UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT

UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT
n Strengthening the governance of the national innovation
system.
In 2013, the government created the Framework Fund
for Innovation, Science and Technology (FOMITEC), allocating
circa US$ 280 million for the design and implementation
of financial and economic instruments fostering the
development of research and innovation for competitiveness.
The National Fund for Scientific and Technological Research
and Technological Innovation (FONDECYT) received
US$ 85 million in 2014, an increase over the previous year.
The government has introduced a scholarship programme for
PhD candidates wishing to study abroad (circa US$ 20 million)
and those planning to study at local universities (US$ 10 million).
VENEZUELA
Scientific output down
In 2014, the Venezuelan economy contracted
by 4% with a double-digit inflation rate (ECLAC, 2015a). The
number of FTE researchers increased by 65% between 2008
and 2013, the highest growth rate in the region. Scientific
output has actually decreased by 28% over the past decade,
however (Figure 7.8).
In 2010, a reform of the regulatory decree for the Organic Law
for Science, Technology and Innovation (LOCTI) established
that industrial and business sectors with higher revenues
should pay a special tax to finance laboratories and research
centres. The government prioritized a number of thematic
areas to which these resources should be allocated: food and
agriculture; energy; public safety; housing and urbanism;
and public health. Plans for areas related to climate change
and biological diversity have been developed and are being
directed by the Ministry of the Environment.
After a series of ministerial reforms in 2015, the Popular Power
Ministry for University Education, Science and Technology
was made responsible for co-ordinating STI policy.
The online publication Piel-Latinoamericana reports that
1 100 out of the 1 800 doctors who graduated from medical
school in Venezuela in 2013 have since left the country.
Although precise numbers are unavailable, according to
the President of the Venezuelan Academy of Physical,
Mathematical and Natural Sciences, many researchers have
emigrated in the past decade, most of them scientists and
engineers, after becoming disillusioned with government
policies. This is another example of the Sisyphus trap (see
next section).
Table 7.6: Institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean with the most scientific publications, 2010–2014
Spanish-speaking countries of more than 10 million inhabitants
Argentina CONICET (51.5%) University of Buenos
Aires (26.6%)
Bolivia
Chile
Colombia
Cuba
Dominican
Republic
Ecuador
Guatemala
Mexico
Peru
Venezuela
Major University of San
Andres (25.2%)
University of Chile
(25.4%)
National University of
Colombia (26.7%)
University of Habana
(23.4%)
National University Pedro
Henriquez Ureña (8%)
San Francisco de Quito
University (15.0%)
University of the Valle
(24.4%)
National Autonomous
University of Mexico
(26.2%)
University Cayetano
Heredia (21.6%)
Central University of
Venezuela (23%)
Major University San
Simon (10.7%)
Pontifical Catholic
University of Chile
(21.9%)
University of Antioquia
(14.6%)
Central University Marta
Abreau las Villas (5.5%)
Santo Domingo
Technological Institute
(6%)
Pontifical Catholic University
of Ecuador (11%)
General Hospital San
Juan de Dios (3.0%),
National Polytechnic
Institute of Mexico
(17.3%)
National University of
San Marcos (10.3%)
IVIC (15.1%)
National University of La
Plata (13.1%)
Autonomous University
Rene Moreno (2.6%)
University of Conception
(12.3%)
University of the Andes
(11.9%)
Genetic Engineering and
Biotechnology Centre (5%)
Ministry of Agriculture
(4%)
Technical University of
Loja (6.0%)
San Carlos University
(2.5%)
Metropolitan
Autonomous University
of Mexico (5%)
Pontifical Catholic
University of Peru (7.5%)
Simon Bolivar University
(14.2%)
National University of
Cordoba (8.3%)
National Historical
Museum Noel Kempff
Mercado (2.2%)
Pontifical Catholic
University of Valparaiso
(7.5%)
University Valle (7.8%)
University Oriente (4.9%)
Pontifical Catholic
University Mother and
Teacher (3%)
Polytechnic National
School (5.4%)
Ministry of Public Health
and Social Assistance
(2.0%)
Autonomous University
of Puebla (2.1%)
International Potato
Centre (3.6%)
University of the Andes
(13.3%)
National University of
Mar del Plata (4.3%)
Bolivarian Catholic
University San Pablo
(1.5%)
Austral University of
Chile (6%)
Pontifical University
Javeriana (4.6%)
Tropical Medicine Inst.
Pedro Kouri (4%)
General Hospital Plaza
Salud (3%)
University of Cuenca
(3.7%)
Autonomous University
of San Luis Potosi (2.9%)
National Agrarian Univ.
La Molina (2.5%)
Zulia University (11.1%)
Source: compiled by author from Thomson Reuters’ Web of Science, Science Citation Index Expanded
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