Chemistry International
Vol. 21, No. 6
November 1999
Chemistry
in Today's Brazil
Professor Carlos A. L. Filgueiras (Departamento de Química
Inorganica, Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio
de Janeiro, C.P. 68563, 21945-970 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil; E-mail:
[email protected]), a National Representative for IUPAC's Commission on
Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry (II.2), prepared this article. It
is an English translation, edited slightly for a non-Brazilian audience,
of a Portuguese version that appeared in the January/February issue
of Química Nova. We thank Professor Carol H. Collins (Instituto
de Química, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, C.P. 6154, 13803-970
Campinas, SP, Brazil), Executive Secretary of the Brazilian Chemistry
Committee (BCC), which represents Brazil in IUPAC, for helping to facilitate
publication of this contribution.
Summary
Chemistry in Colonial Brazil
Beginnings of Modern Chemistry
in Brazil
Postwar Development of Chemistry
in Brazil
Growth of Research and Graduate
Programs
Chemical Industry in Today's
Brazil
Educational and Research Assessments
Role of Brazilian Scientific Societies
Chemistry in Brazil's Latin American Neighbors
Overcoming Obstacles to Chemistry in Today's Brazil
Future of Chemistry in Brazil
Educational and Research
Assessments
CAPES and CNPq launched monitoring and assessment programs
in the 1970s to gauge how the activities under their responsibility
were faring, with the objective to assess and correct, where necessary,
the educational and funding policies.
CAPES, which is the agency in charge of graduate programs
in the Education Ministry, was the more successful of the two. Its assessment
of graduate education was based from the start on the principle of peer
review, i.e., visits by committees of specialists and analysis of all
aspects concerning graduate studies, including physical facilities,
libraries, equipment and supplies, qualifications and performance of
teaching staffs and students, etc. This system is still in use and enjoys
great credibility in the academic community.
Similar assessments of research projects by CNPq were
not as successful, even though they were based on the same peer review
principle used by CAPES. The quality, appropriateness, and impact of
research efforts are particularly difficult to assess. Perhaps more
important, there was a relative unwillingness to formulate and demand
clear research guidelines on the part of university departments and
research institutes. Research assessment remains an important, albeit
difficult, problem that will soon have to be solved adequately, in view
of the mounting complexities of funding and carrying out research nowadays.
Role of Brazilian Scientific Societies
It is important to note the extraordinary role played
by the scientific societies. The Brazilian Chemical Society (SBQ), founded
in 1977, has become the country's largest scientific organization, with
some 4 000 paying members and a very strong presence in Brazil. SBQ's
most important activities are the several regular conferences it organizes
and its four publications. Conferences held by SBQ include the large
annual meeting, held during the last week of May, with an average attendance
of 2 000 people from the whole country and several foreign countries;
thematic conferences (inorganic chemistry, organic syntheses, NMR, electrochemistry,
etc.); and regional meetings, held in distinct places throughout the
country. SBQ publications include the Journal of the Brazilian Chemical
Society (in English), Química Nova (in Portuguese
and English), Química Nova na Escola (in Portuguese),
and the Boletim da SBQ (in Portuguese). The Journal of the
Brazilian Chemical Society (JBCS) is a research-only journal;
Química Nova (QN) publishes research together with
technical notes, chemical education material, history of chemistry,
etc; Química Nova na Escola (QN na Escola) is a
journal for high school teachers of chemistry; finally, the Boletim,
which appears electronically, conveys information about the Society,
the chemical profession, political and social implications of science,
etc. JBCS and QN are indexed in Chemical Abstracts.
QN and the Boletim are sent to all members of the society,
whereas the other two publications are sold by subscription.
Other scientific societies that deal with chemistry and
related topics include the Brazilian Association for Chemistry (ABQ),
the Brazilian Association for Chemical Engineering (ABEQ), the Brazilian
Association for Polymer Science (ABPol), and the Brazilian Association
for the Chemical Industry (ABQuim). Each of these associations has an
annual meeting and publishes either a bulletin or a journal, or both,
in Portuguese. Together with the SBQ, these associations make up the
Brazilian Chemistry Committee (BCC), which represents Brazil in IUPAC.
