INSTITUTIONAL NEWS
CONICET participated in the annual meeting of the Global Research Council
Aspects of social and economic impact of scientific research were the subjects covered at the debate.
Last month, in São Paulo, the eighth edition of the annual meeting of the Global Research Council (GRC) took place. It was organized by the Foundation for Support to Research of the State of São Paulo (FAPESP in Portuguese), the German Society of Research (DFG in German) and the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET). About 140 representatives from scientific institutions of 45 countries participated in the meeting that was held from May 1st to 3rd.
Among the participants, there were 49 authorities of centers and research councils. The manager of Scientific and Technological Development, Dr. Jorge Tezón represented CONICET and Dr. Alejandro Ceccatto, president of the Council. Dr. Tezón was part of the welcoming and closing panel of the event along with Marco Antonio Zago (Brazil, fapesp), Peter Strohschneider (Germany, DFG) and Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz (Brazil, FAPESP):
The conclusions of the meeting were expressed in a declaration of 18 principles focused mainly on the expectations of social and economic impact of scientific research. These principles are based on the premise that “political decision makers from all the world provide substantial amounts of public funds to support and promote scientific research on behalf of and for the society they represent. In return, scientific research is expected to generate impact measures using decision-making processes and specific criteria for the allocation of funds.”
The participants of the GRC also consider that social demands of scientific research with greater economic and social impact have increased in recent decades. This happens because stakeholders and decision makers are more interested on the solution of social and innovation challenges. Besides, they assure that “impact estimates must be sensitive and capable of responding to issues such as gender, diversity and equitable access to more fully release the potential impact of research.”
Strohschneider, president of the DFG, synthesized the great challenge of scientific organizations: “We have to strike a balance between funding research projects aimed at having a socio-economic impact and those that make scientific knowledge advance per se.
The next meeting will be on May, 26 2020 in Durban, South Africa.