Profile of scientific research in Brazil
01 Sep 2009
The Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPQ) conducted a survey that showed how scientific research is growing in Brazil.
According to CNPQ, the number of research institutions in the country grew 5% between 2006 and 2008, when there were 422 research institutions in Brazil. The number of research groups grew 8%, ending 2008 with 22,797 groups.
The number of researchers grew 15% in Brazil from 2006 to 2008. There are more than 100 thousand researchers in te country. The number of doctor´s grew from 57 thousand doctors in 2006 to more than 66 thousand doctors in 2008.
Research in Brazil by regions
The Brazilian territory is divided in five geographic regions, they are:
North region - is formed by the following states: Rondônia, Acre, Amazonas, Pará, Roraima, Amapá and Tocantins.
Northeast region - is composed of the following states: Bahia, Sergipe, Alagoas, Pernambuco, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte, Ceará, Piauí e Maranhão.
Centre West region - the states of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás and the Federal District form the region.
Southeast region - is formed by the following states: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo.
South region - is composed of the states: Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul.
Even though the Southeast and South regions of Brazil are still the two most active ones in terms of scientific research, the North, Northeast and Centre West regions are growing in importance, as shown in the charts below:
Fields of research
The most important research fields in Brazil are:
| Field of study | Number of research groups | Percentage of total groups |
|---|---|---|
| Human Sciences | 4,219 | 18.5% |
| Health Sciences | 3,961 | 17.4% |
| Engineering and Computer Sciences | 3,027 | 13.3% |
| Social and Applied Sciences | 2,754 | 12.1% |
| Biological Sciences | 2,696 | 11.8% |
| Exact and Earth Sciences | 2,515 | 11% |
| Agricultural Sciences | 2,177 | 9.5% |
| Arts and Linguistics | 1,448 | 6.4% |
| Total | 22,797 | 100% |
Foreign researchers
There are more than 3,000 foreign researchers working in Brazil, including 32 Dutch researchers.