University and National System of Innovation: A comparative study Brazil – Cuba, is a two-year project (January 2006 – December 2007) that has been approved by a joint commission formed by MES (Minister of Higher Education of Cuba) and CAPES (federal Brazilian agency for supporting post graduate programs, Minister of Education of Brazil).

Main objective
The main objective of this project is to contribute for a deeper understanding of the evolving third role of the academic institutions in their national contexts.

Specific Objective
The specific objective of this work is to realize a case study comparing Brazil and Cuba in what concerns their innovation systems, their higher education systems and the role of their higher education institutions in the respective national innovation systems.

Stages
The project will have basically two stages of equal duration (12 months). The first stage will comprise the mapping of the national system of innovation, of the national higher educational system and the roles of the universities in the respective national systems of Brazil and Cuba. The initial out-comes will be deeper analyzed at the second stage by the realization of case studies through a methodology constructed to allow comparison.

Missions of Interchange of Researches and Doctoral Students
Along the two years of the project there will be four missions; each mission will comprise two researchers of one country staying for 15 days in the other country. Also, there will be two student missions at doctoral level, one Brazilian staying six months at Cuba, working with researchers associated to the Cuban team, and one Cuban staying six months in the same fashion in Brazil.

Final Workshop
There will be a final workshop to take place in Cuba in December 2007, where the results of the joint research project will be presented and a joint evaluation of the international cooperation will be held.

Brazilian Team:

• José Manoel Carvalho de Mello (coordenador), Professor Visitante , Programa de Engenharia de Produção & Pesquisador Associado do Núcleo de Estudos em Inovação, Conhecimento e Trabalho – NEICT, Universidade Federal Fluminense & Pesquisador Associado, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq;
• Emmanuel Paiva de Andrade, Professor Adjunto, Programa de Engenharia de Produção & Pesquisador Associado do Núcleo de Estudos em Inovação, Conhecimento e Trabalho – NEICT & Diretor da Escola de Engenharia, Universidade Federal Fluminense;
• Anne-Marie Maculan, Professora Adjunta, Área de Gestão e Inovação do Programa de Engenharia de Produção da COPPE & Coordenadora do Programa de Engenharia de Produção da COPPE, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro;
• Marcos Bezerra do Couto Cavalcanti; Professor Adjunto, Área de Gestão e Inovação, Programa de Engenharia de Produção da COPPE & Diretor do Centro de Referência em Inteligência Empresarial e Gestão do Conhecimento– CRIE, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro & Diretor de Tecnologia da Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro.

Cuban Team:

• Jorge Núñez Jover (coordenador) - Director del Posgrado y de la Cátedra Ciencia, Tecnología, Sociedad e Innovación, Universidad de La Habana (UH);
• Víctor Manuel Molina - Profesor Adjunto y miembro del claustro de la Maestría de Gerencia de la Ciencia y la Innovación en el Centro de Estudios de Técnicas de Dirección del Instituto Superior Politécnico José A. Echeverría; Especialista en Relaciones Internacionales y Coordinador del Servicio Internacional de Gestión de Oportunidades de Desarrollo Tecnológico, Ministerio de Educación Superior
• Fernando de Jesús Castro Sánchez; Profesor; Departamento de Ciencias Sociales. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Humanísticas; Universidad de Matanzas
• Maria del Carmen Armenteros Acosta – Director, Instituto Superior Politécnico José Antonio Echeverría, Grupo de Estudio Sociales de la Tecnología.
• Isarelis Pérez Ones - Profesora Asistente, Universidad de La Habana, Cátedra Ciencia, Tecnología, Sociedad e Innovación
• Luis Félix Montalvo Arriete, Prof. Asistente, Universidad de La Habana