October 2008
This list, which contains some information about
Information by country:
Argentina
Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología
e Innovación Productiva http://www.mincyt.gov.ar/
National agencies that provide funding for research
projects:
·
CONICET
(Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas) http://www.conicet.gov.ar/index.php
·
ANPCyT
(Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica) http://www.agencia.gov.ar/
Most national universities also have lines of financial
support for their researchers.
Some examples:
UBA: http://www.uba.ar/investigacion/contenidos.php,
UNC: http://www.secyt.unc.edu.ar/Nuevo/,
UNR:http://www.unr.edu.ar/secretarias_home/117/consejo_de_investigaciones_ciunr.html
There are also some provincial funding agencies:
·
Comisión
de Investigaciones Científicas (Prov. de Buenos Aires) http://www.cic.gba.gov.ar/
Bolivia
The organization of the scientific system and the way
that science projects are funded is different in Bolivia. For information on
their policies you can check the site of:
Viceministerio
de Ciencia y Tecnología http://www.cienciaytecnologia.gob.bo/
Brazil
Ministerio
da Ciencia e Tecnologia http://www.mct.gov.br/
Detailed information on funding sources can be found
in: http://www.mct.gov.br/index.php/content/view/5037.html
National agencies that provide funding for research
projects:
Federal
foundations that support research:
There are many state financial agencies. Some
examples:
Federal and state universities also invest in science
in various ways and provide some lines of financial support for researchers. Some examples:
Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciencia plays a role in the
discussion on science policies and has useful information in its web page: http://www.sbpcnet.org.br/site/home/
Chile
National
Funding Agency:
Comisión
Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT) http://www.conicyt.cl/573/channel.html
CONICyT
provides financial support through different programs. Some of them are:
Colombia
Science
policies in Colombia are coordinated by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y
Tecnología
National
financial agency:
Instituto Colombiano para el Desarrollo de la Ciencia y la
Tecnología, Francisco José de Caldas – Conciencias http://www.colciencias.gov.co/portalcol/
Ecuador
Ecuador has just approved a new constitution which
involves a major reorganization of the institutions of the country. To check on
their science policies you can visit the site of:
Secretaría
Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, http://www.senacyt.gov.ec
Centro de
Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas de la ESPOL (Escuela Superior
Politécnica del Litoral http://www.cicyt.espol.edu.ec/
Mexico
Science policies are established by:
Consejo
Consultivo de Ciencias http://www.ccc.gob.mx/
The main national funding agency is:
Consejo
Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología http://www.conacyt.mx/
Information about financial support for
some research projects can be found at:
http://www.conacyt.mx/Fondos/Institucional/Consolidacion/Consolidacion_ProyectosInvestigacion.html
It is necessary to be registered at Registro Nacional de Instituciones y Empresas Científicas y Tecnológicas http://www.conacyt.gob.mx/reniecyt/Index_Reniecyt.html to be able to apply for financial support for research projects from national
agencies.
The Academia Mexicana
de Ciencias is a major player in the discussion on
science policies. It also gives awards to scientists of Mexico and of other
countries http://www.amc.unam.mx/
Major universities may fund research
projects. Information about support for scientific research at the largest
university of the country, Universidad Autónoma de
México (UNAM), can be found at:
Investigación
Científica UNAM http://www.cic-ctic.unam.mx/
Some states also have their own funding
agencies. For example:
Consejo
Potosino de Ciencia y Tecnología http://www.copocyt.gob.mx/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
Mexico has a very complete web page with
information on science and technology:
Portal:
e-ciencia y tecnología http://www.emexico.gob.mx/wb2/eMex/eMex_CyTInicio
Paraguay
The government support of science in Paraguay is very
recent. In 1998 the
Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) was created. In
2002 the first document defining a national policy for the sector was published.
Consejo
Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología http://www.conacyt.gov.py/
Perú
Consejo
Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Tecnológica http://portal.concytec.gob.pe/portal/paginas/index.jsp
Fondo
Nacional de Desarrollo Científico, Tecnológico y de Innovación Tecnológica -
FONDECYT
Uruguay
Dirección
de Innovación, Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo http://www.dicyt.gub.uy/
Information on lines of financial support can be found
at: http://www.dicyt.gub.uy/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=0&Itemid=81
Venezuela
The organization of the scientific system in Venezuela
is different from that of other Latin American countries (such as Brazil, Chile
or Argentina).
