US$ 99.4 million on research equipment
Agência FAPESP
The FAPESP (Foundation of Research Support of the State of São Paulo ) has approved R$ 159 million (US$ 99.4 million) in investment to purchase nearly 250 multi-user pieces of equipment for scientific research. The announcement was made on Monday (5/23), at the opening ceremony of the 50th anniversary of the Foundation. The acquisition of equipment improves and updates the laboratories of institutions of higher education and research in the State of São Paulo, equating them to the most modern in the world.
The approval of 118 projects to purchase instruments, mostly imported, with values above R$ 100 thousand (US$ 62.5 thousand), is the result of a process of selection and analysis of 222 proposals submitted to the FAPESP by researchers responsible for research projects supported by the Foundation, in response to the call of the Multi-user Equipment (EMU) Program launched in late 2009.
The list of the instruments, with georeferenced data for its location in the State, is available at www.fapesp.br/emu. The online publication increases the capacity to use such equipment in projects of scientific and technological research conducted by researchers of Brazil, Latin America and other countries.
The site presents the distribution of the pieces of equipment approved on a map of the State of São Paulo, with Google Maps features. The search may still be made by name of the equipment, by research institution or by the name of the responsible researcher. The site features a list of all associated and complementary research projects benefited by the instruments. But the use will not be limited to them.
All researchers interested in using them can schedule it from links to pages with instructions for the use of each piece of equipment. Those pages will be prepared by the researchers responsible for supported project. A channel in the Chat with the FAPESP service shall be open to gather opinions and comments on the scheduling and use of the equipment.
The instruments will be installed mainly at the University of São Paulo (USP), State University of Campinas (Unicamp), State University of São Paulo (Unesp), Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), Embrapa Meio Ambiente (Embrapa Environment), Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp), Synchrotron Light National Laboratory (SLNL) and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. The areas benefited go from medicine to communications, passing though physics, engineering, biology, dentistry, veterinary medicine and zootechnics and agronomical sciences, among others.
For further information: www.fapesp.br/emu