New findings on international funding flows for research in Latin America and the Caribbean
How do resources allocated to scientific research circulate in Latin America and the Caribbean? What role does international funding play in developing the region's scientific and technological capabilities? Is it possible to accurately reconstruct these flows and understand their impact? These are some of the questions that guided the research conducted within the framework of the project. Tracking Research Funding Flows in the Global South for More Transparent and Inclusive Science, an international initiative that seeks to contribute to a fairer and more transparent distribution of resources for research and to strengthen the scientific capacities of the Global South.
As part of this work, the research team coordinated by FOLEC-CLACSO analyzed the International financing dynamics of scientific and technological activities in Latin America and the Caribbean, with special attention to the cases from Brazil, Colombia and Costa RicaThe research combined the analysis of national and international statistics, the survey of public information from multilateral organizations and philanthropic foundations, and interviews with key actors in the scientific systems of the countries studied.
The results These studies show that, in quantitative terms, international funding represents a relatively small proportion of total investment in science and technology in the countries analyzed. However, its importance cannot be measured solely by the amounts involved. In many cases, these resources contribute to strengthening institutional capacities, training human resources, creating international collaboration networks, and developing strategic projects for national science systems.
One of the findings One of the most significant findings of the study is the difficulty in tracking and reconstructing international funding flows. The available information is scattered across multiple organizations, uses heterogeneous methodological criteria, and presents significant traceability limitations. As a result, it is complex to know precisely how much external funding each country receives, through what mechanisms it circulates, and what its actual impacts are on research agendas and local scientific capacities.
The research also shows that the influence of international funding on scientific agendas does not follow a single or homogeneous logic. Its impact depends on factors such as the strength of national institutions, the availability of domestic public funding, the management capacities of the actors involved, and the strategies developed by each country to negotiate and allocate these resources according to its development priorities.
Based on these findings, The study highlights the need to move towards more transparent and standardized mechanisms for registering and monitoring international scientific fundingIt also underlines the importance of strengthening the institutional capacities of countries in the Global South to manage these resources and promote cooperation models that contribute to the development of research agendas relevant to local contexts.
These results represent a first approach to a complex and still insufficiently documented phenomenon. Beyond the evidence obtained, the research highlights the need to continue deepening our understanding of research funding flows and to develop tools that allow us to better understand how these resources are distributed and used on a global scale.
With the aim of making the first results of this initiative available to the academic community and stakeholders involved in science and technology policies, We are sharing an executive summary of the project's final reportThis document presents a summary of the main findings, conclusions, and recommendations arising from the analysis of international research funding flows. The full report, currently being edited, will be available soon on this platform.
