In April 2011, the Brazil Institute organized and hosted the first annual Brazilian Congressional Study Mission on Innovation, in partnership with Brazil’s Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association (Interfarma). Through seminars with experts in academia, government, and industry, the first congressional mission aimed to facilitate interaction between members of the Brazilian Congress and the leading innovative minds in science and technology with the goal of promoting a better understanding of policies and best practices that foster innovation. As one congressman remarked at the end of the first mission, “These talks opened my mind to the complex issues of innovation.”
The success of the first mission has led to an ongoing collaboration between the Brazil Institute and Interfarma centered on an annual study mission for members of the Brazilian Congress, hosted at various US and UK institutions of higher education and research. To date, over fifty federal deputies and senators, including majority and minority leaders and presidents of parliamentary committees with jurisdiction over areas that are relevant to innovation, have participated in these study missions at the Wilson Center, the United States Department of State, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the London King’s College Brazil Institute, and the Institute of the Americas at the University of California San Diego.
Learn more about each Congressional Study Mission on Innovation
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1st Congressional Study Mission (2011)
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2nd Congressional Study Mission (2012)
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3rd Congressional Study Mission (2013)
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4th Congressional Study Mission (2015)
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5th Congressional Study Mission (2016)
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6th Congressional Study Mission (2017)
In 2014, the Brazil Institute published The Brazilian Congress at the Frontier of Innovation, showcasing a selection of lectures from the 2011-2013 study missions as well as testimonials of researchers and entrepreneurial scientists on the importance of innovation in science and technology. In
Read the Report
In 2018, the Brazil Institute and Interfarma published a second report, titled Novos Caminhos para a Inovação (New Paths for Innovation in Brazil), highlighting lessons and key recommendations drawn from the 2015-2017 study missions.
Read the Report
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The Brazil Institute—the only country-specific policy institution focused on Brazil in Washington—aims to deepen understanding of Brazil’s complex landscape and strengthen relations between Brazilian and US institutions across all sectors. Read more
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The Brazilian Congress at the Frontier of Innovation
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Novos Caminhos Para a Inovação (New Paths for Innovation in Brazil)
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