country's 202 million inhabitants, it generates about 32% of GDP and a similar share of the nation's industrial output. It also has a very strong state system of public research universities that is lacking in most other states and hosts the well-established São Paulo Research Foundation. The State of São Paulo is responsible for 46% of GERD (public and private expenditure) and 66% of business R&D. It hosts 10 of the country's 18 research universities. All indicators paint the same picture. Some 41% of Brazilian PhDs were granted by universities in the State of São Paulo in 2012 and 44% of all papers with Brazilian authors have at least one author from an institution based in São Paulo. São Paulo's scientific productivity (390 papers per million inhabitants over 2009–2013) is twice the national average (184), a differential which has been widening in recent years. The relative impact of publications by scientists from the State of São Paulo has also been systematically higher than for Brazil as a whole over the past decade. Two key factors explain São Paulo's success in scientific output: firstly, a well-funded system of state universities, including the University of São Paulo, University of Campinas (Unicamp) and the State University of São Paulo, all of which have been included in international university rankings;10 secondly, the role played by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). Both the university system and FAPESP are allocated a fixed share of the state's sales tax revenue as their annual budgets and have full autonomy as to the use they make of this revenue. Between 2006 and 2014, the share of Brazilian researchers hosted by southeastern institutions dropped steadily from 50% to 44%. Over the same period, the share of northeastern states rose from 16% to 20%. It is still too early to see the effect of these changes on scientific output, or in the number of PhD degrees being awarded but these indicators should logically also progress. Despite these positive trends, regional inequalities persist in terms of research expenditure, the number of research institutions and scientific productivity. Extending the scope of research projects to other states and beyond Brazil would certainly help scientists from these regions catch up to their southern neighbours. Timeline 1792: Founding of the Royal Academy of Fortification, Artillery and Design, current Military Institute of Engineering (IME) and Polytechnic School of UFRJ (UFRJ). 1876: Founding of the First School