As shown in Figure 1, the number of submitted proposals across thematic areas is highly diverse. In each call, certain fields received a higher volume of proposals, while others attracted fewer submissions. Overall, the largest share of submitted proposals relates to Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, as well as Biotechnology and Biomedicine. In contrast, the fields of Photonics and Astronomy recorded the lowest number of submissions.
Figure 2 illustrates the number of projects submitted during the first to third calls, categorized by country. The highest level of participation by national teams was observed in China and India. Due to the smaller size of its scientific community, South Africa registered the lowest level of participation among BRICS member countries.
Organizing an international scientific competition is inherently challenging, as competition-related processes must be conducted simultaneously across all participating countries. This requires continuous coordination with national funding agencies. For example, in 2024, China’s funding institution was unable to complete the project evaluation process within the designated timeframe, which led to a decline in the number of submitted projects from China.
Moreover, the scientific priorities of BRICS member countries play a significant role in their overall performance. Each country tends to approve a higher number of proposals in fields aligned with its national research priorities.
As indicated in Table 1 and Table 2, the highest number of submitted and approved projects in the first to third calls were concentrated in the fields of Materials Science and Nanotechnology, followed by Biotechnology and Biomedicine. In contrast, although the field of Astronomy received a considerable number of high-quality research proposals, only 20 percent of these projects were approved due to incomplete compliance with required standards.
Notably, an analysis of published scientific articles in BRICS countries reveals a high volume of scientific output in the field of astronomy, indicating that the submitted projects in this area were generally of strong scientific quality.
| Thematic Areas | Pilot Call Submitted |
Pilot Call Approved |
2017 Call Submitted |
2017 Call Approved |
2019 Call Submitted |
2019 Call Approved |
Total Submitted |
Total Approved |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astronomy* | 11 | 3 | – | – | 13 | 2 | 24 | 5 |
| Biology and Biomedical Sciences including Human Health and Neurosciences | 62 | 5 | 108 | 6 | 33 | 2 | 233 | 13 |
| Geospatial Information Technology and Its Applications | 20 | 2 | – | – | 4 | 2 | 24 | 4 |
| Information Technology and High-Performance Computing | 19 | 2 | 33 | 3 | 17 | 3 | 69 | 8 |
| Materials Science and Nanotechnology* | 63 | 6 | 134 | 11 | 122 | 12 | 319 | 29 |
| New and Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency | 52 | 2 | 73 | 6 | 45 | 3 | 170 | 11 |
| Ocean Science and Technology and Polar Research | 19 | 1 | – | – | 7 | 2 | 26 | 3 |
| Photonics* | 12 | 3 | – | – | 17 | 3 | 29 | 6 |
| Disaster Prevention and Monitoring | 24 | 1 | 46 | 2 | 32 | 2 | 102 | 5 |
| Water Resources and Water Treatment | 38 | 1 | 68 | 4 | 37 | 3 | 143 | 8 |
| Aeronautics* | – | – | – | – | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
