![\"screen-shot-2016-10-19-at-16-25-08\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cnpem.staging.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-19-at-16.25.08-300x194.jpg?resize=300%2C194&ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\nBrazil\u2019s economy is in free fall, and the new government has a controversial remedy: a constitutional amendment that would cap public spending for the next 20 years. The proposal, known as PEC 241, would prohibit all three branches of Brazil\u2019s government to raise yearly expenditures above the inflation rate, essentially freezing spending at current levels for 2 decades.\u00a0The bill, now making its way through Congress, would put Brazilian science in a budgetary straightjacket, observers say.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be a disaster,\u201d says Luiz Davidovich, president of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences in Rio de Janeiro. Gaining passage of the amendment bill before the end of this year is the top priority of Brazilian President Michel Temer, who took office on 31 August after the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff. The Chamber of Deputies voted in favor of the bill on 11 October; according to procedure, the chamber must take a second vote\u2014expected to happen early next week\u2014followed by two votes in the Senate.<\/p>\n
The 2016 federal budget for science, technology, and innovation, approximately $1.5 billion, is the lowest in 10 years when corrected for inflation. (Inflation is expected to run at about 7.2% this year.) Agencies have been reducing scholarships and grants, both in number and award amounts. Earlier this year, for example, the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (NCSTD), the government\u2019s main science\u00a0funding agency, announced that it would not offer new scholarships for graduate study or research abroad. The council and the Brazilian Innovation Agency have slashed funding for national programs and are delaying payments on research grants. The situation is so dire that federal research institutes are struggling to pay electricity bills. \u201cThere is no way we can survive another 20 years like this,\u201d says Davidovich, who is also a physicist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.<\/p>\n
Blame for the parlous state of Brazilian science lies squarely with the previous administration, asserts science minister Gilberto Kassab. During Rousseff\u2019s tenure, the science budget shrank, and she caught flak for taking a chunk of money out of the National Scientific and Technological Development Fund to pay for her administration\u2019s flagship Science without Borders program, which since 2011 has sent more than 100,000 students, mostly undergrads, to study abroad. Scientists\u2019 concerns about federal research financing are \u201clegitimate,\u201d Kassab says. The PEC ceiling will apply to the entire federal budget, not to specific ministries, he notes\u2014so it will be possible to shift funds around, if necessary.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means, in order to grow the budget for science, they will have to take money away from some other area, like health, education, or agriculture. It\u2019s absurd,\u201d says Glaucius Oliva, a biophysicist at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo in S\u00e3o Paulo\u00a0and former president of the NCSTD. Science has always been \u201cthe weakest link\u201d in the chain of Brazilian politics, he says. \u201cWe will have to get creative to secure funding from other sources, independent of the federal treasury. Otherwise, we are going to stall.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSmart countries increase funding for science, technology, and innovation to get out of a crisis,\u201d says Helena Nader, president of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science in S\u00e3o Paulo. \u201cWe are doing the opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sciencemag em 18 de outubro de 2016 Brazil\u2019s economy is in free fall, and the new government has a controversial remedy: a constitutional amendment that would cap public spending…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1163,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-clipping-cnpem","category-clipping-lnls","category-1163","category-12","description-off"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Budget cap would stifle Brazilian science, critics say - CNPEM<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Budget cap would stifle Brazilian science, critics say - CNPEM\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sciencemag em 18 de outubro de 2016 Brazil\u2019s economy is in free fall, and the new government has a controversial remedy: a constitutional amendment that would cap public spending…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CNPEM\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-10-19T18:26:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-21T18:51:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cnpem.staging.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-19-at-16.25.08-300x194.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Erik Medina\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erik Medina\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.br\\\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.br\\\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Erik Medina\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.br\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b957a8048be4b70d687484cae6b978ef\"},\"headline\":\"Budget cap would stifle Brazilian science, critics say\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-19T18:26:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-21T18:51:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.br\\\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":544,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.br\\\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.staging.wpengine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/10\\\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-19-at-16.25.08-300x194.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"CNPEM na M\u00eddia\",\"LNLS na M\u00eddia\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.br\\\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.br\\\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\\\/\",\"name\":\"Budget cap would stifle Brazilian science, critics say - CNPEM\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.br\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.br\\\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.br\\\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.staging.wpengine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/10\\\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-19-at-16.25.08-300x194.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-19T18:26:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-21T18:51:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.br\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b957a8048be4b70d687484cae6b978ef\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.br\\\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.br\\\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.br\\\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.staging.wpengine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/10\\\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-19-at-16.25.08-300x194.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.staging.wpengine.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/10\\\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-19-at-16.25.08-300x194.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.br\\\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"In\u00edcio\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.br\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Budget cap would stifle Brazilian science, critics say\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.br\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.br\\\/\",\"name\":\"Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais\",\"description\":\"Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais\",\"alternateName\":\"CNPEM\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.br\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnpem.br\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b957a8048be4b70d687484cae6b978ef\",\"name\":\"Erik Medina\",\"url\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Budget cap would stifle Brazilian science, critics say - CNPEM","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Budget cap would stifle Brazilian science, critics say - CNPEM","og_description":"Sciencemag em 18 de outubro de 2016 Brazil\u2019s economy is in free fall, and the new government has a controversial remedy: a constitutional amendment that would cap public spending…","og_url":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\/","og_site_name":"CNPEM","article_published_time":"2016-10-19T18:26:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-01-21T18:51:48+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/cnpem.staging.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-19-at-16.25.08-300x194.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Erik Medina","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Erik Medina","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\/"},"author":{"name":"Erik Medina","@id":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/#\/schema\/person\/b957a8048be4b70d687484cae6b978ef"},"headline":"Budget cap would stifle Brazilian science, critics say","datePublished":"2016-10-19T18:26:43+00:00","dateModified":"2022-01-21T18:51:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\/"},"wordCount":544,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cnpem.staging.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-19-at-16.25.08-300x194.jpg","articleSection":["CNPEM na M\u00eddia","LNLS na M\u00eddia"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\/","url":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\/","name":"Budget cap would stifle Brazilian science, critics say - CNPEM","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cnpem.staging.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-19-at-16.25.08-300x194.jpg","datePublished":"2016-10-19T18:26:43+00:00","dateModified":"2022-01-21T18:51:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/#\/schema\/person\/b957a8048be4b70d687484cae6b978ef"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cnpem.br\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cnpem.staging.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-19-at-16.25.08-300x194.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cnpem.staging.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-19-at-16.25.08-300x194.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/budget-cap-would-stifle-brazilian-science-critics-say\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"In\u00edcio","item":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Budget cap would stifle Brazilian science, critics say"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/","name":"Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais","description":"Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais","alternateName":"CNPEM","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/#\/schema\/person\/b957a8048be4b70d687484cae6b978ef","name":"Erik Medina","url":""}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/per0Mi-3Vd","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15079\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnpem.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}