Brazil Advances Science Promotion Through State Funding Transparency and National Science Week
Brazil promotes science via community events like the National Science and Technology Week and enhances transparency of state funding through a new public tool, highlighting regional disparities and investments in research.
- • The 22nd National Science and Technology Week at IFPI will run November 26-28, 2025, themed around water and climate change.
- • The FAPs module offers public access to data from 27 state research funding foundations, showing they account for 37.5% of public science investment in Brazil in 2024.
- • The fiscal effort indicator reveals significant state disparities in funding dedication, with Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Amazonas, and Alagoas leading.
- • Transparency initiatives aid policy formulation and highlight that science investment drives national development and innovation.
Key details
Brazil is strengthening its commitment to science and technology by fostering community engagement through events like the 22nd National Science and Technology Week (SNCT) at the Federal Institute of Piauí (IFPI) and enhancing transparency in research funding at the state level. The IFPI campus in Oeiras will host the SNCT from November 26 to 28, 2025, themed 'Planet Water: Ocean Culture to Face Climate Change.' The event features academic lectures, student-led minicourses, a Scientific Experiments Fair, and culminates with an awards ceremony, aiming to bridge the school community with society through scientific and cultural activities.
Simultaneously, a new public access tool, the FAPs module developed by the SoU_Ciência center in collaboration with CONFAP, integrates data from 27 state research funding foundations into the Science, Technology, and Innovation Financing Panel. In 2024, state foundations are projected to account for 37.5% of Brazil's total public investment in science, outpacing federal agencies such as Capes, Finep, and CNPq. The module introduces a fiscal effort indicator that reveals how states vary in prioritizing scientific funding, with states like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo allocating over 0.7% of tax revenue towards research, while others fall below 0.2%.
Professor Soraya Smaili of Unifesp highlighted that this transparency tool encourages social control and informs public policy, emphasizing science as a development driver rather than an expense. The data also expose regional disparities, with wealthier regions leading in per capita funding but noting effective policies in Amazonas and Alagoas show that smaller states can generate comparable outcomes.
Together, the SNCT event and the FAPs transparency initiative illustrate Brazil's multi-faceted approach to promoting science, combining localized community engagement and robust institutional support.
This article was synthesized and translated from native language sources to provide English-speaking readers with local perspectives.