Until the end of the last century, generation of scientific knowledge was concentrated mainly in three regions of the world – Japan, the USA and Europe. The last decade has brought a marked shift towards other major players. Today the ‘BRICS countries’ – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – are contributing strongly to knowledge production.

This change in the global research landscape, together with the urgent need to tackle jointly key global challenges, such as climate change, energy and food security and poverty reduction, created a need for Europe to step up its international cooperation on science and technology (S&T) with other parts of the world.

The ‘Strategic European Framework for International Science and Technology Cooperation’ adopted by the European Commission in September 2008 and endorsed by the EU Member States in December 2008, was the European Union's answer to this need. The aim was to create the conditions for a more coherent and coordinated approach to international S&T cooperation based on strategic partnerships with leading countries and regions.

These strategic partnerships need to be based on an analysis of the comparative strengths of potential third-country partners and of Europe alike. Such analysis would lay the foundation for determining the scope and opportunities for cooperation and the potential mutual benefits.

This book is expected to contribute to such analysis. It presents research findings about the national innovation systems of the five BRICS countries and compares trends in their science, technology and innovation policies