Scientists protest against CNPq scholarship cuts – 03/28/2024 – Science

“Brazil’s scientific community is facing yet another setback”, states a text published last Tuesday (26) in Nature magazine. The article then describes recent cuts in CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) scholarships for Brazilian researchers.

According to the publication in the journal, one of the most relevant in the scientific world, the council took the measure after the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) government took around R$310 million from federal universities.

When contacted by the report, the CNPq says that, in fact, it increased the number of scholarships, but recognizes that quality programs may have suffered losses.

The researchers also criticize changes in the allocation of scholarships by Capes (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel).

“A model based on municipal human development indices and the average number of theses and dissertations defenses, implemented in 2021, risks reducing the quality of already well-established postgraduate programs”, says the text, signed by Marcus F. Oliveira and Adriane R. Todeschini, both from UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro).

The authors also remember the cuts that occurred under the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government. “The impact on Brazil’s scientific production will be considerable and will almost certainly lead many scientists to reconsider their career aspirations,” says the publication. “We urge federal agencies to reconsider these cuts and advocate not just for restoration, but for expansion of graduate scholarship funding.”

A letter written at the beginning of the month by researcher Todeschini and addressed to the scientific community — and signed by more than 200 researchers — was in the same vein, expressing “concern and indignation” about the cut in postgraduate scholarships by the CNPq.

The author of the letter states that, until 2019, the number of master’s and doctorate scholarships offered by the CNPq were significant and generally fixed. As of 2020, a change led the CNPq to make scholarships available through notices. Then, in 2024, there was another change, says the letter, and scholarships started to be offered from educational institutions, which would have led to a reduction in availability.

“[…] as evidenced by the example of UFRJ, awarded 50 master’s and 47 doctoral scholarships. It is worth noting that the aforementioned university has 134 postgraduate programs, 47 of which received the maximum score awarded by Capes in the last quadrennial”, points out the letter, which then mentions the scholarships within the scope of Proex (Excellence Program Academic), by Capes.

In the AdUFRJ newspaper, from the UFRJ Teachers’ Union, João Torres, dean of Postgraduate Studies and Research, stated that the university requested reconsideration of the number of scholarships offered to UFRJ and that the university would need around 300, instead of 97 obtained.

The scientific director of CNPq, Olival Freire, tells Sheet, in a note, that, last year, the council increased the total scholarship offer for master’s and doctorate degrees. The council says there are almost a thousand new scholarships.

However, Freire also states that, in fact, new criteria adopted ended up generating a reduction in scholarships in certain well-qualified programs and institutions.

According to the CNPq’s scientific director, the criteria in question aimed to reduce regional and institutional asymmetries, and which were discussed by the CNPq board of directors in 2019 and 2000.

“Aware of this effect, the CNPQ, in agreement with Capes, is looking for ways to reduce this effect without abandoning the policies of deconcentrating postgraduate scholarships in order to cover a greater number of institutions and regions”, he states, in a note, Freire, from CNPq.