The number of collaborations between Australian and Brazilian universities
and research institutes has had a sustained growth in recent years, jumping
from 17 Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) in 2007 to 135 in 2021. The number
of co-authored publications between researchers from both countries has also
increased, growing particularly in the areas of health sciences and medicine,
physics and astronomy, earth and environmental sciences, agriculture and
business.
Therefore, the Brazilian National Council for State Funding Agencies
Foundations (CONFAP) maintains a series of partnerships with Australian
institutions to intensify academic and scientific cooperation with Brazil. This
is part of a strategy to increase the global impact of research produced in the
country through an alliance with Australia on themes of common interest, taking
advantage of the fact that both countries are located in the global south, and
for that reason sharing many similar and complementary themes of expertise
specially in environmental and health research. By acting to bridge the distance
between institutions and researchers in both countries, this bilateral
cooperation strengthens horizontal projects to solve issues of emerging global
importance, thus raising the chances of securing national and international
financial resources to support joint research efforts in both countries.
Among the partnerships established by CONFAP within the scope of
cooperation with Australia, we highlight the following:
Australian Department of Education (DE) (former Australian Department
of Education, Skills, and Employment)
A MoU has been signed with the Australian Department of Education,
Skills, and Employment (DE) by CONFAP, on December 14, 2020, as part of this
cooperation. This aims mainly at supporting scientific collaboration in joint
projects of research and training such as student and researcher´s mobility at
the Post Doctorate, PhD and Graduate levels, as well as organizing seminars and
workshops on specific themes of interest to both countries.
All the State Funding Agencies (FAPs) are signatories of this agreement,
making it equally accessible to researchers across the Brazilian territory. This
MoU works as a broad framework for the development of various joint actions and
initiatives, some of them highlighted below:
Support for Joint Projects
To request support for research projects, it is first necessary that the
project is approved by a research fund, or a university/ research institute,
endorsed by DE. Information on accredited research funds is available at this
link.
Other funds not listed in the link should be consulted on a case-by-case basis.
In this link
are the guidelines for requesting support by CONFAP/FAPs
Acess the List of Approved Projects.
Australia-Brazil: Virtual Research Collaboration
The Australia-Brazil:
Virtual Research Collaboration” was created in 2021 as part of joint
efforts to strengthen research groups with common interests in both countries.
The network aims at facilitating the creation and development of common
research projects, taking advantage of complementary human and physical
capacity available in Brazil and Australia. This is part of a strategic
alliance to increase both the impact of knowledge produced on themes of growing
global interest, as well as the access of researchers in both countries to
funding available at the national and international levels.
Informationof the 1st VRC Edition on COVID-19
- Opening Session
- Closing Session
Within this scope of COVID-19, the Australian Government announced the
1st Global Science and Technology Diplomacy Fund. Thus, Brazil was defined as a
priority in the areas of vaccines
and RNA therapies (including mRNA)
Information about the 2nd edition on Ocean
- Opening Session
- Newson the Event
Brazil – Victoria, Australia: successful case studies and opportunities for research collaborations
The CONFAP and the State Government of Victoria, Australia, with the institutional support of the Australian Department of Education, organized the virtual event Brazil – Victoria: successful case studies and opportunities for research collaborations that was held on April 26th, 2023. It consisted in the presentation of three successful case studies conducted by Brazilian and Victorian researchers focusing on the description of the process of collaboration, best practices, lessons learned, and the achieved outcomes. Besides information on the support to research projects in the scope of the partnership between the CONFAP and the DE. Therefore, it is expected to increase the establishment of new partnerships and the increase of the projects supported in the scope of the existing partnership.
Tropical
Water Research Alliance (TWRA)
The TWRA is an initiative of
Australian and Brazilian researchers aimed at solving problems related to water
in tropical regions of the planet with a multidisciplinary approach. It is an example of how the two
countries can produce joint knowledge, benefiting from the fact that they are
located in the global south, facing similar environmental issues that offer
unique possibilities for collaboration in various strategic themes for the
global environmental agenda.
A MoU
was signed between TWRA and CONFAP on December 14, 2020, to support the
development of joint projects and training, strengthening the Brazilian researchers
capabilities. Projects aimed at the development of joint activities must be
requested within the scope of the CONFAP-DE partnership.
- TWRA homepage
In May 2022, a meeting was held at the Australian Embassy in Brazil with
the participation of TWRA members, as well as representatives from CNPq and
CONFAP, with the aim of discussing ongoing partnerships, potential for new
joint activities and the organization of a mission to Australia in October
2022.Mission to Australia for Scientific Cooperation
In the period from October, 17th
to 21st representatives of CONFAP, FAPs, UFRGS, and TWRA
participated of the Mission to Australia for Scientific Cooperation. The
activities were held in Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne with the following
objectives:
Network with research institute and governmental partners, at State and Federal levels;
Explore the Australian research ecosystem and policy benchmarks;
Understanding funding mechanisms and quality assessment for science and research;
Set up new and consolidate existing links between funding agencies from both countries;
Investigate new ways to collaborate in science, research, and innovation.
- Information
about the mission
Elisa
Natola, Advisor for International Cooperation Brazil-Europe at CONFAP, Lelio
Fellows Filho, General Coordinator for International Cooperation of CNPq, Prof.
José Francisco Gonçalves Júnior, President of the TWRA. Kassia Hare, Education
and Research Counsellor at the Australian Embassy, Prof. Mario Neto, Member of
the Board of the TWRA, Profª. Maria Zaira Turchi, Director of Institutional
Cooperation at CNPq and Cristina Elsner, Education and Science Manager at DE.
Policy Cures Research
The Policy Cures Research is a non-governmental organization
responsible for conducting an annual, global survey known as the G-FINDER. This
research maps global investment in R&D of new technologies for neglected
and infectious diseases in the area of sexual and reproductive health.
CONFAP supports the activity by encouraging the sending of data by the
FAPs. Each year the number of FAP participating in the activity increases,
allowing a better view of the Brazilian investment panorama.
Updated in 11/05/2023
