Scientists protest budget cuts in Brazil

巴西科学家在不到一周的时间内收集了90,000多个签名，该法案将削减圣保罗州的科学和研究预算，该法案生产了巴西科学产量的一半。

Science across the country, not just research in São Paulo, will be harmed if the bill is approved, the scientific community says. They say institutions that contribute to public health and knowledge development should be allowed to continue their work. The Academy of Sciences of the State of São Paulo发起了请愿书, saying science is essential to face current challenges and for the country’s economic development.

The bill was presented on 12 August by São Paulo Governor, João Doria, of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party. The bill includes proposals to close foundations and public organisations, and transfer financial reserves from institutes to the state treasury.

“在圣保罗的研究受到威胁，但资源几乎在所有州都跌倒了。”

Ildeu Moreira, president, Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science

If approved, this would mean the withdrawal by the end of the year of about one billion Brazilian reals — currently about US$180 million — from the University of São Paulo, the University of Campinas (Unicamp) and the State University of São Paulo (Unesp). The bill will also threaten operations at the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), which has thehighest state funding agency budget in Brazil.

These universities are among the largest in the country and their researchers have participated in nearly40％在今年在巴西发表的COVID-19研究中。该州近百分之十的商品和服务税收收入捐给了三所大学。

Research institutes and universities across the state depend on FAPESP for support. AFAPESP上级理事会的声明says that it is a mistake to consider unspent funds as a “financial surplus” that can be used to address deteriorating state finances — an economic consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic — as these funds have been committed to long-term research projects, scholarships and other innovations supported by the foundation.

“实际上，在过去的五年中，FAPESP从州财政部获得了57亿雷亚尔（10亿美元），并花费了62亿雷亚尔[11亿美元]。该声明说：“差异是用储备金支付的。”

As it is urgent, the bill will not be discussed by special committees in São Paulo’s House of Representatives, the president of the science and technology committee, Congressman Sergio Víctor, confirmed toSciDev.Net. However, he says that state deputies had three days to suggest amendments, resulting in more than 600 suggested changes to the bill as a whole.

These amendments must be reviewed and discussed in plenary before the bill is voted on, which Doria hopes will happen by mid-September, to be able to include the changes in the 2021 state budget.

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”然而,由于提议的复杂性d the variety of issues involved, the government will have difficulty in doing so,” Victor says. “Research institutions receive the money once a year, but that is not how they spend it. They depend on reserve funds to meet their commitments.” Voting should happen before the end of the year.

Ildeu Moreira, president of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science, is concerned that the bill will increase the difficulties facing science and technology in Brazil.

联邦政府正在考虑削减预算以协调高等教育人员（CAPES）和巴西主要研究支持实体的国家科学技术发展理事会（CNPQ）。他们面临的预算削减高达18％，而莫雷拉警告说，科学技术部明年可能会损失其预算的16％。

“在圣保罗的研究受到威胁，但资源几乎在所有州都跌倒了。Minas Gerais，Rio de Janeiro，Amazonas和其他人长期以来一直在削减科学资金。如果联邦政府进行更多的削减，那将意味着在其他州的预算收缩。SciDev.Net.

The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a SciDev.Net donor.

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Latin America & Caribbean desk.