CNPq — the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) — is Brazil’s principal federal science and technology funding agency. For a researcher or research administrator outside Brazil evaluating CNPq as a funding source or a collaboration partner, this guide covers what CNPq is, where it sits in Brazil’s research funding landscape, and the two mechanisms most relevant to international researchers: CNPq’s international collaborative research call and the CNPq–UNESCO/TWAS postgraduate fellowship programme.
What CNPq Is
CNPq is a federal public agency linked to Brazil’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI). It was created in 1951 and is one of Brazil’s two major national funding bodies for research, alongside CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior), which sits under the Ministry of Education and focuses on graduate-level scholarships and quality assurance of postgraduate programs. CNPq’s remit is broader: it funds research projects across all fields of science, technology and innovation, administers Brazil’s national researcher productivity fellowship system, and runs the Lattes Platform — the standardized CV and research-output database used across the Brazilian science system (comparable in function, though not in format, to ORCID-linked institutional profiles elsewhere).
Within CNPq, international engagement is coordinated by the Coordenação-Geral de Cooperação Internacional (CGCIN — International Cooperation General-Coordination), which manages CNPq’s bilateral and multilateral agreements, joint calls with foreign funding agencies, and cross-border scholarship programs. CGCIN has operated in this role since CNPq’s founding.
Where CNPq Sits in Brazil’s Research Funding Landscape
International researchers new to Brazil’s funding system often need to distinguish three layers:
- CNPq (federal, MCTI) — competitive research grants, productivity fellowships, and the international-cooperation instruments covered below.
- CAPES (federal, Ministry of Education) — graduate scholarships and postgraduate program accreditation; jointly runs the Programa de Estudantes-Convênio de Pós-Graduação (PEC-PG), a separate CAPES/CNPq scholarship route for foreign master’s and doctoral students in Brazil.
- State research foundations (FAPs) — each Brazilian state runs its own foundation (the best known internationally is São Paulo’s FAPESP); these operate independently of CNPq and often have their own international fellowship lines.
A foreign researcher’s practical entry points are almost always one of: (1) a formal collaboration with a CNPq-funded or CNPq-affiliated Brazilian researcher, (2) a state foundation fellowship, or (3) one of CNPq’s own international programs described below. Direct, unaffiliated funding to a researcher with no Brazilian institutional link is uncommon in this system generally.
Program 1: CNPq’s International ST&I Research Projects Call
CNPq periodically opens a call — typically titled along the lines of Support for International Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) Research Projects — to fund international collaborative research. Based on the most recent published call structure, funding is organized into three tracks:
- Track 1 — Collaborative projects with established international partners. Joint research projects between a Brazil-based research group and an already-established foreign partner group, with the largest funding ceiling of the three tracks.
- Track 2 — Individual projects, early-career leadership. For researchers who completed their doctorate within the last 10 years, intended to support the development of new scientific leadership; smaller ceiling and a defined project duration (around 12 months in recent calls).
- Track 3 — Individual projects for current CNPq postdoctoral fellows. Open to PhD holders who already hold an active CNPq Junior Postdoctoral (PDJ) or Senior Postdoctoral (PDS) fellowship; the smallest ceiling and shortest duration of the three tracks (around 3 months in recent calls).
Across recent iterations of this call, common eligibility requirements have included: an up-to-date Lattes Platform CV, a completed doctorate, and a formal, documented link to a Brazilian host institution for the lead applicant. In practice this means an international researcher’s most direct route into this instrument is as the named foreign partner on a Track 1 proposal led by a Brazil-based collaborator, rather than as a solo applicant with no existing Brazilian affiliation. Funding ceilings, exact track names, durations and deadlines change from call to call — always confirm the live figures against the current call text published on cnpq.br before budgeting a proposal around them; the details above describe the general structure, not a standing, always-open program.
Program 2: CNPq–UNESCO/TWAS Postgraduate (PhD) Fellowship Programme
The second route, and the one most directly designed for researchers with no prior Brazilian institutional connection, is the joint fellowship programme CNPq runs with UNESCO’s affiliated academy, TWAS (The World Academy of Sciences, based in Trieste, Italy). Under recent agreements, CNPq has committed funding for up to 50 full doctoral fellowships in Brazil, offered under a multi-year agreement with periodic (recent calls have run roughly every two years) open calls.