To learn about science policies in Venezuela you can
visit the site of the institution in charge of maintaining the national system
of science, technology and innovation:
Ministerio
del poder popular para Ciencia y Tecnología http://www.mct.gob.ve/Vistas/Frontend/portal_noticia.php
You can also visit the site of the institution in
charge of promoting most scientific projects:
Instituto
Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas: http://www.ivic.ve/index.php
There is a
national financial agency that funds research projects: Fondo Nacional de
Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación http://www.fonacit.gov.ve/
Agencies and institutions from
outside Latin America that provide financial support for researchers in Latin
America:
The Abdus Salam
International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) http://www.ictp.it/? located
in
The National Science Foundation of USA has an Office
of International Science &
Engineering (OISE) that encourages funding applicants (from the
For those of you who work in interdisciplinary areas
related to physics, medicine and biology, there are several options of foreign
funding agencies that would support your research projects in your country. For
example, the (National Institutes of Health of the USA) Fogarty International
Center collaborates with other components of the NIH and with other partners on
a variety of research and training that involve low and middle income
countries. http://www.fic.nih.gov/programs/trans/index.htm
Again for those who work on life-science related
research, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute HHMI grants support for promising
biomedical research scientists working outside the United States and leading
research scientists who are developing new approaches to undergraduate science
education. http://www.hhmi.org/grants/individuals/
The Human Frontiers Science Program supports novel, innovative and
interdisciplinary basic research focused on the complex mechanisms of living
organisms; topics
range from molecular and cellular approaches to systems and cognitive
neuroscience. Research Grants are awarded for novel collaborations involving extensive
collaboration among teams of scientists working in different countries and in
different disciplines. Two types of grants are available: Young
Investigator Grants and Program Grants. They also fund Postdoctoral
Fellowships and Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships (http://www.hfsp.org/).
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation gives
fellowships to assist research and artistic creation http://www.gf.org/index.html . The
Foundation only supports individuals selecting its Fellows on the basis of two
separate competitions, one for the United States and Canada, the other for
Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Fulbright Program is based on binational
partnerships and open, merit-based competition. 7,000 Fulbright grants are
awarded annually. They are mainly intended for students or researchers willing
to study, work or lecture in the USA. Several countries in the Americas have binational Fulbright Commissions. These
commissions play an important role in the creation, administration,
and promotion of Fulbright Programs. http://fulbright.state.gov/
The Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID) provides financial support for projects
that are aimed at solving problems of underdevelopment http://www.aecid.es/index.asp
Regional and international
organizations that provide funding for some projects:
The Centro Latinoamericano
de Física (CLAF) provides financial support for the
organization of scientific conferences and schools in Latin America. They can
also support the travel expenses of young physicists willing to attend
conferences or visit other institutions. Finally, they give doctoral and
post-doctoral fellowships to Latin Americans willing to study or work on
Physics in
The Programa Iberoamericano de Ciencia y
Tecnología para el Desarrollo provides
financial support for projects involving institutions of various countries in
http://www.cyted.org/Nueva.asp
The Oficina Regional de Ciencia para América
Latina y el Caribe (Montevideo, Uruguay) has a
variety of special programs some of which provide financial support for
specific research projects http://unesco.org.uy/index.html
STIC-Amsud. Program of scientific cooperation
between researchers from
Instituto Internacional para la Educción Superior en América
Latina y Caribe of UNESCO (http://www.iesalc.unesco.org.ve/ )
has a variety of programs related to improve and generate liasons
among institutions of higher education in Latin America. In particular, there
is a variety of thematic networks (see http://www.iesalc.unesco.org.ve/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=135&lang=es)
and endows several UNESCO chairs at different institutions http://www.iesalc.unesco.org.ve/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=140&lang=en.
In particular, there is a chair on Women, science and technology in Buenos
Aires, Argentina.
