FAPESP and Shell launch call for the Offshore Innovation Center

FAPESP announces a call for proposals for the establishment of the Offshore Innovation Center Shell Brasil-FAPESP (OIC). Proposals must be submitted by March 29, 2022.

In the second half of 2022, after the announcement of the results, the OIC will join the portfolio of nuclei maintained by FAPESP's Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) program, which enables synergies between the private sector and the academic sector to produce and disseminate world-class research, as well as generate high economic and social impact through innovation.

The OIC will focus on research and technologies with the potential to positively impact the way the offshore energy industry is built and operated – thereby initiating the transition to expected energy production with emission reduction and sustainability and thereby unlocking the potential of an integrated energy system.

For this purpose, the call for proposals defines five technological areas that must be addressed by the new center: novel processes; low carbon offshore power; health, safety and environment; novel materials and nanotechnology; and computational and digital. Proposals for the establishment of the OIC should describe the development of one or more projects for each technological area in the research plan, with specific objectives and goals.

The Offshore Innovation Center will be hosted by a research institution in the state of São Paulo, responsible for the scientific coordination of the center's projects and for the management and costing of the administrative activities performed there. The host institution will also coordinate, within the scope of the execution of projects, the participation of partner institutions, that is, other companies, accredited institutions, universities or startups that make up its research ecosystem.

The host institution will support the principal investigator, who will be responsible for the initiative of the OIC and who will lead the executive committee of the center, in charge of supervising all its daily operations. The principal investigator will share the leadership work with the coordinators of innovation and dissemination from the involved research institutions as well as with Shell (which is responsible for the positions of the deputy director and the innovation representative).

FAPESP and Shell will finance the new center for a maximum of five years, renewable for another five, through annual contributions of up to BRL 17.5 million. At the end of its term, the OIC will capture a total volume of resources of around BRL 87.5 million, divided between FAPESP and Shell in the proportion of 40% and 60%, respectively.

Proposals must be submitted through the SAGe platform (https://fapesp.br/sage). Upon receipt of all assessments, reviewers jointly appointed by FAPESP and Shell will send feedback to bidders.

The call for proposals is available at: https://fapesp.br/15248.