This research group was set up in 1996, with focuses on public policies for science and technology and higher education, and on the issue of sustainability. These central themes are intertwined in the several research projects developed by the group, whose main characteristics are the interdisciplinary work and the research projects in partnership with other institutions. A special emphasis has been given to research on the formulation, governance and evaluation of S&T public policies. The joint work between PPSTS-RG and some faculty members of the Graduate Program of Sociology of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul – PPGS/UFRGS give rise, in 2003, to the creation of the Center for Studies and Dissemination of Knowledge, Innovation and Sustainability (CEDCIS) associated to PPGS/UFRGS. This partnership has also given rise to the Laboratory for Dissemination of Science, Technology and Social Innovation (LaDCIS UFRGS/FURG). From 2004 to 2010, we organized the Annual Meeting of Research Groups of the Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG). We have published, among others, the following books: "Conhecimentos e Redes: sociedade, política e inovação" (Ed. UFRGS); "Pós-Modernidade e Conhecimento?" (Ed. Sulina) and "Universidade e Conhecimento" (co-edited by UFRGS and Sulina, 2010), besides book chapters and articles in academic journals. GPTCS has been involved in the organization of preliminary municipal conferences on science and technology (social technologies) and was a member institution of the committee in charge of organizing the Conferences of Science, Technology and Innovation at the state and regional (southern) levels, contributing to the formulation of strategic policies of S&T for both the state of Rio Grande do Sul and the country’s Southern Region. We have been working together with SBPC (the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Scientific Research) and LaDCIS/UFRGS in the organization of public events for academic debate and for the dissemination of scientific knowledge, particularly in the organization of the National Week of Science and Technology in Rio Grande do Sul. We train new researchers by supervising “scientific initiation” and professional scholarships, master and doctoral studies. We are currently developing the project Observatory for Science, Technology and Social Innovation, with the financial support of FAPERGS. We have recently participated in the organization of the 6th Preparatory Meeting for the World Science Forum (Porto Alegre, May 2013).