Researchers in São Paulo and Canada step up scientific collaboration

FAPESP and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada renew a memorandum of understanding to promote cooperation in science, technology and innovation in areas of mutual interest

By Elton Alisson  |  Agência FAPESP – On September 11, 2018, FAPESP and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) renewed their 2012 memorandum of understanding to promote collaboration in science, technology and innovation in areas of mutual interest.

Under the five-year MoU, the two partners undertake to identify opportunities for and foster concrete scientific and technological cooperative activities involving universities and research institutions in São Paulo State and Canada.

“We’re ready and willing to strengthen and increase collaboration in science and technology with Canada, which has been highly fruitful,” said Eduardo Moacyr Krieger, Acting President of FAPESP, during the signing ceremony.

In recent years, FAPESP has made significant efforts to bolster scientific collaboration between researchers affiliated with universities and research institutions in São Paulo State and colleagues abroad via agreements with other research funding bodies and universities.

These efforts have resulted in a sharp increase in the proportion of articles published by researchers based in São Paulo in coauthorship with colleagues abroad, from just over 25% of the total published in 2010 to almost 40% now, as FAPESP Scientific Director Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz stressed during the event.

The increase in research collaboration between scientists from São Paulo and Canada in recent years, for example, resulted in over 900 recent coauthored publications, up from 400 in 2010. The impact of this collaborative research in terms of international citations almost doubled in the same period.

“When researchers from São Paulo and Canada or other countries work together, the impact of their research becomes greater than if they do their research separately,” Brito Cruz said.

Collaboration between researchers in São Paulo and Canada, he added, has increased in all knowledge areas but especially in biological sciences, health and hard sciences, as well as NSERC’s areas of interest, natural sciences and engineering.

NSERC is one of three Canadian research councils. The others are the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). NSERC promotes scientific discovery by supporting graduate students and researchers and fosters innovation by Canadian companies.

This year, the Canada Research Coordinating Committee (CRCC) approved an increase of CAD 354.7 million (equivalent to USD 272.4 million) in NSERC’s budget to support fundamental research in the next five years. It also proposed a new appropriation of CAD 275 million (approximately USD 211.2 million) for the creation of a new fund to support international “interdisciplinary, high-risk and fast-breaking research”, according to NSERC President B. Mario Pinto.

The goals of the fund, which will be shared by the three research councils, include achieving excellence in global research in various forms by means of joint calls with other research funding agencies around the world.

“This initiative represents a great opportunity for Canadian researchers in collaboration with scientists in São Paulo to develop ambitious projects,” Pinto told Agência FAPESP.

“Renewal of the MoU with FAPESP enables us to continue investing jointly in scientific collaborations on a sustainable basis and now at a higher level.”

More information on cooperation between FAPESP and NSERC: www.fapesp.br/en/6926.