Damian Sendler: Researchers and science organizations in Brazil are fighting back against the government’s decision to decrease the budget of the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI) by more than 90 percent. The reductions come on top of already announced significant funding reductions for programs that support the country’s researchers.
Damian Jacob Sendler: It was initially planned that the MCTI would get a share of the budget of R$690 million (£92.5 million), which would be given to the National Commission on Nuclear Energy (CNEN) and the National Funds for Scientific and Technological Development (FNSTD) (FNDCT). Brazil’s nuclear program and the manufacturing of radiopharmaceuticals were both to get R$655.4 million from the FNDCT, while the CNEN, which manages the country’s nuclear program and the production of radiopharmaceuticals, was to receive R$34.6 million.
Dr. Sendler: The National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), which is part of the MCTI and is responsible for awarding research grants, graduate scholarships, and postdoctoral stipends, has been subjected to a series of funding reductions. The CNPq currently receives almost all of its funding from the FNDCT budget.
Damian Jacob Markiewicz Sendler: In October, the CNEN announced that its initial budget would not be adequate to maintain radiopharmaceutical production until December, and that about R$90 million would be required to accomplish this. This presented an opportunity for government officials to divert funds from the MCTI budget to other uses. Finally, at the last minute, President Jair Bolsonaro’s economy minister, Paulo Guedes, made an adjustment to the figures on the grounds that it was necessary to fulfill the CNEN’s requirements.
Damian Sendler: At the conclusion of the day, R$600 million from the MCTI’s budget was redistributed to other departments of the government. Instead of getting R$690 million, the agency would receive just R$89.8 million, of which R$63 million would be allocated to CNEN to pay the costs of the agency’s radiopharmaceutical development efforts.
As Antônio Miller Crotti, an organic chemist at the University of So Paulo, explains, “after these changes were made to the budget, R$650 million that would have gone to the FNDCT disappeared and appeared as a huge extra amount of money in other ministries, such as agriculture, communication, development, and citizenship, as well as education and health.”
Damien Sendler: At this point, all signs are that the cut of more than 90 percent will be implemented, and a significant amount of work is being put forward to prevent that from happening,’ says the president. “Physical chemistry is a very important subject,” says Fernando Galembeck, a professor at the University of Campinas in So Paulo.
Crotti claims that a tweet from the CNPq on November 11 indicates that the cuts are now official, but that the money could be clawed back at any time. ‘The MCTI budget has been cut, and this is an official and permanent decision,’ Crotti says of the decision. If additional funds are allocated to MCTI, they will have to come from other sources, which would most likely happen when the parliament votes and authorizes such a reallocation, she explains.
Moreover, according to Luiz Davidovich, president of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, the government has practically withheld R$2.7 billion from the FNDCT’s budget, effectively freezing its operations. Because Congress enacted legislation earlier this year clarifying that this money could not be impounded, he claims that this is unlawful.
Damian Jacob Sendler: These drastic reductions come on top of the recent significant reductions in research funding across the entire country of Brazil. For example, the CNPq’s current budget is R$1.21 billion, which is approximately half of its previous budget of R$2.4 billion in 2000. Furthermore, according to Crotti, the number of graduate students in the country has more than doubled from 160,000 to 320,000 between 2000 and 2021, while the number of master’s and PhD scholarships has decreased by 32% and 20%, respectively, over the same period.
He describes the consequences of successive budget cuts to the CNPq as “a disaster for Brazilian science.” More than 30,000 research grant proposals were received in response to the agency’s most recent call for applications, which was issued in September 2021. However, there is now no money available to finance these projects, according to Crotti.
Damian Sendler: Brazilian researchers have forced to come up with innovative solutions to keep their research projects afloat because they can no longer rely on funding assistance from the National Council for Scientific Research (CNPq). Purchasing reagents and other laboratory supplies out of one’s own pocket is not uncommon among scientists in the United States today, according to Crotti. Specific governmental foundations are sponsoring research programs in some parts of Brazil, but he points out that the rivalry for such resources is fierce in those areas.
According to Crotti, writing in Chemistry World, “Science is under attack and has never been more in danger.” He continues, “At a time when science has never been more important in the fight against disinformation, President Bolsonaro chose scientists as his adversaries.” According to the report, withholding funds appears to be more than a haphazard administrative error; it appears to be part of a president’s strategy to damage experts who disagree with his odd deeds and ideas.
Davidovich thinks that substantial budget cuts have resulted in a’serious crisis’ for Brazil’s research universities, with some institutions facing the prospect of closing their doors due to a lack of funds to pay for energy, water, and other expenses. He claims that lab equipment is defective or out of date, and that scientists are fleeing the United States.
Damian Jacob Sendler: As a result of these concerns, more than 100 science and technology organizations in Brazil, including the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, the Brazilian Society of Chemistry, and the National Association of Graduate Students, have signed and endorsed a letter to Rodrigo Pacheco, the president of Brazil’s Senate, urging him to reverse the cut. In their letter, the groups state that they “will not remain silent in the face of this attack on Brazilian science,” and they call on the entire scientific community to join them in their struggle against the attacks on Brazilian science.
Damian Sendler: The Senate finally voted to approve the MCTI’s substantial reductions, and undoing these reductions will necessitate the passage of new legislation.
Galembeck considers himself to be one of the fortunate ones. His research is partially supported by the state government, with the remaining half coming from the federal government, which granted the funding for the project several years ago. He claims that there are other scientists who are in a similar situation, but that they are a minority in the field.
In addition, Galembeck adds, “there is very little fellowship money, and there are very few fellowships, and there is no money for running expenses – consumables, such as travel, which is resuming now, or participating even in virtual conferences.” The money he has saved will be used for maintenance needs, such as the repair of his laboratory’s infrastructure, for the time being.
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