CCT CONICET Córdoba, grateful for the support of these outstanding scientific personalities, shares the letter to reaffirm its commitment to quality science at the service of the Argentinean people.
Sixty-eight world leaders in medicine, chemistry, physics, and economics have signed a letter highlighting the outstanding role played by the Argentine scientific system on a global scale and condemning the cutbacks being made to its funding by the national government.
“We are concerned about the elimination of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the dismissal of administrative staff at CONICET and other institutes throughout the country, and the early termination of many contracts next month. We fear that Argentina is abandoning its scientists, students, and future scientific leaders,” they said in the document sent to the executive and congressional authorities.
In the face of this unprecedented situation, CONICET Córdoba is grateful for the support of these outstanding scientific personalities and shares the letter to reaffirm its commitment to quality science at the service of the Argentinean people.
President of the Republic of Argentina, Javier Milei
Head of the Cabinet of Ministers, Nicolás Posse
President of CONICET, Dr Daniel Salamone
Honourable Senators and Deputies of the Congress of the Argentine Nation
We are writing to you with respect and deep concern. We see the Argentine science and technology system approaching a dangerous precipice, and we are discouraged by the consequences that this situation could have both for the Argentine people and for the world. We are concerned about the elimination of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the dismissal of administrative staff at CONICET and other institutes throughout the country, and the early termination of many contracts next month. We fear that Argentina is failing its scientists, students, and future scientific leaders. We are concerned that the dramatic devaluation of the budgets of CONICET and the national universities reflects not only a dramatic devaluation of Argentine science but also a devaluation of the Argentine people and the future of Argentina.
As international scientists, many of us have witnessed the transformative contributions of Argentine science. Without Argentine science and scientists, the causes and treatment of cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease would have remained a mystery for decades. Without Argentine science and scientists, we would lack the knowledge and technology that allow a country to feed both its people and much of the world, and to provide the basic knowledge necessary for effective conservation policies. Without Argentine science and scientists, we would lack key elements in our understanding of how the universe works, from the workings of atoms to the workings of viruses, cells, genes, RNA, and ecosystems. Without Argentine geologists and paleontologists, the world would not know how the Andes were formed and the incredible fauna that inhabited the continent millions of years ago, explaining its richness in minerals and oil. As citizens of the world, we benefit from this heritage. We benefit from our still imperfect but sometimes vital ability to diagnose and treat cancer. We benefit from the advances in agriculture and the food that the Argentine landscape produces. We see the many remarkable advances that have come to Argentina through its history and tradition of science and technology. Where would Argentina – and the world – be without this rich and important history?
To devalue and/or write off Argentine science would be a grave mistake. The world has many problems, and any modern economy like Argentina’s must be able to generate new technologies focused on local problems and to apply technologies generated by others in a new local context to solve local problems. We believe in the ideal of countries investing in new science sharing their technologies and their benefits. Still, we would be naive not to understand that any country that relies solely on this community spirit will quickly lose its economic independence. Some problems, opportunities, and solutions are global, and perhaps relying on the knowledge and efforts of others can work in these cases. But many problems, opportunities, and solutions are local, regional, or national, and there should be no expectation that investment and investors from other nations will provide the knowledge and resources needed to address them. Without a scientific infrastructure, a country becomes helpless and vulnerable, unable to develop its technology to move forward to train its people or develop the infrastructure necessary to apply the scientific and technological knowledge of others to regional, national, and local problems. Where would such a situation leave Argentina?
