The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Marco Antonio Raupp, is to meet the Chief Scientific Advisor to the British Government, John Beddington, on Tuesday (June 19) at 6 pm, during the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development - Rio+20, in Rio de Janeiro.

At the meeting in Pavilhão Brasil, Parque dos Atletas, an agreement between the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq/MCTI – (the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) and the British energy company, BG, will be signed, awarding 450 graduate study scholarships at British universities, under the Science Without Borders Program, in an investment by the company worth US$ 100 million.

At the meeting, Raupp and Beddington will also sign the Joint Declaration on Development of the UK-Brazil Innovation Platform. This document will strengthen bilateral cooperation in innovation between the two countries, in line with their respective policies on scientific and technological development.

Furthermore, involvement will be announced by the British semiconductor design company, ARM, in the production of 900,000 tablets purchased by Brazil’s Ministry of Education (MEC), under the Laptop for Teachers Program.

Follow the MCTI at Rio+20.

                                                                                                    Text: Denise Coelho - communications officer at the MCTI