New FAPs Module Reveals Maranhão Among Top State Investors in Science & Technology
The newly launched FAPs Module highlights Maranhão's top-tier state investment in science, providing critical data for policy and transparency.
- • The FAPs Module was launched by SoU_Ciência and Confap, providing comparative state funding data for science.
- • Maranhão ranks third in Brazil for investment in science and technology with R$ 125.2 million in 2024.
- • 51.69% of Maranhão's funding comes from state resources via Fapema, supporting research, innovation, and startups.
- • The module highlights regional disparities and aims to guide strategic public policy in science and technology.
Key details
On November 7, 2025, the Center for Studies on Society, University, and Science (SoU_Ciência) launched a new FAPs Module integrated into the Science & Technology Funding Panel. Developed in partnership with the National Council of State Foundations for Research Support (Confap), the module offers a comparative and systematic analysis of funding data from Brazil's 27 state research foundations (FAPs). This tool aims to inform strategic policy-making and reveal regional disparities in science investment across Brazil.
Among the highlights is Maranhão, which ranks third nationwide in science and technology investment, having allocated R$ 125.2 million in 2024. Over half (51.69%) of this funding—R$ 64.76 million—originated from state resources through its foundation, Fapema. Additional contributions included R$ 28.63 million from Capes, R$ 18.97 million from CNPq, and R$ 12.93 million from Finep.
Fapema's president, Nordman Wall, emphasized the importance of sustaining investments to expand the state's research capacity, noting programs like the R$ 10 million Plano Maranhão 2050 established in 2023 to support 71 projects. These investments enhance education, innovation, and economic growth by supporting scholarships, startups, and technological advancement.
According to Odir Dellagostin, president of FAPERGS and a key driver behind the module, organizing and analyzing this data is crucial to guiding effective state science and technology policies. The launch event, moderated by Professor Soraya Smaili and attended by scientific leaders like Helena Nader from the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, reinforced the view of science as a public good essential for national development.
This new FAPs Module not only sheds light on critical funding trends and regional inequalities but also equips policymakers and researchers with data to shape Brazil’s scientific future more strategically.
This article was synthesized and translated from native language sources to provide English-speaking readers with local perspectives.