UK and Brazil science institutions strengthen partnership
New Cooperation Programme will form second phase of partnership and extend the long-term scientific collaboration between UK and Brazil.
Glaucius Oliveira, CNPq, and Steve Visscher, BBSRC, sign Letter of Understanding.
The British Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) signed yesterday, 11 June, a Letter of Understanding to implement a new Cooperation Programme to extend the long-term collaboration between the parties. Steve Visscher, Deputy Chief Executive, signed for the BBSRC while CNPq was represented by its President, Glaucius Oliva.
Activities under the Cooperation Programme will include launching calls for research partnership proposals, providing funding for the proposals selected, organising joint workshops related to common projects and other forms of scientific and technological cooperation
The signed Letter will add new impetus to a long-standing collaboration between scientists from both countries. The UK-Brazil Year of Science & Innovation in 2007, the joint Brazil-UK Agrosciences workshop in 2008 and the establishment of an Embrapa Laboratory Exterior (LabEx) in the UK are just a few important milestones of this relationship.
Glaucius Oliva said:
CNPq and BBSRC already have a fruitful cooperation over the years. We want a programme and a scheme which are much more efficient and accessible for researchers in both countries and this is what the signing was all about today. (…) It will open a tremendous door for Brazilian scientists to interact with UK scientists.
Steve Visscher said:
I’m very hopeful that there are going to be positive outcomes from this because this is a further step in building a strong relationship between the UK science base and the Brazilian science base.