Between linkage and return: the engagement strategies of the Knowledge Brazil Program for the scientific diaspora.

In recent decades, countries of origin have increasingly sought to develop policies to engage with their scientific diaspora. These policy designs typically vary across models of repatriation, linkage, and circulation, aiming to strengthen national science, technology and innovation (STI) systems. This article analyses the design and early implementation of the Knowledge Brazil Program to identify the strategies prioritized by the Brazilian state in engaging with its scientific diaspora. The study is based on document analysis, program microdata, and media sources, including news reports and opinion articles from widely circulated outlets. The findings are synthesized through a SWOT analysis, identifying strengths in the program's design, which incorporates the three core components of diaspora engagement-repatriation, linkage, and circulation; weaknesses in the asymmetry between the program's axes, with a clear emphasis on repatriation; opportunities in the diaspora's willingness to contribute to the national STI system; and threats related to concerns regarding the absorption of researchers into academia after the program's completion.