Overview
Project title: Supporting EU Access to Brazilian National research programmes – Acesso por Ciência e Technologia no Brasil
Start of the project: October 2009
Duration: 36 months
Project Coordinator: International Bureau of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Contact person IB (DLR): Marianne Vaske (marianne.vaske@dlr.de)
Administrative contact person IB: Frauke Lindert (frauke.lindert@dlr.de)
Partners
- International Bureau of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) (IB), Germany
- Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH), Greece
- Institute for Development Research (IRD), France
- National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Brazil
Objectives
Within the framework of Access4EU-projects, APORTA aimed at enhancing the access opportunities, and hence the active cooperation of EU member states research institutions in the national research and innovation programmes facilitated by Brazil. Essentially, the project focused on a substantial collection of information regarding national research and innovation capacities and programmes within Brazil. Brazilian authorities were also made aware of the advantages of making their programmes accessible to EU-participation. However, the primary objective was to disseminate this information to researchers and other stakeholders in the European Research Area, aiming at the creation of effective collaboration activities between the EU and Brazilian research community.
In addition, the project contributed to the work of the Brazilian-European Steering Commission by identifying how stronger synergies could be achieved between FP7 and Brazilian national and innovation programmes. The results of APORTA were publicly available on a common ACCESS4EU web portal, and presented during information days and relevant events in Europe. The expected impact of the project was the reinforcement of the current bilateral S&T agreement between Brazil and the EU, an increased participation of EU scientists in Brazilian research and innovation programmes, and a better understanding of the reciprocity of such programmes on both sides.
In order to assure a successful project implementation, APORTA was divided into four work packages (WP).
Project structure
WP1 – “Inventory and monitoring”
- Mapping and inventory of Brazilian national research programmes open to European researchers
- Analysis of the framework conditions for access
- Implementation of information on access opportunities for EU researchers
- Monitoring the participation of EU researchers and institutes in Brazilian national research programmes
WP2 - Dialogue with the EC and Brazilian Programme owners
- Awareness raising among Brazilian programme owners and pointing out advantages of access for European researchers
- Wrkshops on enhancing opportunities of EU participation in Brazilian programmes with relevant political decision makers and programme owners
WP3 - Information dissemination and outreach
- Awareness raising among European researchers on funding opportunities within Brazilian programmes, raising numbers of participation in programmes open to European researchers
- Creating strong networks between APORTA and bilateral programmes
- Linking up APORTA with other Access4EU projects and contributing to a common Access4EU web portal
WP4 - Project Coordination and Management
- Project implementation management and coordination of the project
Highlights and Activities
Since its start in October 2009, the International Bureau was responsible for the coordination of APORTA. The kick-off meeting with all consortium partners took place in Bonn in December 2009.
In February 2010, the common ACCESS4EU web portal was launched with aspecial subsite dedicated to APORTA. The website featured background information on S&T in Brazil and on EU-Brazilian research cooperation between as well as a database of Brazilian programmes and calls that were open for European researchers.
In April 2010, the first APORTA-workshop for Brazilian S&T funding organisations and policy makers took place in Brasilia.
As coordinator of APORTA, the International Bureau participated in the fourth Brazil-EU Steering Committee of S&T Cooperation which gathered high level authorities in Brussels in December 2010. First project results were presented.
In mid-2011, APORTA organised a Brazilian-European conference in Brazil. The event aimed at representatives of S&T funding organisations and shall facilitate discussions on the internationalisation of funding programmes.
