state to participate in the round-table discussion, has several programs that support innovation, as stressed by its President Celso Lafer. They include the University-Industry Cooperative Research (PITE) program and the Innovative Research in Small Business (PIPE) program. According to Lafer, FAPESP’s innovation programs help build bridges between research institutions and the business sector in São Paulo State by supporting joint research projects and fostering the creation of startups based on projects for innovation in products and industrial processes.

Private enterprise is the source of most of the investment in research and development in the state, Lafer said, while noting the long-term planning and budgeting required by research in S&T. “Time in research is different from time in the economy, for example,” he explained. “For this reason, FAPESP has long-term programs such as the Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers (RIDCs), which it supports for periods of up to 11 years. The mission of RDICs is to develop basic or applied research with a significant impact.”

Lafer also mentioned the Engineering Research Centers established in partnership with companies and supported for up to ten years to conduct research in areas of strategic importance to development and technological innovation, such as activities that help put innovation at the center of discussions, with internationally significant results.