The Institution
The São Paulo Research Foundation
The São Paulo Research Foundation, FAPESP
FAPESP is a public foundation, funded by the taxpayer in the State of São Paulo, with the mission to support research projects in higher education and research institutions, in all fields of knowledge. The constitution of the State establishes that 1% of all state taxes belong to the foundation and the government transfers these funds monthly. The stability of the funding and the autonomy of the foundation allow for an efficient management of the resources that has had a sizable impact.
The foundation works in close contact with the scientific community: all proposals are peer reviewed with the help of area panels composed of active researchers. Besides funding research in all fields, the foundation supports large research programs in areas such as Biodiversity, Bioenergy, Global Climate Change, and in e-Science.
FAPESP allocated $ PPP 400.5 million to the funding of 19,692 research projects in 2021, for growth of 3.5% compared with 2020. Investment in the training of human resources in 2021 corresponded to 36.4% of annual disbursement to fund 11,469 scholarships.
Investment in Basic and Apllied Research increased in the same period: $ PPP 222,8 million – corresponding to 55.6% of total investment – to support 9,251 research projects. This funding strategy entails support for long-term research projects in the form of Thematic Projects, Young Investigator awards and the 17 Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers (RIDC), among other programs.
To strengthen and renew this strategic line, FAPESP decided to promote the establishment of 18 new RIDCs in the years ahead. They will be selected in the program’s third call for proposals, issued in 2021. Investment in Research for Innovation amounted to $ PPP 34.2 million. This was 8.6% of total disbursement in the period and consisted of support for 1,644 collaborative projects involving universities, large and small businesses, and startups.
The Innovative Research in Small Business Program (PIPE), for example, invested more than $ PPP 25.1 million in support for 1,346 research projects conducted by 209 startups and small enterprises in 44 municipalities across São Paulo State. A new funding line was added to the program: known as PIPE for Knowledge Transfer (PIPE-KT), it stimulates the transformation of academic research results into new products, processes and services.
FAPESP also maintains cooperation agreements with national and international research funding agencies, higher educational and research institutions and business enterprises. The international cooperation covers a broad range of countries and agencies.
FAPESP offers many programs to support foreign scientists willing to work in research institutions in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. These include: post-doctoral fellowships, young investigator awards and visiting researcher grants.