Regular Research Grant (Auxílio à Pesquisa Regular, APR)

FAPESP / M-ERA.NET — Materials & Engineering

Funds transnational materials and engineering collaborations between Brazilian and international partners.

The FAPESP/M-ERA.NET 2026 joint call funds transnational R&D projects in materials science and engineering, connecting São Paulo researchers with European counterparts through the M-ERA.NET consortium. Six thematic areas are targeted: energy storage, energy conversion, surfaces and coatings, functional materials, materials for environmental challenges, and next-generation electronics materials. São Paulo-based participants submit through FAPESP's APR modality, with a FAPESP budget cap of R$ 600,000 per São Paulo researcher per project. The total FAPESP financial envelope for this call is up to €800,000 equivalent. The pre-proposal stage (12 May 2026) has already closed; only consortia whose pre-proposals were accepted may proceed. Full proposals are due 18 November 2026, submitted simultaneously to FAPESP via SAGe and to the M-ERA.NET consortium coordinator.

Eligibility for the São Paulo partner requires a doctorate and active institutional employment at a FAPESP-eligible institution in São Paulo state. Each consortium must include at least three researchers from at least three M-ERA.NET participating countries, including Brazil. If both this call and another concurrent FAPESP international call result in approved projects for the same researcher, only the first-awarded contract is permitted to proceed. For-profit companies, non-profits, and individuals are not eligible as principal investigators through this FAPESP mechanism; the São Paulo party must be a researcher at a research institution or university.

Evaluation follows APR review norms, assessing scientific merit, methodological soundness, relevance to the thematic priorities, and the coherence and complementarity of the transnational consortium. Winning proposals demonstrate clear task allocation across consortium partners, strong materials science scope alignment with one or more of the six thematic areas, and a realistic plan for joint data production and publication. Teams whose pre-proposals were accepted should use the remaining time before the November deadline to strengthen the full proposal's experimental design and cross-border collaboration rationale.