Latin America – São Paulo
The Team Finland Knowledge role in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) focuses especially on Brazil and, according to the needs of Finnish higher education institutions and Finland's missions abroad, on Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Argentina and Uruguay. Team Finland Knowledge has two main aims: to help people in Finland understand the region's higher education, science and innovation policy and the structures behind it, and to raise the visibility, attractiveness and strategic cooperation opportunities of Finnish higher education institutions and research organisations.
Johanna Kivimäki has previously worked at the Universities of Helsinki and Jyväskylä, where she led the UniPID network. Its key goal was to improve Finnish universities' global responsibility and partnerships with the Global South in the field of sustainable development. Kivimäki has also served at the Embassy of Finland in Caracas, where she coordinated the local cooperation programme that supported civil society organisations in Venezuela, Colombia and several Caribbean island states. She holds a Master's degree in Sociology from the University of Jyväskylä, specialising in development and international cooperation.
johanna.kivimaki(at)gov.fi
+55 1198 4660 197
Johanna Kivimäki on LinkedIn
Brazil – a giant of higher education and research
The work of the Team Finland Knowledge specialist in Latin America focuses on Brazil, which stands out from other LAC countries as a global giant in higher education and research. Brazil is the world's ninth-largest economy and one of the top ten net investors in science and technology. Its RDI expenditure is around 1.19 percent of GDP (2023), roughly half publicly and half privately funded. Brazil produces more than half of all scientific output in the region and around 3 per cent of global scientific publications, placing it 13th worldwide. Half of all researchers in the LAC region work in Brazil.
With a population of more than 212 million, Brazil is the seventh largest country in the world. About 23 per cent of the population hold a Bachelor's degree and 1 per cent a Master's degree. Brazil's higher education sector is the largest in the LAC region and the fifth-largest in the world. The country has more than 2,600 higher education institutions, of which 302 are public and the rest private. The country's universities have more than 9 million students, 75 per cent in private institutions and the vast majority (97%) at Bachelor's level.
Brazil aims to strengthen its global role and competitiveness in science and technology. Its target is to increase RDI investment to 2 per cent of GDP by 2034. Brazil has strong expertise and innovation potential in many areas, including agriculture, climate, energy, the environment, the bioeconomy, health and engineering. In recent years, Brazil has also increased its investment in AI research, high-performance computing and quantum technologies.
Reciprocal funding opportunities
Brazil also stands out from other countries in the region in terms of funding for international cooperation. Brazil has an administrative arrangement with the EU, under which it actively participates in selected Horizon Europe collaborative projects, partnerships and missions. Brazil invests strongly in cooperation with the EU on digital matters, including a bi-regional supercomputing network. In addition, research funders at both federal and state level provide a wide range of international mobility and cooperation grants, from Master's studies to senior researcher level.
Finland is known in Brazil not only for its cold climate and its repeated top ranking in the UN World Happiness Report, but also for its high-quality education and advanced technologies. Finland's environmental and climate awareness and its commitment to social equality are also recognised. As a higher education destination, however, Finland is still relatively little known, and for many audiences the large number of English-language degree programmes comes as a surprise. Brazilian universities and companies are increasingly interested in Finland's innovation ecosystems.
Fields that particularly interest cooperation partners include climate, biodiversity, energy, health, the bioeconomy and circular economy, Indigenous studies, sustainable development, educational sciences, network technologies, AI, high-performance computing and quantum technologies.