This month, the Argentine government is expected to finalize its budget for 2017, under which funding for science R&D will be cut by 8.5%, or $198 million. Although the current Argentine president proclaimed to double science and technology R&D’s share of the government budget from 0.7% to 1.5%, the R&D cuts are being made due to the economic challenges the country is facing. Most affected by the decrease will be the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), which will be left with 4%, or $26 million, of its $655 million budget for R&D projects, lab products and research scholarships, while 96% of the budget will go towards salaries. For reference, CONICET allocated 69% of its budget for researcher and scholar salaries in 2014. Up and coming scientists depend heavily on stipends from CONICET to jumpstart their careers in academia, but the future of new positions and opportunities for such researchers at CONICET is uncertain because of the reduced funding. This may lead to new scientists emigrating to other countries, exacerbating the lack of scientific innovation in Argentina.
Source: Science