INCOBRA - Increasing International Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation between Brazil and the European Union

The Consejo España-Brasil Foundation aims to promote scientific, technological, research, cultural and academic cooperation. The Brazilian Leaders Program is one of the main activities developed by the Foundation and the third edition was dedicated to the promotion of scientific and technological development and cooperation between both countries.

With Science and Technology as fundamental axes, the third edition of the Brazilian Leaders Program was held in the Canary Islands and Madrid between 12th and 16th December.

With an investment in Research &Innovation of approximately 10 billion euros, Brazil is one of the American countries with the highest level of research. Spain is placed tenth in the world in terms of production of scientific publications according to the Spanish Secretary of State for Research, Development and Innovation (SEIDI).

The Foundation invited a select group of high-profile Brazilian professionals for a week to meet some of the reference centers for scientific and technological research in Spain They also had the opportunity to establish contacts with policy makers and scientists from government institutions and agencies. This initiative seeks a closer relationship between professionals in the sector and the promotion of Spanish research among Brazilian institutions.

 

The Brazilian Leaders who participated in this third edition were:

- Carlos E. Higa Matsumoto, Deputy General Director for International Affairs at the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications of Brazil

- Daniela Lazzaro, Deputy Director and head of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Brazilian National Observatory

- Reinaldo Ramos de Carvalho, President of the Brazilian Astronomical Society

- Jose E. Krieger, Professor of Genetics and Molecular Cardiology and head of International Relations at the University of São Paulo

 

The delegation of the Brazilian Leaders Program had the opportunity to visit the largest research center in Europe, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).

The Leaders visited the headquarters of the CSIC in Madrid, where they were received by its Deputy Vice president for Internationalization, Paloma Tejedor.

 

The Deputy Vice president for Internationalization spoke about the CSIC's own international programs, called I-Link and I-Coop, whose objective is "to promote new collaborations with research groups outside Spain through bilateral exchange." Latin America is one of the priority areas of these programs and the projects with Brazil total a budget of more than 300,000 euros to date.

Paloma Tejedor also spoke about INCOBRA, a joint project between the European Union and Brazil that aims to concentrate the efforts of both scientific communities in areas such as marine research, bioeconomics, food security, energy, nanotechnology and new communication technologies.

 

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