The Sociedad de Biofísicos Latinoamericanos
provides financial support for the organization of activities related to
biophysics in
The Biophysical Society of the USA also gives
financial support for the organization of activities such as conferences in
countries in need. They also provide financial support to researchers from
countries in need to attend their Annual Meeting http://www.biophysics.org
The Department of Energy and the NSF support a limited
number of Pan American Advanced Studies Institutes (PASI). These are short
courses of ten days to four weeks duration, at the advanced graduate and
post-doctoral level. The courses should involve distinguished lecturers and
active researchers in the field, preferably from the Americas. PASIs aim to disseminate advanced scientific knowledge and
stimulate training and cooperation among researchers of the
Some programs to support
international collaborations involving researchers from Latin America:
CAPES (
CNPq (Brazil)
has several bilateral agreements with research institutions of different
countries (http://www.cnpq.br/programas/coopint/bilateral.htm).
Within the framework of these agreements it is possible to support travel and
living expenses of researchers from Brazil and researchers from abroad to
pursue scientific collaborations. It also has several specific programs to
support international collaborations (http://www.cnpq.br/programas/coopint/index.htm
). Among them, PROSUL, is intended to support scientific collaboration among
researchers of
CONICET of Argentina has bilateral agreements with
Austria (FWF), Belgium (FNRS), Brazil (CNPq and
CAPES), Canada (MCR), Czech Republic
(CSAV), Colombia (COLCIENCIAS), Slovakia, USA (NSF), France (CNRS), Spain
(CSIC), UK (Royal Society of London), Italy (CNR), Mexico (CONACYT), Venezuela
(FONACIT)
Detailed information on bilateral and multilateral
agreements and funding opportunities for international collaborations involving
researchers from Argentina can be found at http://www.mincyt.gov.ar/index.php?contenido=coopinter
CONACYT of Mexico bilateral agreements with
COLCIENCIAS of Colombia and NSF of USA and is part of numerous multilateral
international programs. For more details, visit: http://www.conacyt.mx/Cooperacion/Index_Cooperacion.html
The Biotech Program is a joint program of Mercosur and the European Union that is expected to provide
financial support for projects in the area of biotechnology http://www.mincyt.gov.ar/web_biotech/index.html.
There is also a
The
The Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas of
Spain http://www.csic.es/index.do has
bilateral agreements with many research institutions in Latin America (CONICET
of Argentina, CNPq of Brazil, Universidad de la República of Uruguay, CONICYT of Chile, CONCYTEC of Perú, IVIC of Venezuela, COLCIENCIAS of Colombia, Fundación Costa Rica-USA, UNAM and CONACYT of Mexico, among
others; see http://www.csic.es/sgri/rel-bilaterales/proyectos-estancias.html).
In particular, they have a program to strengthen the institutions that are at
the basis of the system of science and technology in
The European Union has many cooperation programs
destined to support collaborations with researchers in Latin American
countries. For a list of the regional cooperation programs visit http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/where/latin-america/regional-cooperation/index_en.htm
. There are several initiatives are in the area of information and
communication technologies http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/home_en.html
Some years ago the National
Science Foundation of the USA established the program entitled “Partnerships
for International Research and Education”. These
partnerships for International Research and Education seek to catalyze a
cultural change in U.S. institutions by establishing innovative models for
international collaborative research and education. The new call will take
place in 2009.
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=12819&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund
There are several initiatives to support international
collaborations in specific areas, such as climatic change, hydrology, ecology
etc. Among them, the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research http://www.iai.int/ provides financial support
for collaborative projects in the area of global climatic change and the
International Geoscience Programme
of UNESCO for projects in geoscience http://www.unesco.org/science/earth/igcp.shtml
Some other Prizes:
There
is a well-known L’ORÉAL-UNESCO Prize for Women in Science that is awarded each
year to 5 female scientists from a different region of the World. One such
prize goes to a scientist from Latin America. Some years the area of research
includes Physics (http://www.loreal.com/_en/_ww/for-women-in-science.aspx).
More recently, various National L´Oreal-UNESCO Awards
have been instituted in Latin American countries, among them, Argentina, Chile,
Mexico and Uruguay. There are also L´Oreal-UNESCO
fellowships for young scientists, particularly, for scientists from Latin
America.
The
Asociación Mexicana de Ciencias has several prizes in science, in particular, a
very well-known prize for outstanding researchers in