Created in 2023, GEMA Filantropia embodies an academic effort for Science Promotion Models at the University of São Paulo’s Institute of Advanced Studies (IEA-USP). It consists of a pioneering program dedicated to understanding, mapping and promoting philanthropy models and tools to support science in Brazil.
Gema Filantropia was created on the initiative of Professor Marcos Kisil, from the Faculty of Public Health at USP, and is coordinated by Professor Guilherme Ary Plonski, former director of IEA and senior professor at IEA and the Faculty of Economics, Administration and Accounting (FEA) at USP. Also part of the group are postdoctoral researcher Andréa Martini Pineda, responsible for conducting studies in the area, and Gerson Damiani, who works with partnerships and institutional relations at Gema Filantropia.
We are committed to researching, interacting and proposing new solutions to strengthen science financing structures – including endowment, research programs, infrastructure and talent development. We understand that philanthropy can support both strategic projects as well as individual initiatives, recognizing the contribution of a myriad of donor profiles and social backgrounds.
Our work is geared towards the production of knowledge, agenda coordination and the proposal of concrete pathways in order to foster the following:
- acceleration of science innovation;
- enabling of high risk and high impact research, rarely prone to traditional support;
- bringing together philanthropists, scientists, public administrators and academic leadership;
- enhancing society’s participation in creating a science philanthropy culture.
Solid partnerships enable real impact, while connecting philanthropy, science and public administration. Furthermore, they strengthen collaborative networks, knowledge sharing, scalability and continuity of research initiatives in Brazil.
Science Philanthropy
Philanthropy has the potential to complement public financing, while enabling long-term research, high-risk projects and science infrastructure. It promotes innovation, institutional strengthening and solutions to social, economic and environmental challenges, with direct impact on human, technological and economic development.
Philanthropy plays a strategic role in the support of research in Brazil and around the globe. It has the potential to complement and diversify financial sources necessary to the advancement of science.
Particularly in a situation where public financing is insufficient or unstable, philanthropy enables the continuity of long-term research, carrying out of high-risk & high-impact projects, as well as the creation of infrastructure capable of promoting innovation.
Foundations and donors have been fostering scientific research, emerging technology and solutions for complex challenges, in a myriad of areas, from health care to sustainability worldwide. In Brazil, philanthropy has the potential to accelerate knowledge production and to strengthen universities & research centers, thus expanding the country’s ability to face social, economic and environmental challenges.
Science Philanthropy contributes to human, economic and technological development, whilst generating a positive long-term outcome for society and future generations.