Congress approves amendment that will boost research

- 06/03/2015

On 2/26, the National Congress enacted the Constitutional Amendment nº 85 of 2015 which stimulates the scientific and technological development and innovation by allowing more freedom in the management of resources intended for research. The idea is to boost national research and the creation of technological solutions that improve the performance of the productive sector.

The formal session was led by the President of the Congress, Renan Calheiros, and was attended by the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Aldo Rebelo, and the congresswoman Margarida Solomon (PT-MG), author of PEC 290/2013, which gave rise to the amendment.

The Minister of Science and Technology, Aldo Rebelo, praised the measure, highlighting that "science, technology and innovation are necessarily associated with the building of a prosperous country, a socially balanced society and a deep and true democracy and worthy of its name".

According to the minister, the approval of the Amendment to the Constitution is the result of the efforts of the scientific community, researchers, teachers, the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science (Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência - SPBC), besides the government itself and its representatives in the Congress.

One of the novelties is the expansion of the entities that may receive financial support from the Government. Currently, only university research and extension activities may receive this aid. With the amendment, the benefit extends to professional and technological education institutions.

The amendment also establishes, as a new function of the State, the stimulus to the relationship between the public and private entities in the sector for carrying out research, scientific and technological qualification and innovation activities. The State will also promote overseas activities of these institutions.

In order to improve the exchange of knowledge, the text allows the cooperation of the spheres of government (federal, state, Federal District and municipalities) with agencies and public and private entities. It also provides the stimulus for innovation and the creation of technology centers, aiming at the creation and transfer of technology.

In order to make the pursuit for established scientific goals more flexible, the amendment provides more freedom in the management of resources intended for research by allowing their relocation or transfer from a programming category to another one without the need of prior legislative authorization.

Senator Renan Calheiros noted that this and other updates by the amendment will allow Brazil to boost scientific knowledge. In his view, the area needs more investments for the country to be able to match the development and technological advancement of other nations of equal potential.

"They are important adjustments in our Constitution, so that we become no longer solely the country of the future, but a nation that seeks in the present the solution to the problems that still afflict our population," he said.

*Photography: Agência Senado

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