Dozens of academics, funding figures and industry representatives met at Research Brazil Ireland’s first ever summit in Dublin Castle to discuss the merits of international, industrial and educational co-operation in science.
Ireland is seen as quite the thought leader when it comes to industry and academic-driven professional co-operation, with the closer links between businesses and colleges in the past two decades strengthening an FDI environment that was instigated by a low corporation tax base.
Colleges now reflect, more and more, the professional working environment within Ireland, examples of which include the growth in IT, pharma and med-tech graduates entering the workforce every year.
It is this combined thinking that Brazil is lacking, with events like this showcasing what can be achieved in innovative industries such as science and engineering when everyone works together.
The start of something special
“The hope is that this will continue into the future,” explains Sarah O’Sullivan, director of international collaboration with Research Brazil Ireland.
“This is the first time that a group of scientists of any nation has come on such a delegation to Ireland. We’re very proud of this.”
Included in the Brazilian delegation are three key research funding figures, the presidents of CONFAP, a national agency, FAPERJ (Rio de Janerio) and FAPESP (São Paulo).
“Enterprise Ireland has an office in Sao Paolo so we have a commitment to Brazil, so it’s part of our ongoing relationship,” says Enterprise Ireland’s Kevin Burke, who spoke at the event this morning.
“We’re always trying to put out there that Ireland is a good place for academic industry commercialisation. We’re keen that people know what we are doing here.”
