OTTAWA – A $200,000 investment announced today by The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), University of Toronto and The University of Western Ontario will be used to enhance support for research collaborations between investigators in Brazil and Canada.
Announced in Ottawa at a workshop entitled Advancing Excellence in Strategic Engagement with Brazil, the new cooperation agreement will promote and support scientific research projects between institutions of higher education and research in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, and the two Canadian universities.
The workshop sought to foster peer exchange and dialogue that informs institutional policy-making and practice, while shaping the agenda of future engagement of Canadian universities with Brazilian institutions in specific areas of research and training.
“The deal represents another action for internationalization of FAPESP,” says Ricardo Brentani, FAPESP director. “Both the University of Toronto and The University of Western Ontario are part of a broader process that represents research possibilities and interaction among researchers in the State of São Paulo and researchers from these two universities.”
“This type of program represents fairly new territory in terms of providing support to help seed collaboration between Canadian and Brazilian researchers,” says Ted Hewitt, Western’s vice-president (research and international relations). “We hope the calls for proposals and other activities generated by this agreement encourage joint research projects between the two countries that benefit not only Canada and Brazil, but the rest of the world.”
“Partnership is essential to the ability of universities, governments and other organizations to help global society solve problems and create opportunities,” says professor Paul Young, the University of Toronto’s vice president, research. “This agreement between FAPESP, Western and U of T is a perfect example of the power of partnership and collaboration. We very much look forward to the innovation that will come of our new relationship with Brazil.”
Started in 1962, FAPESP is one of Brazil’s main research-funding agencies for science. Its mission is to foster scientific research in all fields of knowledge by awarding scholarships, fellowships and grants to investigators linked to higher education and research institutions in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. In 2010, there were 11,555 projects approved. FAPESP’s expenditures in 2010 were around $500 million (U.S.), up 5 per cent from 2009.
Visit the FAPESP website for more information on the partnership.
