Organizations fostering R&D in Brazil could get $6mi

The Brazilian government has announced a tendering process to choose the recipients of the R$12mi ($6.3mi) pool of resources that it set aside for the creation of research and development centers in the country.

The tender, launched last Thursday (19) by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) , will invest up to R$2mi ($908,000) in each approved project and the companies will be required to invest the same amount.

A key objetive of the program is to create several private sector-led R&D hubs generating a stream of skilled Brazilian researchers that will eventually be able to address the technological needs of the public system.

According to the MCTI, the tender shall remain open for 45 days. Criteria for evaluation will be the degree of innovation of the proposal, relevance in the Brazilian context and the staffing aspect.

The candidates will also be required to explain how they will integrate and take advantage of the synergies between areas of research and development already being conducted by other local or foreign research institutions.

Local and foreign companies, scientific and technological institutions, universities and research centers are all welcome to apply. The tendering document can be found here.

"There is a great demand from [foreign] companies interested in investing in Brazil. We have to encourage public-private partnerships, combining knowledge with the economic assets of private companies and the research efforts in the public sector," said the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Marco Antônio Raupp.