Hugo A. Carignano del Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), Buenos Aires, y Juan P. Jaworski del Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina, nos señalan la situación de la investigación en Argentina de la cual se está ocupando siempre más frecuentemente la prestigiosa revista Science. Ver links al final de la nota.
Last December, world leaders met in Buenos Aires during the G20’s forum for economic, financial and political cooperation. This was thought as a great opportunity for Argentinian people to show to the rest of the world that we were making progress in order to play in the major leagues. This achievement meant huge effort from many sectors of the society, especially if we think about the recent economic struggles that shocked the country in the last couple of years. As part of the G20 engagement groups, representatives from the scientific and research community, the private sector and trade unions, and non-governmental organizations joined in the Science20 (S20) forum, which discussed items of scientific importance relevant to the global agenda.
But is it the scientific system in Argentina at the same level of those from developed countries? From our personal experience (as young scientists) we believe it is not. There is general agreement regarding that the vital force that initiates and perpetuates the economic and social progress of a country is the investment in research and development; however, in developing countries such as Argentina, periodic cycles of economic crisis, erroneous scientific policies and unforced errors flow together generating a scenario that restrict this possibility. By analysing key indicators of the Argentinian scientific system, from an early career researcher point of view, we aim to raise awareness about this complex situation to the global community and policymakers.
Recently, two articles have been published in Science reflecting this particular situation from different perspectives: Austerity cuts threaten future of science in Argentina and Argentina’s subpar investment in science.
