Science with borders: research funding fund has blocked R$2,5 billion

The cut, which should be decreed next month, will be approximately R$2,5 billion in the budget. This means that the fund's resources will increase from R$4,5 billion to R$2 billion this year.

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The blocking of these resources means that the FNDCT budget for 2022 is 44% lower than that executed in 2021.

In May, the federal government had already announced a blockade of R$1,8 billion in resources destined for Science, Technology and Innovation. A few days later, the cut was increased by R$720 million. According to the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science (SBPC), this increase occurred to reduce embezzlement in other ministries.

In a statement, the SBPC states that the country's entire scientific and technological research system is at risk. “Science has become a preferred target of the federal government, imposing a budget restriction on the sector that is unparalleled in the Executive Branch.” This after two years of pandemic that put science and scientists at the center of everyone's attention as they waited for a vaccine against the new coronavirus.

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Another factor that also concerns the entity is the impacts of blocking R$1,6 billion from the Ministry of Education (MEC) transfer to federal universities. According to the SBPC, this puts investment in research and development equipment, laboratories and even the maintenance of campuses at risk.

In the assessment of Fernando Peregrino, president of the National Council of Foundations to Support Institutions of Higher Education and Scientific and Technological Research (Confies), the cuts in investment in science aim to keep Brazil on the periphery of the world. “It is the dismantling of a pillar of support for a nation,” he commented in the organization’s online event.

At least 52 projects are expected to be harmed by the blockades, according to Confies em report published by the newspaper The Globe. Research related to Covid-19, climate change mitigation and even those involving niobium – frequently mentioned by Bolsonaro – will be affected.

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