INSTITUTIONAL NEWS

CONICET: 60 years boosting Argentine science

A new anniversary of the main scientific and technological agency


On February 5th 1958 the creation of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), a self-governing institution that promotes scientific and technological research in Argentina took place. Bernardo Houssay, Nobel Prize in Medicine, was the first president. Since then, the CONICET has been the most emblematic institution of science which aims at improving the quality of life of Argentines.

The CONICET has currently more than 10 thousand researchers, 11 thousand doctoral and postdoctoral fellows, more than 2,600 technicians and members of the “Research Support Staff Career”, and two thousand administrative personnel. They all work across the country –from Antarctic to Puna and from the Andes range to the Argentine Sea– in their 15 Technological Research Centers, 11 Research and Transfer Centers, 1 Multidisciplinary Research Center and more than 260 institutes and double and triple dependency centers with national universities and other institutions.

The studies are conducted in all disciplines: Social Sciences and the Humanities, Exact and Natural Sciences, Biological and Health Sciences; Agrarian Engineering and Material Sciences; and Technology. So there is science in everything: cell phones, traffic, health, clothing, food, art and in dreams.

The CONICET has two oceanographic vessels: the “Puerto Deseado” and the “Austral”, which are at the service of the country. Both vessels are part of “Pampa Azul”, a strategic inter-ministerial initiative to conduct research on the Argentine Sea. Those studies are aimed at improving scientific knowledge for preservation and management of natural resources.

Furthermore, the CONICET has multidisciplinary programs where other institutions of the governmental and and scientific system participate: Programa Nacional Ciencia y Justicia [National Program for Science and Justice], the Programa de Promoción de Vocaciones Científicas (VocAr), [Program for the Promotion of Scientific Vocations] Redes Institucionales Orientadas a la Solución de Problemas (RIOSP) [Institutional Networks Oriented to the Solution of Problems] and the Programa de Transferencia de Tecnologías para Gobiernos Locales [Program for the Transfer of Technologies for Local Governments], just to name some of initiatives that seek to solve relevant topics or provide advice to find solutions for national problems.

For the Council, it is highly important the relationship with the national and international scientific system. That is why the Council signs agreements with relevant Argentine institutions such as the Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria (SENASA), the Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA), the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), el Instituto Nacional de Energía Industrial (INTI), national universities and companies, as well as scientific organisms from other countries.

Year after year, we celebrate the achievements of our researchers. After six decades, those goals make the CONICET rank first among the governmental institutions of Latin America according to the SCImago ranking. This evaluation platform assesses the achievement of the world research centers every year. For this reason, we celebrate 60 years of pride and commitment for all Argentine people.