Who It’s For
The programme is open to early-career scientists who are nationals of developing countries other than Brazil, hold at least a master’s degree, and wish to pursue a full-time PhD at a Brazilian institution. Applicants generally must not already hold permanent or temporary residency status in Brazil or in a developed country, and need working proficiency in Portuguese, Spanish, or English depending on the host program’s language of instruction.
What It Covers
CNPq funds the in-country costs: a monthly living stipend and a research bench fee for the duration of the PhD (up to four years, full-time). TWAS, as the co-administering partner, has contributed toward the fellow’s international travel and visa-related costs in recent cycles. The stipend is paid in Brazilian reais and is not convertible into foreign currency, and the programme does not cover dependents’ expenses — applicants are expected to be able to support any accompanying family members independently.
Host Institution Requirements
Fellows must be admitted to a graduate program at a Brazilian institution rated by CAPES (Brazil’s postgraduate quality-assurance body) at level 5 or above, with instruction available in Portuguese or English. The Brazilian academic year for this programme has typically started around March, with intake for a second cohort in early August.
How to Apply
Applications are submitted through CNPq’s electronic platforms — historically the Carlos Chagas Platform — and require an up-to-date CV on the Lattes Platform plus a letter of acceptance or strong interest from the receiving Brazilian graduate program. Because this is a joint CNPq/TWAS/UNESCO programme with an intermittent call schedule rather than a permanently open one, the authoritative source for whether a call is currently open, and its exact deadline, is TWAS’s own opportunities listings and CNPq’s own call page — check both directly rather than relying on a fixed date, since calls have not run in every year.
Practical Notes for International Applicants
- The Lattes Platform is unavoidable. Almost every CNPq instrument, for Brazilian and international applicants alike, requires an up-to-date Lattes CV. Foreign applicants should expect to create and maintain one as a first step, well before a submission deadline.
- A Brazilian institutional link is the norm, not the exception. With the partial exception of the UNESCO/TWAS PhD route (where the Brazilian graduate program itself becomes that link upon admission), CNPq’s international instruments are built around collaboration with, or hosting by, a Brazilian institution rather than direct, unaffiliated funding to a foreign researcher.
- Funding is denominated in Brazilian reais. Budget and stipend figures are set in local currency and, in the fellowship program at least, are explicitly not convertible to foreign currency — factor this into any cost-of-living planning.
- Calls are intermittent, not standing. Both programs described above operate through periodic public calls rather than rolling, always-open applications. Track the specific call text on cnpq.br (and, for the fellowship route, TWAS’s listings) for current windows rather than assuming a fixed annual cycle.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CNPq the same as FAPESP?
No. CNPq is Brazil’s federal science funding agency under MCTI. FAPESP is the research foundation of the state of São Paulo — one of several state-level foundations (FAPs) that operate independently of CNPq, with their own budgets and funding lines.
Can a researcher with no Brazilian affiliation apply to CNPq directly?
Generally no, with the UNESCO/TWAS PhD programme as the closest exception — there, admission to a Brazilian graduate program is part of the application itself rather than a precondition. For the international research-projects call, the realistic route in is as the named foreign partner on a proposal led by a Brazil-based collaborator.
What is the Lattes Platform?
The Lattes Platform is Brazil’s national standardized researcher CV and research-output database, maintained by CNPq. It functions as the mandatory researcher-identity record across most Brazilian funding and evaluation processes, for domestic and international applicants alike.
Does CNPq fund postdoctoral researchers from abroad?
CNPq’s own postdoctoral fellowship lines (Junior and Senior Postdoctoral, PDJ/PDS) are generally awarded to researchers with a formal link to a Brazilian host institution; an international postdoctoral researcher would typically need that institutional sponsorship to apply, similar to the research-projects call above.
For related international funder overviews, see CASRAI’s guides to the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF Korea) and SERB (India)’s VAJRA and OVDF programs for international researchers, as well as the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) overview.
