The papers in this volume form the Proceedings of two workshops that took place in 1997. The first workshop took place in Rio de Janeiro in May, 1997, and the second took place in New Orleans the following November. Both meetings were sponsored jointly by the US National Science Foundation and its Brazilian counterpart, CNPq. The goal of the workshops was to foster collaborative research efforts between US and Brazilian researchers. These workshops marked the culmination of two years of talks, visits, and planning by the members of NSF and CNPq, and their respective constituencies. Out of the same series of exchanges sprang another workshop in Porto Alegre, Brazil on Robotics and Intelligent Systems. While many Brazilian students come to US for advanced studies, the majority still choose institutions in Western Europe; nonetheless, these workshops have uncovered a wealth of common interests and encouraged several new collaborations. Beyond the workshops, the contacts have facilitated additional joint ventures, such as the new NSF-CNPq Program for the CISE Directorate which has received a significant number of proposals from collaborators unrelated to the workshops.
The workshops helped the participants build a foundation for such efforts by providing a forum where participants could learn about each others' research interests and begin to establish a basis for collaborative work. The topics of interest ranged from theoretical concepts and formalisms to techniques and tools for the systematic construction of software systems. The areas where research collaboration possibilities have emerged or are about to emerge include object-based programming, tools and specification techniques, functional programming and domain-specific languages, and basic theoretical areas ranging from domain theory and category theory to type theory and concurrency.
More detailed information about the workshops can be accessed on line. The list of participants and other information about each workshop are available as follows. Information about the Rio workshop can be found at www.kestrel.edu/Λjullig/rio97, and information about the following New Orleans workshop can be found at www.math.tulane.edu/usbrazil.html. Of particular interest may be the position statements the participants submitted that describe the areas where they expect collaboration may be forthcoming.
As a result of the efforts of NSF and CNPq, programs have been established in both agencies specifically aimed at providing support for emerging collaborations between researchers in both countries. Information about these programs can be found on line at the NSF and CNPq web sites: www.nsf.gov and www.cnpq.br.
The Organizers of the meetings wish to thank the participants who took part in the meetings, but most especially the representatives of NSF: Frank Anger and Rita Virginia Rodriguez, and the representatives of CNPq: Virgilio Almeida and Rosa Maria Viccari, all of whom provided financial support for the workshops. Without their encouragement and the initiative they fostered, neither the workshops nor the joint research support program would have taken place.