Policies to promote international scientific cooperation in Latin America: evolution and current situation

FELD, ADRIANA; CASAS, ROSALBA; LOPEZ, SONSIRÉ; VESSURI, HEBE

Research collaborations between Europe and Latin America. Mapping and understanding partnership

Éditions des Archives Contemporaines

Lugar: Paris; Año: 2013; p. 23 - 47

International scientific cooperation has been instrumented through a large variety of support schemes that were actively promoted by Latin American governments since well before the second half of the 20th century. This article analyses the evolution of these policies and programs, which underwent profound transformations. From the 1940s until the 1980s, Latin American countries based their cooperation strategies on promoting graduate education offered to Latin American students by developed countries by means of bilateral and multilateral agreements. A second line of argument relates to the decentralized nature of cooperation policies in the countries of the region. Until the 1980s, cooperation instruments were not centralized in science councils and ministries since universities and other public and private research institutes also granted external scholarships and established research collaboration agreements. The cooperation policies of Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela are examined in this article since the institutionalization of science and technology in the 1940s through the 1980s, when priority setting became a common strategy. We then consider the substantial changes in the 1990s within the frame of globalization processes; the modalities of research internationalization that led to new forms of collaboration, both with North America and the European Union, fostered the creation of international networks and the internationalization of higher education. The final section of the article explores some new schemes of international cooperation in Latin America and the challenges of social inclusion as undertaken by some of the region?s governments in connection to scientific collaboration. programs, which underwent profound transformations. From the 1940s until the 1980s, Latin American countries based their cooperation strategies on promoting graduate education offered to Latin American students by developed countries by means of bilateral and multilateral agreements. A second line of argument relates to the decentralized nature of cooperation policies in the countries of the region. Until the 1980s, cooperation instruments were not centralized in science councils and ministries since universities and other public and private research institutes also granted external scholarships and established research collaboration agreements. The cooperation policies of Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela are examined in this article since the institutionalization of science and technology in the 1940s through the 1980s, when priority setting became a common strategy. We then consider the substantial changes in the 1990s within the frame of globalization processes; the modalities of research internationalization that led to new forms of collaboration, both with North America and the European Union, fostered the creation of international networks and the internationalization of higher education. The final section of the article explores some new schemes of international cooperation in Latin America and the challenges of social inclusion as undertaken by some of the region?s governments in connection to scientific collaboration. programs, which underwent profound transformations. From the 1940s until the 1980s, Latin American countries based their cooperation strategies on promoting graduate education offered to Latin American students by developed countries by means of bilateral and multilateral agreements. A second line of argument relates to the decentralized nature of cooperation policies in the countries of the region. Until the 1980s, cooperation instruments were not centralized in science councils and ministries since universities and other public and private research institutes also granted external scholarships and established research collaboration agreements. The cooperation policies of Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela are examined in this article since the institutionalization of science and technology in the 1940s through the 1980s, when priority setting became a common strategy. We then consider the substantial changes in the 1990s within the frame of globalization processes; the modalities of research internationalization that led to new forms of collaboration, both with North America and the European Union, fostered the creation of international networks and the internationalization of higher education. The final section of the article explores some new schemes of international cooperation in Latin America and the challenges of social inclusion as undertaken by some of the region?s governments in connection to scientific collaboration.