São Paulo Research Foundation (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, FAPESP)

Funds scientific research in Sao Paulo through public university grants, technology partnerships, and postgraduate training.

FAPESP is the state research foundation for Sao Paulo, Brazil. It funds scientific and technological research across all fields and is backed by a constitutional revenue stream, with 1% of state tax revenues flowing to the foundation each month. That funding model gives it unusual stability for a regional public funder, and its projects are reviewed by active researchers through peer review.

Its portfolio runs from basic academic grants and thematic projects to PIPE for innovative research in small businesses, AIR, APR, and the Centelha 3 Sao Paulo line. The disclosed award sizes include up to BRL 500,000 for PIPE, up to BRL 600,000 for AIR, and BRL 128,000 for Centelha 3 Sao Paulo. Eligibility is anchored in ties to Sao Paulo state, which keeps the funder's reach strongly sub-national even when it works with international partners.

FAPESP also uses international cooperation to extend its reach, with links to M-ERA.NET, the ERC, UKRI, NSF, and DFG among others. In 2023, innovation research disbursements rose 23% year over year, and PIPE grants and scholarships were up 52% in disbursement. The Conselho Superior also approved an additional BRL 400 million for 2026-2028 across seven strategic research axes, which shows how much of the foundation's work is driven by long-range planning rather than short annual cycles.