We write with the perspective that Argentina has a remarkable scientific base to build on if the will is there. Argentina is the only country in the region to have developed its vaccine against COVID-19, to have built and launched communications satellites, and to have designed and built next-generation nuclear reactors that will not only be exported but will also generate a domestic supply of vital radioisotopes for medical use. A new proton therapy laboratory, the only one in the southern hemisphere, will soon be inaugurated. A multinational project led by Argentine scientists from the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) has installed the powerful QUBIC radio telescope at an altitude of 5,000 meters in the Puna, in Salta. This telescope will study the first milliseconds of the universe immediately after the Big Bang. Argentina ranks tenth in the world for the number of biotechnology companies, a remarkable achievement that promises breakthroughs in medicine and agriculture. Using genetic engineering, a government-funded group has successfully developed drought-resistant genetic variants of wheat, expanding the frontiers of growing essential crops. Argentine scientists excel in many fields, including geology, paleontology, biochemistry, molecular biology, neuroscience, immunology, ecology, physics, archaeology, and environmental, atmospheric, and social studies.
All of these advances are the result of government support for basic research. Economic and social progress in modern societies and the creation of wealth from a country’s natural resources are closely linked to strong public investment in science and technology.
For these reasons, we respectfully urge you to restore recent budget cuts to the vital science and technology sector in your country. Freezing research programs and reducing the number of PhD students and young researchers will destroy a system that has taken many years to build and would take many, many more to rebuild.
Yours sincerely,
Thomas R. Cech, Química, 1989
Martin Chalfie, Química, 2008
Aaron Ciechanover, Química, 2004
Walter Gilbert, Química, 1980
Richard Henderson, Química, 2017
Avram Hershko, Química, 2004
Roald Hoffmann, Química, 1981
Brian K. Kobilka, Química, 2012
Roger D. Kornberg, Química, 2006
Yuan T. Lee, Química, 1986
Robert J. Lefkowitz, Química, 2012
Jean-Marie Lehn, Química, 1987
Tomas Lindahl, Química, 2015
Roderick MacKinnon, Química, 2003
Paul L. Modrich, Química, 2015
Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Química, 2016
Richard R. Schrock, Química, 2005
Sir John E. Walker, Química, 1997
Arieh Warshel, Química, 2013
Sir Gregory P. Winter, Química, 2018
Kurt Wuthrich, Química, 2002
Finn E. Kydland, Economía, 2004
Harvey J. Alter, Medicina 2020
Werner Arber, Medicina 1978
Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, Medicina 2008
Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Medicina 2009
Andrew Z. Fire, Medicina 2006
Jules A. Hoffmann, Medicina 2011
Tasuku Honjo, Medicina 2018
Robert Horvitz, Medicina 2002
Sir Michael Houghton, Medicina 2020
Tim Hunt, Medicina 2001
Louis J. Ignarro, Medicina 1998
William G. Kaelin Jr., Medicina 2019
Barry J. Marshall, Medicina 2005
Craig C. Mello, Medicina 2006
Edvard Moser, Medicina 2014
May-Britt Moser, Medicina 2014
Sir Paul M. Nurse, Medicina 2001
Stanley B. Prusiner, Medicina 1997
Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe, Medicina 2019
Charles M. Rice, Medicina 2020
Sir Richard J. Roberts, Medicina 1993
Michael Rosbash, Medicina 2017
Phillip A. Sharp, Medicina 1993
Susumu Tonegawa, Medicina 1987
Harold E. Varmus, Medicina 1989
Torsten N. Wiesel, Medicina 1981
Barry Clark Barish, Física 2017
Steven Chu, Física 1997
Albert Fert, Física 2007
Andre Geim, Física 2010
Sheldon Glashow, Física 1979
David J. Gross, Física 2004
John L. Hall, Física 2005
Serge Haroche, Física 2012
Takaaki Kajita, Física 2015
Ferenc Krausz, Física 2023
Anthony J. Leggett, Física 2003
Michel Mayor, Física 2019
Konstantin Novoselov, Física 2010
Giorgio Parisi, Física 2021
Roger Penrose, Física 2020
William D. Phillips, Física 1997
David Politzer, Física 2004
Donna Strickland, Física 2018
Kip Stephen Thorne, Física 2017
David J. Wineland, Física 2012