Chemistry in Brazil's Latin
American Neighbors
Another way to look at what has happened in Brazil in
these recent decades is to compare how science was introduced and developed
in Brazil's Latin American neighbors. Brazil entered the 19th
century in a state of absolute inferiority. Several countries on the
continent possessed venerable and distinguished universities, some dating
from the first century of Spanish colonization. Mexico, for instance,
pursued chemistry vigorously in the 18th century, and the
Mexican discovery of vanadium is an important contribution of that early
period. Brazil, on the contrary, had scant scientific tradition and,
during the colonial period, was never allowed by Portugal to have either
universities or printing presses. This situation only began to improve
after 1808, with the arrival of the Portuguese court in Rio de Janeiro.
Although several schools of higher education in medicine, law, and engineering
were founded and prospered during the 19th century, they
did not begin to merge into true universities until 1920. This historical
perspective helps one to appreciate the immense obstacles that had to
be overcome to catalyze the process that began after 1945.
Overcoming Obstacles to Chemistry
in Today's Brazil
Of course, several problems persisted and, in recent times, many others
have surfaced. There are currently no bold directives or plans for continuing
the developments of the previous decades. Past plans had merits as well
as flaws, and were liable to criticism; however, these plans were backed
by a national will to pursue science and technology and to further the
well being of the nation. Many concrete actions were put into practice
and led to significant growth, both on a quantitative and on a qualitative
basis. Today what is needed is to go further, with the necessary corrections
demanded by new times and situations. However, there is an almost total
vacuum of firm policies or actions regarding the support of science.
CNPq no longer functions as a leader of national science policy.
The lack of continuing and steady support has been almost constant
in the present decade, particularly in the last few years. The traditional
federal funding sources for science have shrunk, and the resources available
to researchers are not sufficient enough to maintain current projects,
let alone to provide for the growing demand from new researchers. Project
evaluation by the agencies tends more and more to become a game of musical
chairs, with a minute number of seats and a large standing crowd. The
shrinking of the federal funding agencies took place without their replacement
by any other funding scheme of similar magnitude. Several of the Brazilian
states have their own agencies for funding research, but with the exception
of the Foundation for Research Support of the State of São Paulo
(Fapesp), they do not have the resources to cope with the demand in
their respective states. If the present situation persists much longer,
science establishments may become obsolete throughout Brazil, except
in São Paulo. This setback would increase the asymmetry already
present in the country to the point of being extremely harmful to the
very nature of the federation of Brazilian states. The constant chorus
of scientists, educators, scientific societies, universities, and research
institutes denouncing the present state of things and urging change
has only met with deaf ears within the present national and state government
administrations. The danger inherent in this asymmetry might affect
the state of São Paulo, which will be under intense pressure
from at least part of the science community in the rest of the country,
leading to an uneasy situation.
The catchword to justify the present state of things is
"market". It seems that nothing can be done in the country
if it is not geared to the immediate needs of the market. In the educational
and scientific fields, this shortsightedness can lead to an irreparable
disaster. For example, universities are institutions that must be at
the forefront of society; in addition to performing services strictly
tuned to the market, such as the education of future professionals,
they must also perform a number of other functions. Good universities
must go beyond their time or contingencies; not only must they transmit
knowledge in an efficient manner and prepare professionals of the highest
quality, but they must create new knowledge by means of original research.
If universities do not maintain their leadership in society, they will
become moribund. It would not have been possible for educational institutions
in Brazil to produce the enormous specialized labor force at work today
in the chemical industry without the extraordinary support given to
science activities in the past.
From the point of view of professional education alone,
the alliance between teaching and research is meaningful. Without ongoing
research activities, both teachers and students will lack the exposure
to the critical decision-making process that one faces so often
during the course of any research project, depending on what happens
in the laboratory. Performing only previously tested experiments, for
example, introduces a sense of certaintyalmost of dogmainto the subject,
which completely reverses the nature of science. It is the research
component that sets the correct path, showing how treacherous experimental
work can be and how alert and resourceful the experimentalist must be
in order to interpret what is taking place. Exposure to this decision-making
process is invaluable to any future professional, regardless of what
field he or she will be engaged in.
