Standing Firm

NATURE INDEX | SCIENCE CITIES

Scientists in São Paulo protest against successive cuts to the federal science budget, at a march in October 2017.

billion) in 2018, drastically reducing the funds available for public universities and research institutes across Brazil. STANDING FIRM But, scientists in São Paulo have so far been spared the worst of the crisis, shielded by local São Paulo carries the scientific weight of a financially stricken country, state policies and a strong network of research- but how much more can it endure? oriented public and private institutions. The question is, how long can the city hold? RESEARCH REFUGE HERTON ESCOBAR 2,700 kilometres away. São Paulo is the top science city in South After 18 months, in June 2017, her schol- America in the Nature Index. Its cumulative otanist Adriana Grandis thought the arship from the Amazonas State Research fractional count for the six years since 2012 Amazon would be the perfect place to Support Foundation was officially cancelled was 473.35, a metric that accounts for the con- continue her research into how tropical because of a lack of funds, putting an end to tribution of São Paulo-based authors to the 82 Btrees respond to elevated levels of atmospheric her fieldwork. Grandis returned to São Paulo, high-quality research journals tracked by the carbon dioxide — if she could only get a beaker where she had another scholarship, and plenty index. Its strengths are in the physical sciences. to conduct her chemistry analysis. of beakers, to continue her research with Mar- The city’s enormous metropolitan area, with After completing her graduate studies on cos Buckeridge, a renowned plant physiologist 21 million inhabitants, hosts some of the larg- plant physiology at the University of São Paulo at the USP Institute of Biosciences. “In São est and most productive universities in Brazil, (USP), Grandis took up a post-doctoral fel- Paulo there is money, and infrastructure,” says including USP and São Paulo State University

CRIS FAGA/NURPHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES VIA GETTY CRIS FAGA/NURPHOTO lowship at the National Institute of Amazo- Grandis. “Everything just works better here.” (UNESP). Overall, there are more than 30 nian Research in Manaus, a city in the middle São Paulo, long known as one of the hottest institutions in the city with a strong research of the rainforest. science and technology hubs in Latin America, focus, and just as many more universities and But it took her two months just to acquire has become a haven amid the economic ruin colleges that primarily engage in education and the basic glassware she needed for her project. stalling scientific research throughout the technical training. In addition to the deep bureaucracy stalling country. The Ministry of Science, Technology, São Paulo is home to important research research at public institutions in Brazil, the Innovation and Communications’ budget has institutes, such as the Butantan Institute, a equipment had to come from São Paulo, some halved since 2014 to 4.6 billion reais (US$1.1 leading centre for biomedical research and

SCIENCE CITIES | NATURE INDEX

vaccine production, and the National Center says. It is “something we built and work hard for Research in Energy and Materials, which to maintain.” SÃO PAULO is finalizing construction of the largest project Novaes has contributed to more than 130 SHARE OF COUNTRY’S in Brazilian science, a fourth-generation syn- papers in the index since 2012, alongside many FRACTIONAL COUNT (FC) 2017: 32.1% chrotron light source, called Sirius. other São Paulo physicists who collaborate TOP 3 INSTITUTIONS (FC 2017): A few hours’ drive away are the National with CERN. Their contributions included the 1. University of São Paulo: 56.65 2. São Paulo State University: 17.18 Institute for Space Research in São José discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012. Novaes 3. Federal University of ABC: 7.71 dos Campos, and the Federal University of says such long-term, high-profile international São Carlos, among others. collaborations are only possible because of the TOP BRAZILIAN CITIES Some 20% of Brazilian scientists are based funding stability provided by FAPESP and São São Paulo is the top science city in Brazil, in the state of São Paulo. A third of the scien- Paulo’s economic strength. FAPESP is also a based on its contribution to the authorship tific articles in the index published by Brazil- member of the Giant Magellan Telescope of papers in the index (FC). ian researchers have at least one author from project, a mirror telescope under construc- São Paulo. tion in Chile and run by an international con- São Paulo Rio de Janeiro Campinas Belo Horizonte São José dos Campos Most of Brazil’s economic elite is also here, sortium. with wall-to-wall high-tower offices sprawling The state universities “have a critical mass 100

