The São Paulo Research Foundation – FAPESP – is an independent public foundation with the mission to foster research and the scientific and technological development of the State of São Paulo. This is achieved through the support of research projects carried out in higher education and research institutions, in all fields of knowledge. The foundation works in close contact with the scientific community: all proposals are peer reviewed with the help of area panels composed of active researchers. Besides funding research in all fields, the foundation supports large research programs as in Biodiversity, Bioenergy, Global Climate Change, and in Neurosciences.