If the universities were limited to satisfying market
needs only, many other important human activities would also disappear
from their concern. Culture in general, and the humanities and arts
in particular, would suffer most. Is this really the kind of university
we want? Might this not reduce us to a brutish and greedy tribe, intent
only on making money for its own sake?
Until a few years ago, Brazil enjoyed a very enviable
situation by offering scholarships over a wide spectrum, from undergraduate
research to postdoctoral fellowships. Of course, this scholarship support
was essential to achieve the results outlined above. The number of scholarships
has shrunk considerably, and there is widespread concern that it will
shrink even more. This contraction of support has significantly affected
all graduate programs as well as the "scientific initiation"
programs for undergraduates. Salaries in scientific establishments are
no longer as attractive as in the past, and it is feared that all these
changes will have an adverse effect on the number of students willing
to pursue scientific careers. As a consequence, the scientific edifice
carefully put together over the last decades runs the risk of crumbling.
This edifice should be a source of national pride. Those who do not
see it this way, and who pretend to be up-to-date, ignore the fact that
in the modern world the most precious good is knowledge. The destruction,
or even worse, the demoralization of the science and technology system
is relatively easy to bring about, if the present tendencies are not
reversed. Much more difficult will be the restoration of the building,
if this course of action persists for much longer.
Future of Chemistry in Brazil
As scientists and academicians, we are at a crossroads
of enormous complexity. Gone is the age of innocence, of certainties,
or of transparent policies. Instead, we are faced with multiple challenges.
What can be done? To start with, we must acknowledge the multiple nature
of problems and agree that solutions can and must be pursued. Secondly,
solutions will be laborious and costly, and can only be achieved through
great effort, unity, and tenacity from the scientific community. We
need a confident, unified approach toward a common goal, political in
nature, in order to reverse, even if only gradually, the present government
policies that are choking Brazilian science. If these policies are not
changed, they will lead the country dangerously backwards.
Unity of purpose is also essential at all levels of chemistry
teaching, as well as within the industrial sector and in any activity
linked directly or indirectly with chemistry. This unanimity must be
understood as no mere political strategy but as a true ideology in action,
expressing the belief I think all chemists share, that the cultivation
and advancement of chemistry are essential for the progress and well
being of the country. This undertaking is indeed difficult in the present
climate, in which the nation's ruling circles tend to consider advanced
quality education and scientific research as luxuries that can be postponed.
The preference now is to import everything, rather than to encourage
domestic development. We thus face an inversion in the direction of
history, by which the nation might be led to a situation reminiscent
of that which prevailed before the last half-century.
In addition to immense academic and political effort,
there is more to be done. We need to encourage, as individuals and institutions,
together with the scientific societies, the popularization of science
and the education of the lay population. Without widespread public backing,
this inversion process might take much longer. We would do well to remember
that, until a few decades ago, awareness that cultivation of science
is a
necessity was far from unanimous, even in university circles. Moreover,
to bring science to the public in general is a relevant task that we
cannot shun, as members of a minority who had access to science education
at all levels. The goal of this effort is not to find future scientists,
but rather to disseminate science among common citizens and to make
them scientifically literate. The discovery of scientific talents will
be a possible consequence of this action, not its motivation. Insofar
as chemistry is the central science, chemists are also at the center
of this responsibility. If we criticize those who deny us support for
our research, we cannot be omissive in this regard.
Reaching out to the general public, if well conducted,
can result in great benefit for the scientific community, too. If we
can persuade the general population to accept the idea that science
is not only good but indispensable, that it is a manifestation of national
pride to have a great number of scientists and institutions doing research,
the social status of our activity, as well as our own status, will tend
to rise, and we will have more influence on political decisions. In
sum, the change in mentality that took place in the universities 30
years ago must now be extended to the rest of the nation.
Acknowledgment
The author gratefully acknowledges the suggestions made
by Professor Carol H. Collins of the Universidade Estadual de Campinas
during the preparation of this article.