Human Resources Training Program in Strategic Areas (RHAE) will have R$ 61 million to encourage the insertion of researchers in innovative companies and startups
Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), in partnership with the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), launched a new call for the Human Resources Training Program in Strategic Areas (RHAE) – Researcher in the Company. The objective of the call is to encourage the hiring of masters and doctors by micro, small and medium-sized companies, as well as startups.
With investments of R$ 61 million, the new round of the program will support Research, Development and Innovation (R,D&I) projects, through the insertion of researchers in innovative companies and startups focused on the impact economy or associated with the program's missions Nova Indústria Brasil (NIB). Using a set of types of technological development grants, the program helps to train and qualify human resources to work on applied research or technological development projects and increases interaction between universities and companies.
The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Luciana Santos, said that the new call for the RHAE Program seeks to bring academia and the private sector closer together. The head of the department pointed out that Brazil is 13th in the world ranking of knowledge production, but occupies 49th position in terms of innovation. “In all countries in the world that used their scientific production, so that it gets off the ground and translates into innovation, they had assertive policies to place more doctors and qualified people in the productive sector. RHAE is going in that direction”, he reinforced.
At the launch of the new call, the president of CNPq, Ricardo Galvão, presented a survey that reveals the growth in the number of doctors trained in Brazil in recent decades, which today is around 24 thousand doctors per year. The study also shows the percentage distribution of researchers by institutional sectors and reveals an increase, in the period between 2009 and 2021, in the number of doctors in private companies, the target of the RHAE Program notice.
“If we look at countries that are strong in innovation, the doctors are in companies. In Brazil, this percentage in private business entities is growing and we are in the right movement”, declared Galvão, when detailing the relevance of the RHAE Program – Researcher in the Company.
Support lines
The RHAE Program proposals approved this year will be financed with resources totaling R$ 61 million, with R$ 1 million coming from the 2024 Annual Budget Law (LOA), under the responsibility of the Secretariat for Technological Development and Innovation (Setec/MCTI), and R$ 60 million from the CNPq budget. The expectation is that around 200 R, D&I projects will be supported.
In this call, there will be two support lines, each with specific characteristics and requirements:
• Support for Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) projects for Impact Businesses;
• Support for RD&I projects aligned with Nova Indústria Brasil (NIB).
The RHAE 2024 call will be open between July 10th and August 19th. Research projects must be prepared by interested companies, indicating the number of grants needed, without exceeding the total value of R$ 300 thousand per proposal. The maximum duration of support is 30 months, and companies must commit to contributing at least 20% of the project value.
RHAE
The program emerged in 1987, created by MCTI in partnership with CNPq, and from 1997 onwards it was entirely managed by the Council. In the previous call, held in 2021, 473 proposals from innovative companies were approved, with emphasis on startups, which received an investment of R$ 35 million.
Access on here the CNPq/SETEC/MCTI Public Call No. 020/2024
Impact Economy
The RHAE Program (2024 edition) is scheduled to be delivered by the MCTI to the Enimpacto Committee. The National Impact Economy Strategy (Enimpacto) is an articulation of bodies and entities from the federal public administration, the private sector and civil society with the aim of promoting an environment favorable to the development of impact investments and businesses. It was established by Decree No. 11,646, of August 16, 2023.
The MDIC leads Enimpacto, through its Secretariat for Green Economy, Decarbonization and Bioindustry and the Department of New Economies. MCTI is a member of the Enimpacto Committee and coordinates, through SETEC's Innovation Ecosystem Support Department, one of the thematic axes (increasing the number of socio-environmental impact businesses). 25 Government bodies and 25 Civil Society bodies participate in the Committee.
