MCTI guarantees R$12.1 billion in investments through the New PAC for science, technology and innovation

The Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI) will have R$12.1 billion allocated to strategic projects under the New Growth Acceleration Program (PAC), with a focus on 2025, when more than R$2.4 billion in actions are planned. Launched in August 2023, the New PAC reinforces the Brazilian government's commitment to sustainable development, social inclusion, and the promotion of science and innovation as central instruments for the country's technological and socioeconomic advancement.

Resources cover major infrastructure and strategic projects throughout Brazil.

More than half of the investment will be directed to large structural projects, including the Sirius particle accelerator, the Orion laboratory, the new supercomputer for artificial intelligence, and the Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor (RMB), totaling approximately R$6.5 billion. The remainder, approximately R$4.6 billion, will be invested in public calls for decentralized scientific infrastructure, the National Education and Research Network (RNP) Information Highways, the expansion of the National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters (Cemaden), and programs aimed at technological autonomy in defense.

According to Minister Luciana Santos, the investments demonstrate the government's strategic vision of valuing science and technology as tools to address current challenges and promote the country's industrial and social development. For Raphael Padula, director of the MCTI's Department of Funds and Investments, the full restructuring of the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FNDCT) was decisive in organizing resources into large, structural projects, consolidating the relevance of scientific research, technological innovation, and Brazilian productive sovereignty.

Confirms strategic programs:

• Orion NB4 Project – Brazil will be the first country in Latin America to have a maximum biological containment laboratory (NB4), and the first in the world connected to a synchrotron light source. Located at the National Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), the 20,000 m² laboratory complex is budgeted at R$1 billion by 2026.

• Sirius Phase 2 – The largest and most complex scientific infrastructure in the country, the Sirius particle accelerator will receive R$800 million by 2026 to expand its capacity, including ten new research stations. Additionally, outside of the New PAC, starting in 2023, the FNDCT invested R$300 million (approximately 90% of its full value) for the construction and completion of four beamlines for Phase 1 of Sirius.

• RMB – With R$2.9 billion planned by 2029, the Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor will be the country's most important nuclear research center, with applications in medicine, industry, energy, agriculture, and the environment, including Brazil's autonomy in the production of radiopharmaceuticals for cancer treatment.

• Pró-Infra – A program for the recovery and expansion of scientific and technological infrastructure, Pró-Infra will have R$4.67 billion through 2026 to support research infrastructure in ICTs (universities and research centers), focusing on government priority themes, addressing regional inequalities, and strengthening the National Science and Technology System.

• RNP Infovias – Planned at R$401.7 million through 2025, the infovias seek to expand digital connectivity for education and research, expanding the RNP system to the interior of the country and strengthening the e-science network.

• Cemaden – More modern equipment and new monitoring technologies will receive R$115 million by 2026, strengthening the work of the National Center for Monitoring and Alerts for Natural Disasters, which serves more than 1,800 Brazilian municipalities, expanding its coverage to an additional 840 municipalities.

• Defense Autonomy – The Defense Autonomy Promotion Program will receive R$429.7 million by 2026, supporting infrastructure and research projects focused on strengthening the sector's scientific, technological, and industrial base.

• Supercomputer for AI – Envisaged in the Brazilian Artificial Intelligence Plan (Pbia), with an estimated value of R$1.8 billion by 2027, the new supercomputer will expand the country's data processing capacity, benefiting areas such as artificial intelligence, climate modeling, and health and energy research.