There is a cooperation agreement between the University of Münster and the regional funding agency FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo) from 2014 to 2024. Even after its expiration, FAPESP and the University of Münster maintain close institutional and co-financial cooperation, which also includes the regular participation of the University of Münster in FAPESP's "SPRINT" programme (SPRINT - São Paulo Researchers in International Collaboration).
The programme offers researchers from the University of Münster the opportunity to develop research projects in cooperation with researchers from universities and institutions in São Paulo within the framework of reciprocal visits and workshops and then apply to FAPESP and a corresponding funding organisations in Germany such as the DFG for funding. Through this seed funding, only mobility costs are covered in order to promote the generation of new research projects between Münster and São Paulo.
FAPESP awards fellowships for different stages of scientific careers, funds research projects in all fields of knowledge and also supports larger priority programmes in priority topics such as biodiversity, bioenergy, global climate change and neuroscience. Worldwide, FAPESP maintains partnerships with funding organisations, e.g. also DFG and DAAD, universities, research institutes as well as with companies.
In Brazil, FAPESP is the strongest research funding organisation at state level. Its budget of 1% of the revenue of the state of São Paulo is therefore not only relatively stable, but also remarkable (in 2023, the foundation provided more than 240 million euros for research activities). The state of São Paulo has 45 million inhabitants and accounts for 30% of Brazil's gross domestic product. It is also home to 30% of Brazilian doctoral students and 42% of articles published in international journals are by researchers from São Paulo.
