Some countries appear to beturning their back on science , while others are choose tofully embrace it . Chile contumaciously fall into the latter coterie . Last Thursday , the government releaseda statementrevealing plans to launch a Ministry of Science , Technology and Innovation to supervise science enquiry , policy , and financial backing .
Gonzalo Blumel , secretaire - world-wide of the presidency , called it " a historical Clarence Shepard Day Jr. for the science and the future tense of our country . "
" This is the most important reform in the last 50 years in term of institutionality for science , " headded .
The decision , according tolocal papers , will make Chile the 6th Latin American country to premise a ministry for skill – the other five being Argentina , Brazil , Costa Rica , Cuba , and the Dominican Republic .
Its line of work , explain Minister Blumel , will be to " encourage the production of knowledge " – the only resourcefulness " not exhausted " – and " move the frontiers of scientific discipline , creation , and technology " .
These programme are five years in the making . It took some prison term to get going because the regime made a concerted effort to lasso in researchers , universities , and stage business to propose in its development , reportsScience Mag .
In addition to issues concern skill policy and research , it will take over the responsibility of address the nation ’s science funding from National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research ( CONICYT ) , which was set up in 1968 as a department in the Ministry of Education . Its budget is likely to be decided when the government loose its budget statement in October but if it is anything like what the CONICYT received last yr , we can expect to equalise it to roughly 328 billion Chilean peso or $ 520 million .
As well as a chairperson or Minister of Science ( who is yet to be decided ) , there will be eight certified members with dissimilar area of expertise to counsel the government on scientific discipline funding issues . They will be replaced once every four years . The billalso includes program to produce a National Agency for Research and Development to replace CONICYT .
But it ’s not just set up a section dedicated to scientific discipline that order Chile in skill ’s good book . The land has initiated a number of policies over the preceding few years toprotect its local wildlife , gain protected national park , harness befoulment , andcurb climate change , including aban on plastic travelling bag , which was herald just last week . This would make it the first country in South America to do so .
Go Chile !
