Brazil joins Eureka network

At the Embassy of Canada to Germany in Berlin on 2 December 2024, Eureka welcomed a 48th country to its network: Brazil. This was formalised in a signing ceremony between Brazilian Vice Minister for Technological Development and Innovation at the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology Innovation, Daniel Gomes Almeida Filho, and German Secretary of State, Stephan Ertner, under the auspices of Eureka’s Canadian and German Co-Chair team from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and National Research Council Canada. Eureka’s collaboration with Brazil gained traction during the Portuguese Chair from 2021-2022 (with the signature of a declaration of intent) with formal proceedings for accession starting in 2023.

Brazil follows Chile and Argentina as the third South American country in Eureka’s network and will be represented by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and its federal-level innovation agency, Finep. Brazil’s unique research funding structure means Brazilian organisations will be able to access funding for Eureka projects at both national and state-level depending on how budget is allocated.

“Our interest in joining the Eureka network comes from the understanding that greater international innovation cooperation is needed to achieve [societal and economic] goals”, says Brazilian Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Luciana Barbosa de Oliveira Santos. “Carrying out innovative projects with the Eureka quality label in a consortium with qualified companies from member countries will benefit the Brazilian innovation sector.”

Brazil’s accession follows many years of successful cooperation. This began in 2018 with a declaration of intent signed by Finep, São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) and Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa e Inovação Industrial (EMBRAPII) to use Eureka’s Globalstars funding programme as a mechanism to support Brazilian organisations collaborating on international R&D projects. Another three calls for projects followed in 2022 and 2023, launched by Finep, EMBRAPII and FAPESP (for São Paulo state). A total of 119 Brazilian organisations applied to the four calls for projects. Brazil will be the fourth country to have successfully trialled Eureka’s funding mechanisms using Globalstars before eventually joining the network (after Argentina, Chile and Singapore).

Although Brazilian organisations do not benefit directly from Eureka’s Innowwide programme, six projects have been selected for funding where SMEs in four different countries chose Brazil as a target country to explore research or commercialisation possibilities.

From today, Brazilian organisations will have access to funding when they collaborate with organisations from Eureka’s 47 other countries and can benefit from more of Eureka’s programmes: Clusters, Network projects, Globalstars and investment readiness. Eureka’s network will be strengthened by the inclusion of Brazil as the most innovative and biggest economy in South America.

This article was first published on 3 December by Eureka.