The researcher from the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA) Fernanda de Negri was at Unicamp on Friday, 23rd, for a lecture aimed at the academic community interested in understanding a little more about the Brazilian scenario in terms of scientific and technological innovation. Fernanda spoke about “New paths for innovation in Brazil” at the Institute of Geosciences (IG) during a seminar of the Postgraduate Program in Scientific and Technological Policy.
The economist, who is a former master's and doctorate student at the Unicamp Institute of Economics and one of the most respected professionals in the area of science, technology and innovation, provided an overview of the main challenges for Brazil to become a more innovative country, which are: the training of qualified people, a good scientific and technological infrastructure and an environment favorable to the innovation process.
According to the researcher, there are few scientists and researchers in the country, compared to other developed or developing countries. In Brazil, there are around 800 scientists per million inhabitants, while in South Korea this number exceeds 5 thousand. Another difficulty in the country is the few job opportunities for these professionals. “We have to increase the training of these professionals, but also provide conditions for these people to develop their knowledge in Brazil,” she said. According to Fernanda, there is a great willingness for universities to get closer to companies. However, she remembers that basic science is largely funded by the state in any country in the world. “It is necessary to have an environment that favors innovation in companies so that they seek the knowledge that is being produced in universities,” she said.
Regarding Unicamp's performance in the Brazilian scenario, Negri considers the University of Campinas to be one of the great references in Brazil in scientific and technological production. “I wrote a article which is a case study comparing MIT, in the United States, with Unicamp. Unicamp's budget, for example, is practically half of MIT's budget and you have three times the number of students”, he reveals. “Many people say that in the United States, companies finance universities and that’s not true. It is the State that finances research anywhere in the world. The participation of companies in the MIT budget is not much greater than it is here at Unicamp”, she added.
Lack of funding is precisely one of the biggest bottlenecks in Brazilian universities, according to Fernanda. “We need a lot of investment to be more competitive internationally”, she points out. For the researcher, another major challenge is internationalization. “Brazilian universities are very little internationalized if you use any international comparison standard. There are few foreign teachers, few foreign students. Even in the most internationalized ones like UFABC and Unicamp, the participation of foreign teachers is very small,” she said. “Even with a series of bottlenecks that limit the capacity of Brazilian universities, their participation in global scientific production has increased,” she highlighted.
For de Negri, the Unicamp Geosciences Institute “has an important contribution because it has established itself as one of the main centers thinking about innovation and scientific and technological policy”. Maria Beatriz Bonacelli, professor at the Department of Scientific and Technological Policy at the Institute of Geosciences, highlighted the economist's arrival at Unicamp. “She is a great researcher and knowledgeable about science, technology and innovation policy issues. We have the opportunity to count on a person who is at one of the main think tanks in the country,” she said.
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