It's important to say that Brazilian researchers and scientists are far from the stereotype spread in society, which sees them as “academics”, in a pejorative sense that attributes to academic activities a lack of practicality, a lack of commitment to the search for results and solutions to problems that we live in our daily lives. It is not uncommon, even today, to associate the image of scientists with that of Professor Pardal, not because of the ingenuity of the late and friendly character, but his inventions of whimsical gadgets, which apparently had little or no use.
I do not want to enter here into the discussions that involve the role of science, universities and researchers in the progress of humanity, and how the so-called “academic” knowledge, produced a few decades ago, is the basis of the technologies that are today radically transforming society. life of society, and which has been called the 4th Industrial Revolution or Economy 4.0. The realization that today's “academic” could very well be the solution tomorrow is more than enough to undo the false dichotomy, which nevertheless persists.
Import Here we present empirical evidence that reveals that Brazilian researchers are linked to reality and very far from the stereotype that contrasts scientists with an academic profile – who would theoretically be more concerned about publishing articles – with researchers with a more pragmatic profile, who would be closer to the “market”. , interested in presenting solutions to immediate problems, in innovating and patenting. [1] With the help of BirdDog, a search engine developed by Roney Fraga Sousa, from the Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Buainain, Fraga Souza et. alii (2018) searched the Lattes database, maintained by CNPq [2], which identified, among more than 4 million names, all researchers with patent deposits and/or patent holders. [3] They found 15.607 researchers (see Table 1), responsible for filing 27.837 patents and having 10.552 patents granted.
The search revealed that 84,5% of researchers who filed patents have published articles, with an average of 27 articles, while the 3,5 million researchers who do not have patents published just 4,2 articles during the same period. This indicates, in a way clear, that there is no trade off between publishing and generating patents, since patents are based precisely on the knowledge and experience accumulated by researchers in their research. The impact of publications by researchers with and without patents was also estimated, and the difference is impressive: the impact of publications by the former is 5 times greater than the rest. This means that people read and use much more material produced by “patenters” than that produced by those without patents.
It's important to sayAlso, just under 10% of researchers with patents work in R&D activities in companies – which confirms the ineffectiveness of incentive mechanisms for hiring researchers in the private sector. 73% of researchers work in universities, with emphasis on USP, Unicamp, UFMG and Unesp, and 15% in research institutes, public or private, led by Embrapa, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Center for Research and Development in Telecommunications (CPqD) and National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN).
We know about the multiple difficulties that Brazilian companies have when investing in R&D, which include high costs, legal and economic uncertainty, tax regime and commercial protection that together make up an environment that does not stimulate innovation. We also know about the barriers that separate companies from teaching and research institutions, from legal restrictions that still make it difficult for researchers to engage in research activities led by companies, to cultural differences that often make partnerships that could be mutually beneficial unfeasible. We emphasize that prejudices and distorted vision of reality, such as the aforementioned idea of the researcher as being outside of reality, the “lunatic” who is only concerned about his papers, and, on the other hand, the greedy businessman with no commitment to society in general, is undoubtedly a factor that continues to keep these two key actors away from the national innovation system.
It's important to say, also, that the research confirmed that the view that researchers are far from reality is false. Using the International Patent Classification (IPC), which organizes patent applications according to the main technological fields defined by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), it was possible to verify the adherence between the main technological fields of patents registered by researchers and the main segments of the Brazilian economy (see table 2, which presents the IPC of patents granted to Brazilian researchers). Chemistry and Metallurgy concentrate the largest number of researchers' patents (31,14%), in subareas with applications in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and materials industries; Human Needs brings together 28,4% of patents, mainly concentrated in the area of health, veterinary and human medicine and hygiene. The third group is Physics, with patents concentrated on instruments, with applicability in industry and agriculture. The analysis of the researchers' areas of activity, according to the criteria used by CAPES and CNPq, confirms the training in areas with direct applicability in the national productive sector: engineering (25,9%), exact and earth sciences (21,7%) , biological (17%), health (13,4%) and agricultural (9,2%) (Tabela 3). These findings reveal that the difficulties in partnerships between universities/research institutions and companies would not be in the content of the research itself and its applicability, but rather in the context that governs the relationships and the insufficiency of support to transform the assets protected by patents into innovations. .
The bad news is that the productive segments associated with patent registrations are more focused on what many today consider to be the “old” economy, and in this sense a greater dose of “academicism” might even be desirable, so that researchers could dedicate themselves more to thinking about solutions for the future rather than responding to immediate needs. The fact that residents' patent applications reflect both public policy priorities and the scientific capacity accumulated in research institutions and the country's productive structure indicates the need to adjust public policies and promote the connection of higher education institutions and from the country's research to the ongoing revolution in countries leading in development and innovation.
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[1] The complete results of the research were published by the Brazilian Intellectual Property Association, ABPI, in the document Intellectual Property, Innovation and Development: challenges for Brazil.
[2] The Lattes database maintained by CNPq is the most complete source of information about Brazilian and foreign researchers working in the country. Includes complete information about the researcher, training, history and institutional affiliation, areas of interest and activity, research carried out and in progress, published works, research groups to which he belongs. It is widely used for academic assessment purposes and, increasingly, by companies looking for qualified human resources.
[3] As the number of patents registered by researchers without at least a master's degree is insignificant, the search was carried out among those with at least a master's degree.
(*) Professor at the Faculty of Economics at the Federal University of Mato Grosso.
