$ PPP 642.5 million in support for research in Brazil

São Paulo Research Foundation's investment in scientific and technological research increased 3.1% in 2015.

By Fabrício Marques  |  Pesquisa FAPESP magazine – In 2015, FAPESP disbursed 642.5 million in $ purchasing power parity (PPP) to support scientific and technological research in São Paulo State, Brazil. 

FAPESP’s income totaled $ PPP 729.7 million in 2015. Transfers from the São Paulo State Treasury accounted for 77.4%, or $ PPP 565.1 million, equivalent to 1% of the state’s tax revenue. The foundation’s capital revenue contributed 5.5% ($ PPP 39.9 million), whereas 17.1% ($ PPP 124.7 million) came from other revenue sources such as agreements with institutions for joint research funding under which FAPESP administers disbursement. These numbers are from the 2015 Activity Report, available at fapesp.br/en/5437.

A novel feature of the 2015 report is the chapter on São Paulo’s science and technology sector, showing that it comprises 62 entities for which research is a key activity – including universities and other higher education institutions as well as public and private research institutions – and 14,787 companies engaged in research and development (R&D) for innovation.

In 2015, São Paulo State had 74,000 researchers, and 21,783 scientific articles by researchers in the state were published in indexed journals during the year. Investment in R&D totaled $ PPP 14.8 billion in 2015. Investment by private companies accounted for 57.2% of the total, whereas the state government contributed 22.7%, the federal government 17.7%, and private higher education institutions 2.4%.

FAPESP invests in the development of application-driven research, advancement of knowledge, and support for research infrastructure in São Paulo, which respectively accounted for 52%, 40% and 8% of the total disbursed in 2015.

The foundation funds several categories of applied research, such as small business R&D for innovation, partnerships between private enterprise and universities to produce knowledge of relevance to industry and develop new technology, and research that contributes to the formulation of public policy. It also has programs to fund application-driven research in specific areas such as bioenergy, global climate change, biodiversity and e-science, among others.

A highlight of 2015 was the establishment of three new Collaborative Applied Research Centers, which involve major partnerships with corporations and universities or research institutions underpinned by ten-year agreements for the development of advanced research activities. FAPESP’s investment is matched by an equivalent amount from the business partner and twice as much from the university or research institution.

Multinational pharmaceutical corporation GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is a partner in two of these new centers. Investment will reach some $ PPP 47.6 million, with FAPESP and GSK contributing a total of $ PPP 18.7 million in equal shares and the host institutions supplying $ PPP 28.9 million. “Our goal is one day to launch a product proudly discovered in Brazil,” said Cesar Rengifo, President of GSK Brazil.

Sustainable chemistry

One of these facilities is a center for research on green chemicals, hosted by the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar). It aims to develop new biorenewable feedstocks and drugs, and to advance sustainable synthetic methods employing benign solvents and safer reagents. According to GSK, more than one-third of its supply chain carbon footprint is attributable to materials.

Another center focuses on the identification of molecular targets as a basis for the development of drugs for inflammatory diseases and hosted by the Butantan Institute.

The third facility is a center for research on the uses and applications of natural gas, a partnership with BG Group-Shell and the University of São Paulo’s Engineering School (POLI-USP), Energy & Environment Institute (IEE-USP), and Energy & Nuclear Research Institute (IPEN). It aims to be a world center for advanced studies on the sustainable use of natural gas, biogas and hydrogen; to increase the share of natural gas in the overall energy mix of São Paulo State and Brazil; and to contribute to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

“Our research lines will focus on gas transportation and use, and on developing new feedstocks from gas,” said Julio Meneghini, a professor at POLI-USP and head of RCGI.

The model for these centers, to which long-term funding and frontier research are crucial, has also been adopted in initiatives with other corporations, including Groupe PSA (which makes Peugeot and Citroën cars) and cosmetics firm Natura.

Competitiveness

FAPESP runs a series of programs to support research of a more ambitious and internationally competitive nature, such as Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers (RIDCs), Thematic Projects, Young Investigators Program, São Paulo Excellence Chairs (SPECs) and Collaborative Applied Research Centers. Disbursement for these programs amounted to $ PPP 211.5 million in 2015.

In 2015, FAPESP invested $ PPP 3.4 million in eight projects under the SPEC Program, which brings top-tier researchers from abroad to lead projects at institutions in São Paulo.

The 17 RIDCs received $ PPP 35.7 million. The mission of these centers, which are funded for up to 11 years, is to produce world-class multidisciplinary research in frontier science.

The 326 researchers benefited by the Young Investigators Program received $ PPP 36.4 million. This program aims to bring early-career PhD holders with strong potential to São Paulo State by fostering the establishment of laboratories and research groups in centers that do not have a substantial track record in scientific research or by implementing new research lines at institutions that do. Most of FAPESP’s investment under this program in 2015 went to projects in health, biology, physics and engineering. The program also sets out to attract young foreign scientists with links to international networks and experience in areas of frontier research not covered by local scientists. Nine of the projects underway in 2015 were led by foreign researchers.

There are almost always more projects in certain knowledge areas with a comparatively dense and numerous community of researchers, such as health, which in 2015 received 27.9% of the total disbursed, biology (14.9%), human and social sciences (10.3%), engineering (8.6%), agronomy and veterinary medicine (7.8%), chemistry (5%), physics (4,9%) and astronomy (3.1%), among others.

For the first time, interdisciplinary research ranked third by share of total disbursement in 2015, with 10.4% of the total.

Spontaneous demand

Approximately 40% of the total disbursed in 2015, equivalent to $ PPP 258.2 million, consisted of regular scholarships for projects in Brazil and abroad. This funding line is one whereby FAPESP meets spontaneous demand from students and researchers.

Although funding for projects abroad accounted for only 21.9% of disbursement for regular scholarships, it grew 32.9% year over year in nominal terms, more than offsetting a fall of 7.6% in regular scholarships for projects in Brazil.

A significant proportion of FAPESP’s investment went to Research Internships Abroad (BEPE), which enable young students with scholarships from FAPESP for scientific initiation and PhD or postdoc research to train for up to a year at research centers abroad. The amount disbursed in 2015 for this purpose totaled $ PPP 43.8 million.

The 2015 annual report also notes an advance in support for international collaboration, with 355 research grants and 1,185 scholarships under several programs in this category. FAPESP’s investment in this area totaled $ PPP 75.1 million: co-funding arrangements resulting from agreements with universities and research funding agencies abroad accounted for $ PPP 31.9 million – in 2015, FAPESP had 142 cooperation agreements in progress with institutions in 27 countries, and 26 of these agreements were signed during the year – whereas scientific exchange projects not linked to these agreements accounted for $ PPP 43.2 million.