Publications

Conference: Opportunities in Natural Sciences and Engineering Research in São Paulo, Brazil

Euclides de Mesquita Neto

Engineering Coordination, FAPESP and Professor, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Campinas - UNICAMP

The presentation will show the landscape for Natural Sciences and Engineering research supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation, FAPESP, a public foundation with the mission to support research led by PIs associated to universities and research institutions in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. 
 
FAPESP has a growing portfolio of grants in the Natural Sciences and Engineering with expenditures in 2012 equivalent to US$ 130 million. 
 
For young researchers FAPESP offers two programs: Post-Doctoral fellowships and the Young Investigator Award. Candidates are welcome from any country and Brazilian nationality is not a requirement. All proposals are selected through peer-reviewing and applications can be submitted in English. Post-doctoral fellowships target candidates who obtained a PhD recently, demonstrating excellence in research (www.fapesp.br/en/5427).

In 2012 FAPESP awarded 317 post-doctoral fellowships to researchers in the Natural Sciences and Engineering.  The Young Investigator program selects scientists with a few years of post-doctoral experience, demonstrating outstanding research leadership capabilities (www.fapesp.br/en/4479). Funding includes a fellowship, plus a research grant. In 2012 25 young investigator awards were granted for researchers to start their careers in São Paulo, in the Natural Sciences and Engineering.
 
For outstanding, experienced researchers who have a permanent position outside Brazil, FAPESP offers the São Paulo Excellence Chairs (SPEC). The candidate must commit to spend not less than 12 weeks per year, for 5 years, leading a research project hosted in a university in the State of São Paulo. The 12 weeks do not need to be continuous. The grant covers funds for equipment, consumables, trips, fellowships for students and post-docs, as well as the expenses to travel to Brazil. The host institution in São Paulo will pay a salary for the weeks spent there leading the research.