Chilean researchers protest the lack of governmental support to science

Unhappy with the way science is being governed in the country, Chilean researchers resorted to street protests and published an open letter that criticized the government’s lack of support to science.

Chile is recognized for its contribution to international astronomy and "ranks highly in terms of citations per paper in space science". However, over the last few years Chilean researchers have been expressing displeasure with the government policies related to science.

Their concern escalated when the director of the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICYT) – the funding agency that advises the President of Chile on all matters related to science well as provides funds and scholarships– Francisco Brieva, resigned from his post on October 29 citing a stifling bureaucracy that failed to support his plans to boost public investment in the country’s science. CONICYT provides funds and scholarships to more than 3000 researchers and Chilean students who wish to study abroad. Currently, CONICYT’s fund of 3.15 billion pesos is inadequate to support all the researchers in Chile. Brieva revealed that the funding agency’s monetary reserve has shrunk to the extent that he had not been paid since he assumed his duties as CONICYT’s director.

On November 9, Andrés Couve Correa, president of the Chilean Society for Cell Biology in Santiago, and Carolina Torrealba, director of new projects at the private research institute Fundación Ciencia & Vida in Santiago, wrote an open letter to the government condemning it. The letter says that the government chose “to ignore the voices of the national and international community and with its decisions plunge the country into ignorance and poverty” and has received support from 1800 researchers.

Chile’s investment in science has been low; it invests less than 0.5% of its gross domestic product in science and development. Through the protests and the open letter, Chilean researchers hope to bring about a change in the landscape of Chilean science. The government has assured the researchers that they will consider an increase of CONICYT’s budget of 3.15 billion pesos by 150 million pesos. Apart from this, the researchers are also vying to provide their viewpoint to the government by being a part of committees that decide scientific funding.

It remains to be seen whether the efforts of Chilean researchers help accelerate the progress of science in the country.

References:

Chile’s scientists take to the streets over funding; Accessed in November 2015

Chile needs better science governance and support; Accessed in November 2015

South American science: Big players; Accessed in November 2015