"We request an Incoming International Fellowship for Dr Alexandre Andrei from the Observatório Nacional (ON) in Brazil to work at the Osservatorio Astronomico di Torino (OATo) on a research program to measure the parallaxes, hence distances, of nearby sub-stellar objects. The project plan requires data treatment and analysis, the development of astrometric methods, and the astrophysical exploitation, for 148 brown dwarfs in an ongoing observational program on the Wide Field Imager of the ESO 2.2m telescope began in 2007. By the beginning of the proposed fellowship the observational program will be finishing. An extended period of close collaboration will enable the full exploitation of the images, distances, proper motions, binarity status etc. In addition to tripling the number of brown dwarf parallaxes and contributing diretctly to sub-stellar research this project will also have repercussions in many other areas of Astronomy from the evolution of the galaxy to the formation of planets. This activity will cement OATo’s world leadership in the area of ground based parallax determinations, an area of European excellence in research. Dr. Andrei is an established researcher with a global reputation in the field of astrometry and solar studies. He holds positions of responsibility in the activities of many international bodies, many with a large European involvement which will benefit by his presence in Europe, for example he is preparing a key part of the data reduction effort for the ESA cornerstone mission GAIA. The database of raw images and treated data consistently samples the southern hemisphere sky and will be a valuable source for further Brazilian – European collaborations of scientists and students. Finally, the activity of Dr. Andrei in the framework of this project directly involves other Brazilian researchers and institutes where the determination of parallaxes provides a new and fruitful area for future work"