along Paulista Avenue, an economic and politi- of scientists and students to produce good sci- 80 cal thoroughfare in the centre of town. ence,” says Paulo Artaxo, an atmospheric pol- lution and climate change researcher at USP’s 60 FIXED 1% Institute of Physics, who has contributed to 40 Adjusted FC Connecting industry and the scientific com- close to a dozen papers in the index journals 20 munity is what many consider to be the city’s in the past three years. biggest asset: the São Paulo Research Founda- Since 1996, FAPESP has been running a 0 tion (FAPESP). Created in 1960, the founda- young investigator programme that offers four- 2012 2017 tion is entitled by the state Constitution to 1% year funding for maverick researchers to come SCIENCE INDEX/DIMENSIONS FROM DIGITAL FIELDS’: NATURE ‘TOP INDEX; SOURCE FOR SOURCE: NATURE of all local taxes. The funds are transferred on to São Paulo and set up laboratories. Over the SCIENCE SECTORS a monthly basis, to past two decades, the Academic institutions are the largest contributors to São Paulo’s output in the index, be reinvested in sci- programme has sup- measured by fractional count (FC) 2012–2017. entific research and “IT IS MUCH HARDER ported more than technological inno- 1,500 young scien- GOVERNMENT CORPORATE 20.12 1.41 vation. TO WIN MONEY NOW.” tists, some of whom Almost every Bra- have become very ACADEMIC zilian state has an successful. 416.65 equivalent foundation, with similar funding One example is Helder Nakaya, a compu- NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATION arrangements, but not all state governments tational systems biologist at USP’s School of 30.66 pay their dues as diligently as São Paulo’s do. Pharmaceutical Sciences. He gave up an assis- FAPESP is widely recognized for its admin- tant professor position at Emory University in TOP FIELDS istrative efficiency and scientific rigour. And the United States to return to Brazil in 2013. Below are the top 6 elds that researchers in because São Paulo is the richest state in the The conditions for research in São Paulo are São Paulo contribute to in the index, measured country, FAPESP is also the richest founda- “as good as in any Ivy League school” in the by fractional count (FC) 2015–2017. tion of them all, with a budget in 2017 of 1.34 US, he says. Atomic, molecular, nuclear, 7.14 2.84 billion reais. Nakaya has led several projects on the particle and plasma physics 7.14 Other physical For comparison, the Research Support mechanisms of vaccine-induced immunity 9.93 Pure mathematics sciences Foundation for the State of Rio de Janeiro in infectious diseases, such as malaria, schis- (FAPERJ) is constitutionally entitled to 2% of tosomiasis and the flu. One of these projects,

state taxes, which should translate to an annual funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foun- Biochemistry 7.74 4.2 4.16 budget of some 550 million reais. But the state dation, involves using cell phone GPS data to and cell biology 7.74 Neurosciences Geology has been on the verge of economic collapse identify hotspots for malaria transmission. since 2016, forcing FAPERJ to freeze research CHOICE JOURNALS grant payments and only honour scholarships. SINK OR SWIM São Paulo-based researchers contribute more Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz, a physicist But scientists warn that the situation in São articles (AC) to the Journal of High Energy Physics than to any other index journal. In this from the State University of Campinas, an Paulo is not sustainable. FAPESP cannot hold journal, they account for 28% of the authorship hour’s drive northwest of São Paulo, who has together the entire state’s research ecosystem (FC) of papers to which they contribute. been scientific director at FAPESP since 2005, on its own forever. credits the state government for upholding As funding for science collapses at the FC 2012–2017 AC 2012–2017 its commitments to FAPESP. They know that federal level, competition for state scholar- Journal of High investment in science and technology is good ships and grants increases. A retraction of the Energy Physics for economic development, he says. state economy over the past three years has “We are often accused of having FAPESP meant that tax revenue, and the amount of European Physical Journal C on our side,” as if it represents an unfair money brought in through the 1% quota, is advantage, says Sergio Novaes, a theoreti- also shrinking. Physical Review Letters cal physicist at UNESP and member of the “It’s much harder to win money from Proceedings of the National Compact Muon Solenoid Collaboration FAPESP now than a few years ago,” says Academy of Sciences of the of the European Organization for Nuclear Artaxo, who is concerned about São Paulo’s United States of America Research (CERN), in Switzerland. Scientists, ability to stay scientifically afloat without Journal of academics and industry professionals won’t federal assistance. “This is bad; we can’t live Biological Chemistry tolerate any messing around with FAPESP, he in isolation.” ■ 0 150 300 450