The University of Melbourne has become the first Australian university to sign an agreement with a major partnership with one of Brazil’s leading research bodies, The State of Sao Paulo Research Foundation.

Known as FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo), thefoundation provides grants, funds and programs to support research, education and innovation imn both public and private institutions in Sao Paulo.

Under the partnership, The University of Melbourne will partner with FAPESP on a program to support research exchanges and develop joint research initiatives.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor James McCluskey said that the agreement marked an exciting first step towards fostering greater research collaboration between the two countries.

“It’s an exciting agreement to have in place, as it sets out a really important framework for which joint research projects, staff exchanges and other collaborations can take place between the University and one of Brazil’s major state funding authorities,” Professor McCluskey said.