The first year of MCTI under Lula recovers the research, but requires more funding

The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), Luciana Santos, spoke with Byte about the challenges of new management and the focus on industry

The first year of the third government of President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva posed the challenge of enhancing the country’s scientific knowledge, as well as recovering initiatives and assets from Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) weakened under previous governments. Mainly under the command of Jair Bolsonarowhose mandate cut 87% of funding for science and technology by 2021.

The last administration also made significant cuts to scientific research: In 2021, the total budget approved for science and technology by the Ministry of Science was the smallest in at least two decades, according to data compiled by the Brazilian Society for Progress of Science (SBPC) in Sao Paulo. The entity represents more than 70 scientific associations.

“In addition to budget cuts, there is an ongoing campaign to try to undermine the morale of public higher education, culture and public health,” says Renato Janine Ribeiro, president of the SBPC, in a report in the journal Nature in 2022.

The current minister of Science, technology and innovationLuciana Santos said Byte that 2023 will be the year of a series of measures to recover scientific capacity and contribute to the country’s reindustrialization agenda.

“Historically, Brazilian science has always faced periods of great challenges. But the previous political cycle was particularly perverse as it led to episodes of denial of science and its benefits for humanity, as well as promoting a real blackout in science funding,” the minister said.

This year we saw the regularization of scholarships and the launch of two research calls as a good vote. For 2024, the Lula government will once again face a common fate for Brazilian public science: dealing with the ministry’s constantly reduced budget and obtaining more resources in the medium and long term.

What the Lula government did for science

According to Santos, two results were strategic to recover the promotion of science and technology: the recomposition of National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FNDCT) and the reduction of interest on innovation financing in companies.

In the first decision, the FNDCT now has R$ 10 billion for investments in the structuring of projects in priority areas for national development, such as the fight against hunger, health, climate, reindustrialisation, energy transition and digital transformation.

MCTI also listed other portfolio highlights in 2023:

• Rectification of scholarships and research grants, granting an adjustment from which 258 thousand Cape and CNPq scholarship holders benefited;
• Adjustment of the value of grants for technology promotion and innovative extension, covering eight modalities and 6,500 participants in action;
• Additional fees for Tier 2 Research Productivity and Technology Development Productivity grants, which promote balance among high-level researchers.
• Launch of two research calls worth R$590 million;
• MCTI’s first public competition in more than ten years, with 814 vacancies.

For the president of Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC), Helena Nader, the greatest progress was in fact the total release of the Fund’s resources. However, according to her, the FNDCT alone will not put Brazil in the position it needs in the global movement of leading countries in sustainable economic, social and environmental.

“More resources are needed. President Lula’s government has understood the value of science, however many other mysteries have not yet been clarified. For those who manage the economy, science is an expense and not an investment”, commented Helena Nader.

Science, Technology and Innovation at PAC

MCTI projects were also included Growth Acceleration Program (CAP) of the federal government. The promise is that, by 2026, R$8 billion will be invested in six projects.

One of these is Pró-Infra, which was revived to “recover and expand the scientific and technological research infrastructures of universities and scientific and technological institutes”, said Minister Luciana Santos.

A second initiative included in the CAP is the creation of 18 information routes, for a total of 40 thousand kilometers of optical fiber throughout the national territory, as part of the Plan Connect and Empower Program.

Part of the Ministry’s agenda this year includes the construction of the NB4, the first maximum biological containment laboratory in the country; the expansion of the particle accelerator Sirius, in Campinas (SP); in the construction of Brazilian multipurpose reactor, which will allow the country’s autonomy in the production of radiopharmaceuticals; and improve the natural disaster risk monitoring system National Center for Natural Disaster Monitoring and Warning (Cemaden).

Criticism of the MCTI

Despite the good news surrounding the FNDCT, ABC President Helena Nader points out that the resources have not been released as requested by the academic scientific community.

“We are left with 50% of the resources reimbursable, while the Science, Technology and Innovation part, including the industry itself, 50% non-reimbursable. We had asked for 75% and we lost, but we will continue to fight to reverse this situation and try to have new investments,” said the president of ABC.

He stressed that without science Brazil will not achieve its goals in the environment, water and food security, high technology and industry.

Why will 2024 be the best year to see the Northern Lights?

The president of Helio Jaques Rocha-Pinto, Brazilian Astronomical Society (SAB), believes that there has been no real change in the ministry of the new Lula administration in terms of concrete investments.

“My impression is that the federal government is still very tied to fiscal demands and tight budgets. Presumably, in 2024 there will no longer be the excuse of the previous government’s budget, even if the tax rules in place still prevent more investment, ”she said.

However, he points out that, with the support of the SAB, the current Secretariat of Strategic Policies and Programs of the MCTI is seeking to create a national astronomical network, in which the MCTI will be able to receive direct assistance from astronomers in defining its investment in the area.

For 2024, the SAB president says he would like the federal government to set the priorities retention of scientists trained in Brazil.

“The first step was the opening of the MCTI competitions, but it is necessary to renew the university staff and also encourage companies and industry to invest effectively in research and development,” said Jaques Rocha-Pinto.

Astronomy

In the field of astronomy, the Ministry is developing the BINGO (Baryon Acoustic Oscillations from Integrated Neutron Gas Observations) radio telescope, an international project with collaborators in Brazil, China, the United Kingdom, France, South Africa, Germany and the United States.

The project, which amounts to R$4.9 million in resources from the FNDCT, aims to facilitate research on the state of the art of cosmology, as well as promote the internalization of technological development and science education.

“It has the potential to generate high-impact scientific results, in addition to new technologies in remote sensing and space science,” said Minister Luciana Santos.

The National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), a research unit of the MCTI, participates in the project together with the Federal University of Campina Grande (UFCG) and the University of São Paulo (USP).

The radio telescope will be built in the city of Aguiar (PB) and, according to the ministry, is already in the final stages of obtaining the parts that will constitute the research infrastructure.

The 2024 astronomical calendar will have the “Devil’s Comet”, supermoon and other eclipses

Challenges and priorities for the future

The president of the ABC, Helena Nader, defined the priority of the ministry as maintaining Brazil’s leadership food safety.

“You will need a lot of science to continue to be a leader. Just look at what is happening, for example, in the Netherlands, a very small country, and a revolution in the agricultural sector. So the world doesn’t sit still and wait for Brazil to have the strength to be a great country,” commented Nader.

It also highlights challenges in science energy transition in the country. “Soon [o Brasil] has managed to create many opportunities and exponential growth in wind and solar energy. And the energy transition will not happen suddenly.”

The MCTI minister underlines that the department’s objective is to contribute to the reindustrialization policy launched by President Lula’s government. Of the total R$100 billion allocated for industrial policy until 2026, R$41 billion comes from the FNDCT.

“We know that a country with a industry A thriving technology- and innovation-intensive sector generates better employment and income opportunities and demand for skills for workers. This is the objective of the Lula government in articulating industrial policy with science, technology and innovation policy,” said Luciana Santos.

“Good hackers”

The launch of a national pact for digital literacy and training of the population is one of MCTI’s objectives. According to the ministry, the objective is to reverse the annual deficit of 106 thousand professionals

areas of information and communication technologies and digital technologies.

“The Ministry already has programs aimed at training students and young graduates

Middle and Upper, like the programs Hacker forever and Residency in ICT, which use resources from

IT Act to bridge the deficit in these sectors,” the minister said.

Source: Terra

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