A group of 68 Nobel Prize winners warn that Argentine science “is approaching the precipice” due to Milei cuts

Conicet is the main scientific research organization in Argentina.

It is also the most prestigious in Latin America, according to the Scimago ranking that evaluates almost a hundred institutions on the continent.

But the work of the more than 20,000 researchers and scholarship holders that comprise it is at risk due to the cut in public funds applied by Javier Milei.

Oblivious to the criticism from the local scientific community, the Argentine president has had to respond this week to those that have come from abroad.

“The Argentine scientific system is approaching the precipice,” denounced 68 Nobel Prize winners in a harsh letter addressed this Wednesday to Milei.

“We view with concern the elimination of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the dismissal of administrative employees from Conicet and other institutes throughout the country, and the early termination of many contracts next month.

We fear that Argentina is abandoning its scientists, students and future leaders of science,” emphasize the signatories, among whom are world leaders in the fields of Medicine, Chemistry, Physics and Economics.

The organization has been working since January with the same budget as in 2023, which means that in real terms it has only a third of the funds it had last year.

The reason is inflation: keeping the budget unchanged would mean a small adjustment in the accounts of an institution in neighboring countries —Brazil closed last year with a price increase of 4.62%;

Chile, 11.9%;

Uruguay, 5.1%;

Bolivia, 2.12%—but in Argentina, with runaway inflation of 211.4% in 2023, it represents a catastrophe.

LETTER TO MILEI FROM NOBEL LAYERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD TO STOP THE PROCESS OF DESTRUCTION OF THE ARGENTINE SCIENTIFIC SYSTEM.

This is historic, never seen before, leading Nobel Prize winners meet to ask a president to stop the destruction of science in his own country.

pic.twitter.com/RjsLBkCLMq

— Andrea Gamarnik (@GamarnikLab) March 6, 2024

In the message to Milei, international scientists highlight that economic and social progress in modern societies is closely linked to strong public investment in science and technology and list Argentine discoveries with global influence, such as those linked to the causes and treatments of cancer. , diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

The Milei Government has expressed its “surprise” at the letter, but maintains the decision to redirect resources and limit them to only some priority areas.

“Science that does not provide a direct benefit to society will not be financed,” the presidential spokesman, Manuel Adorni, declared this Thursday.

The spokesperson has asked that it be understood that “Argentina is an impoverished country, with half of its people living below the poverty line” and that is why Conicet's efforts must be directed towards “development of the bioeconomy or artificial intelligence.” applied to medicine and not in spending time and resources on research of dubious usefulness, such as the one that addressed Batman's sexual orientation.

Virologist Andrea Gamarnik criticizes the contradictions of a government that questions certain research as useless, but does not provide funds for the rest.

“Our group studies dengue, which is very useful for Argentines and the world.

However, they do not grant scholarships for this and we have not been able to buy supplies since December,” Gamarnik denounced on the networks.

For the chemist specialized in nanotechnology Galo Soler Illia, it is a big mistake to focus on science “that allows concrete improvements in society” because it means confusing science with applications when they are collaborative paths: “Without the theory of general relativity, the GPS 70 years later.”

The Conicet discredit campaign launched by Milei began before he became President.

As a candidate, he questioned the productivity of researchers and was in favor of closing the organization or privatizing it.

The attacks continue now, even after having appointed as head a scientist he trusts, Daniel Salamone, whom he defined as “the great national cloner” for his pioneering work with

Pampa

, the first Argentine calf obtained by

cloning

. of fetal cell.

“Despite the fact that in 20 years the number of researchers at Conicet has tripled, Argentina is sixth in the Latin American innovation ranking behind Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia and Uruguay,” argued Adorni.

The index she refers to measures innovation throughout the economy, not science.

Brain drain

Conicet was created in 1958 and had the Nobel Prize in Medicine Bernardo A. Houssay as its first president.

In recent decades, the country's successive economic crises have hit scientific research and investment in this area has suffered ups and downs.

In the nineties, for example, during the government of the liberal Peronist Carlos Menem, there were budget reductions and closures of centers and institutes, in addition to an exodus of researchers.

It was in those years that the Minister of Economy, Domingo Cavallo, sent a Conicet scientist who demanded salary improvements to “wash the dishes.”

With Kirchnerism, the discourse changed, investment increased and the number of researchers went from 3,500 to more than 10,000.

But since the economic crisis of 2018, salaries have been increasingly lower and Milei's attack has accelerated a brain drain that she had already started before.

“All the doctoral students around me are asking for recommendations and looking for scholarships to go somewhere else,” says sociologist and Conicet researcher Mariana Luzzi.

From different areas of Conicet they confirm the movements to pursue scientific careers abroad.

Biotechnologist Sandra Pitta states that “it was always difficult to do science in Argentina,” but now “it is more visible and the entire scientific system is in a state of uncertainty.”

One of the biggest problems, she points out, is the lack of appointment of the head of the National Agency for the Promotion of R&D&i.

Hundreds of projects depend on one firm and the longer it is delayed, the more the budgets will have shrunk due to inflation.

Pitta, one of the scientists most publicly critical of the Kirchnerist management, believes that it is necessary to improve Conicet, depoliticize it and leave behind the view of “a statist science reluctant to the productive world,” but in no case defund it.

The Confederation of Scientific Societies of Spain (Cosce), which brings together 89 societies made up of more than 40,000 scientists from that country, has also joined the voices against Milei's cut in science spending.

Cosce maintains that the covid pandemic was the most recent confirmation that countries that do not invest in science have no future.

Through a statement, Spanish scientists have asked that all measures that are choking the Argentine science and technology system be reversed: "If this is not done, it will have dire and probably irreparable consequences for the development and prosperity of Argentina."

Milei for now ignores all calls.

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