Severe funding cuts threaten the future of research in Brazil
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Severe funding cuts threaten the future of research in Brazil
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espite a diverse and expanding research portfolio, a federal funding crisis is threatening the future of scientific research in Brazil. Materials research in Brazil has been expanding in recent years. A new advanced synchrotron light source, Sirius, is under construction. Major research centers on functional materials, glass, and graphene were recently approved. The number of materials science articles published in international journals with authors in Brazil nearly doubled between 2006 and 2015. Materials researchers in Brazil should have much to look forward to, but the climate is one of apprehension as increasingly severe funding cuts take hold. Scientific research in Brazil occurs at universities and research institutions. Most funding comes from federal agencies that support research programs at federal universities and institutes. Each state also has its own research funding agency that supports programs at its state universities and
institutions. Collaborations among federal and state universities and institutions are common. With the exception of the state of São Paulo, the strongest research programs are associated with federal universities. This system works well when the economy is booming, but when money is tight, science often pays the price. “Science in Brazil remains subject to governmental policies, which means that every new government decides on its own science and technology policy,” says Helena Nader, president of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science. Resources are set aside for science and technology in the annual budget, but getting the full allocation requires the support of finance ministers or the president. That support is lacking. Brazil is currently in the midst of its worst economic recession in decades, which many blame on the previous administration’s mismanagement of public funds.
The construction site of Sirius, Brazil's new fourth-generation synchrotron light source. Sirius could greatly increase the capacity of Brazil’s research infrastructure, but scientists are already struggling to maintain adequate support for existing research. Credit: LNLS/CNPEM.
Severe austerity measures are now in place. Science funding for federal agencies has decreased consistently since 2015, and in some cases almost disappeared. This is also true for most state funding agencies. Science has been hit particularly hard. “The cuts in funding have been much larger than the actual drop in the Brazilian gross domestic product. That is to say, the share of sacrifices taken by the scientific system has been much larger than the downturn in the economy,” says Osvaldo Novais de Oliveira Jr., president of Sociedade Brasileira de Pesquisa em Materiais (SBPMat), the Brazilian Materials Research Society. The impact of these cuts varies by state. Some, like Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul, have virtually no money for universities or research. States that rely less on federal research funding or whose local economies have fared
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