EURAXESS Brazil

Legal Framework

EU-Brazil cooperation relations are based on the 1992 Framework Co-operation Agreement signed in June 1992 and ratified by the Brazilian Congress in May 1995. In 2007, the EU recognised Brazil as one of its key global partners through the establishment of the formal EU-Brazil Strategic Partnership.

Academic cooperation

Between 2007 and 2013, the EU and Brazil promoted academic cooperation between European and Brazilian higher education institutions. For 2014 to 2020, the EU has made €163 million available for regional cooperation with Latin America in higher education inside Erasmus+.

EU-Brazil Science and Technology Agreement

Brazil and Europe have a long research cooperation tradition in the area of Science & Technology culminating in the signing in 2004 of the Agreement for scientific and technological cooperation. The agreement entered in force in 2007 and was renewed for further 5 years in 2012. It aims at encouraging, developing and facilitating cooperative activities in areas of common interest by carrying out and supporting scientific and technological research and development activities.

The implementation of the cooperation agreement is managed by a joint steering committee which meets on a regular basis and has as main tasks to indicate priority sectors of mutual interests and advise on ways to improve cooperation.

The final declaration of the 6th EU-Brazil Summit, held in 2014, highlighted the fact that competitiveness, innovation and economic growth cannot be achieved without strengthening cooperation in science and technology.

The main areas of scientific cooperation are:

• Energy
• Marine Research
• Bio-economy
• Health
• Fusion Energy
• Nanotechnology
• Climate change
• ICT
• ERC.

Other cooperation agreements

EURATOM

The Agreement for Cooperation between the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) and Brazil set in 2009 in the field of fusion energy research was ratified in December 2012 and came into force in January 2013.

Joint Research Centre - JRC

In the context of the 6th EU-Brazil Summit held in Brasí­lia in January 2013, a Cooperation Arrangement was signed between the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) to undertake training and cooperation activities in the areas of disaster prevention and crisis management; climate change and sustainable management of natural resources and ecosystem services; energy, including bioenergy and smart grids; food security; bioeconomy; information and communication technologies (ICT), as well as nanotechnologies.

The EU promotes international cooperation in science and technology through its Horizon 2020 framework programme. This programme runs from 2014 to 2020 and has a budget of €80 billion.

Brazilian participants (individual researchers and/or institutions) can join projects in any area. Horizon 2020 therefore provides the EU and Brazil with the opportunity to build on what is already a fruitful area of collaboration.

The Excellent Science Pillar of Horizon 2020 offers dedicated programmes like Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions and The European Research Council (ERC) to support the best research talents irrespective of their nationality with fellowships and grants.

For the more information on 2016 and other forthcoming calls, please visit the participant portal of Horizon 2020. Please click on Online Manual and on Reference Document for additional insight. Read also the European Commission brochure which describes specific opportunities for international cooperation by theme and by country in the Horizon 2020 - Work Programme for 2016-2017 here.

Selection of Calls of potential interest for Brazil for 2016 & 2017

In order to encourage the participation of Brazilian researchers under Horizon 2020 calls, the Brazilian National Council of State Funding Agencies (CONFAP) listed potential calls of interest for EU-Brazil cooperation.

Calls cover the timeframe of 2016 to 2017 and are divided following Horizon 2020's priorites: Excellent Science; Industrial Leadership; Societal Challenge, and the respective sub-programmes.

For technical issues related to the contents of the calls and for networking support, please contact: horizonte2020confap@gmail.com.

Funding of Brazilian participation

Brazil was in the top five non-European countries in terms of active participation in the EU’s previous framework programme for science and technology (FP7).

In Horizon 2020, Brazilian entities are no longer automatically eligible for funding and must, therefore, determine the sources of funding and resources for their part of the project.

Existing co-funding mechanisms in Brazil

Different funding schemes are being set up in different Brazilian states through the existing Research Foundations in each state to fund Brazilian participation in Horizon 2020 collaborative projects.

The first scheme was established by the Research Foundation of the State of São Paulo (FAPESP) in 2015. Following this, the National Council of Research Foundations has led a coordinated effort among the other research foundations in Brazilian States to follow the example of FAPESP.

As a result, co-funding schemes for Brazilian researchers are available in the following states:

• Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo - FAPESP
• Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Estado de Santa Catarina- FAPESC
• Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás - FAPEG
• Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais - FAPEMIG
• Fundação de amparo à Pesquisa do Distrito Federal - FAPDF
• Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Espírito Santo - FAPES
• Conselho Nacional das Fundações Estaduais de Amparo à Pesquisa - CONFAP

Cooperation in ICTs

The EU and Brazil are jointly engaged in addressing issues relating to information and communication technologies (ICTs).

An EU-Brazil Information Society Dialogue, held in 2012, agreed a €10 million call for proposals to fund ICT projects of common interest. The two parties also shared their experience and knowledge of policy and regulatory issues in areas such as broadband development, governance and internet security, cloud computing and digital content.

The importance of cooperation with Brazil in this field comes from the following factors:

• the growing influence of the Information Society and ICT in everyday life;

• the increasing globalisation of the ICT sector and the leading role played by Brazil in Latin America’s digital economy;

• Brazil’s rising importance regarding issues of strategic importance for the EU such as internet governance and information networks and security.

More : EU Information Society research

Short- and long-term mobility of researchers both ways is an important driver of the EU-Brazil research and innovation partnership.

Individual researchers can take part in mobility programmes under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions scheme (MSCA). Brazilian researchers may also apply for the European Research Council (ERC) grants, which are for the most ambitious and highest quality researchers.

Many other instituions and agencies from EU member states and associated countries, third countries, including Brazil and international foundations also fund researchers mobility.

Until recently, we highlighted each month around 50 schemes to support researcher collaboration, exchange, or mobility in our monthly Newsletter and list of funding opportunities. These schemes are now available on EURAXESS Funding database and in our weekly Flasnotes. Register to receive our automotic notifications.