SPI’s country mission to Brazil, June 2024

SPI, a consortium partner of MSCAdvocacy, successfully carried out a mission in the two Brazilian cities of Brasília and Campinas from the 10^th to the 14^th of June 2024, to engage with stakeholders, promote the MSCA (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions) and explore prospects for collaboration in research and innovation in the country.

SPI consultants, Igor Lopes and Ivan Sá Vieira participated in 13 meetings in the scope of the Horizon Europe initiative with key organisations involved in research, development, and innovation. SPI had the privilege to participate in the ODIS-Observatório de Desenvolvimento Integrado e Sustentável meeting, in Brasília on the 10^th of June. In addition, SPI’s attendance at the INOVA Trade Show facilitated numerous contacts related to innovation and R&D in Campinas, from which discussions sprung were held to advise these institutions on leveraging MSCA opportunities and to explore potential candidates for MSCA promotion replication.

The discussions focused on the mobility of researchers, researcher flows, best practices, obstacles, and the assessment of MSCA promotion in Brazil. Interestingly, governmental institutions and agencies shared existing pathways for potential co-funding of MSCA projects through existing mechanisms such as the Fundações Estaduais de Amparo à Pesquisa (FAPs), present in every Brazilian state. Moreover, the MSCAdvocacy team had the opportunity to learn about the internal mechanisms that support researchers in finding and securing funding opportunities, within some of the main Brazilian R&D institutions such as Fundação de Estudos Agrários Luiz de Queiroz (Fealq) at Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (Esalq) from Universidade de São Paulo (USP) as well as the well-developed Grant Office at Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP).

In sum this mission highlighted Brazil’s openness and readiness to collaborate with the MSCA, paving the way for increased participation and cooperation in the fields of research and innovation. SPI and MSCAdvocacy thanks all the stakeholders and collaborators involved in the meetings, as well as Brazil’s hospitality.