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Scientists reel as Brazilian government backtracks on research funds

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2021-10-24 03:00:05

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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, shown here attending a national ceremony, recently signed a bill sending money meant for science to other government departments. Credit: Evaristo Sa/AFP/Getty

The Brazilian science community is aghast at being dealt yet another blow over research funding. On 15 October, President Jair Bolsonaro signed a bill sending 600 million reais (US$106.3 million) earmarked for the country’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to several other government departments. The promise of the money earlier in the year triggered Brazil’s main science-funding agency to initiate its first ‘Universal Call’ for research-grant applications since 2018. Now, the 8,000 research proposals submitted face an uncertain future.

Years of funding cuts have been a hard pill to swallow for researchers in Brazil. The country’s main science agencies and funds received only 4.4 billion reais last year, about one-third of what they got in 2015, when funding peaked at 14 billion reais. Corrected for inflation, this is the smallest investment in research since 2004.