Chemistry International
Vol. 22, No. 5
September 2000
An
Outlook for Chemistry in Chile in 2000
E.
Delgado
Universidad
de Concepción,
Concepción, Chile
Summary
History
Research
Human Resources
Graduate Programs
The Chilean Chemical Society (SChQ)
Closing Remarks
References
Summary
This article surveys the history of chemistry in Chile as well as the
current general aspects of research, human resources, graduate programs,
and the main features of the Chilean Chemical Society.
History
Science, in general, was not important during the colonial period in
Chile. Chemistry, in particular, underwent little development, with
its activity limited to sporadic analyses of water and minerals. Teaching
of chemistry on a regular basis, as well as some rudimentary research,
began with the arrival of the Polish scientist Ignacio Domeyko, who
was hired by the Chilean government to teach chemistry and mineralogy.
In 1838, Domeyko founded the first laboratory of chemical analysis at
the Colegio de Coquimbo. Domeyko was aware that science was the basis
for economic development, and he, therefore, stressed the theoretical
and practical study of chemistry and physics. In his laboratory, he
trained the first Chilean chemists, who later became the chemistry teachers
of the next generations.
As the 19th century was drawing to a close, the Chilean
government hired German scientists to teach and develop the basic sciences
in the country. However, by that time chemistry was regarded solely
as an ancillary discipline in the study of other specialties, such as
engineering, medicine, or pharmacy. As recently as the early part of
the 20th century, the situation had not changed appreciably;
chemistry was still limited to a secondary role within the academic
environment.
In the 1940s, even though a state policy for science was yet to be
defined, the chemical community began to organize in small groups, mainly
within the universities [1]. Thus in
1944, on the 25 th anniversary of the Universidad de Concepción,
the First Chilean Congress of Chemistry was held. At this congress,
the bases for the future foundation of the Chilean Chemical Society
were laid down, and the Society was officially established on 12 December
1946. The first issue of the Societys journal, the Boletin de
la Sociedad Chilena de Química, appeared in March 1950. In 1967,
the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICYT)
was created with three goals: (1) to promote and fund scientific research,
(2) to establish graduate programs at the universities, and (3) to devise
national policies for scientific development. A remarkable impetus for
scientific research grew with the establishment of graduate programs
in the 1970s.
Research
According to figures from the Institute for Scientific Information
(ISI) [2], the Philadelphia-based institute
that monitors scientific publishing trends, Chile produces more international
papers per capita than Argentina and three times as many as Brazil and
Mexico. The Chilean government spends about 0.67% of gross domestic
product (GDP) on research more than any other country in the region
yet far below developed countries such as the United States, Japan,
or European countries that spend over 2% of GDP. As in most developing
countries, the Chilean budget for research and development has been
subject to large fluctuations throughout the countrys history.
Such budget variations denote the lack of a stable policy for science
and technology in Chile, unlike the situation in more developed countries
where a fairly stable budget is observed over time. This fact reveals
that research, historically, has not been considered an important activity
for the country.
The Chilean government supports peer-reviewed research through its
National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICYT)
[3]. CONICYT spends most of its budget
on two funding programs: (1) the National Fund for Scientific and Technological
Development (FONDECYT), which supports roughly 1 000 basic research
projects for up to three years, and (2) the Fund for Fostering Scientific
and Technological Development (FONDEF), which spends a roughly equal
amount on projects with potential economic impact in priority areas
such as mining, forestry, and agriculture. The governments participation
in funding research has dropped since 1965 when it supported nearly
99% of research to a level of about 70% in 1997, mainly as a consequence
of greater funding from industry. It is noteworthy that during this
period, actual cash support of research by the government has increased;
its lower percentage weight results from the appearance of alternative
funding sources. About 50% of the Chilean research budget goes to research
universities, 25% is distributed throughout the country, and the rest
is shared among government institutes and other institutions engaged
in research. Government support accounts for nearly 95% of the funds
devoted to research in the universities. Currently, around 95% of the
R&D budget is devoted to basic and applied research; therefore,
technological development is almost nonexistent. Since the establishment
of FONDECYT in 1982, almost 7% of the total funds disbursed have been
spent on chemistry research projects totaling 4 500 million pesos over
the period 19821997.
One of the most important indices of R&D is productivity, namely,
the number of original articles published in international journals.
Although Latin American papers account for only about 1.8% of the total
number of articles in the journals indexed by ISI, an analysis performed
for Science [1] by ISI shows that since
1981 the Latin American share has risen substantially, from about 1.3%
to the current levelan increase of 38.5%. Four countriesBrazil,
Argentina, Mexico, and Chileaccount for about 85% of the Latin
American papers; the Chilean contribution to the Latin American total
is 12%. The number of articles published by Chilean authors in ISI-indexed
journals has risen from 675 in 1981 to 1 489 in 1996an increase
that doubtless can be attributed to the FONDECYT program. In chemistry,
these figures increased from about 50 in 1981 to about 200 at present,
with an average relative impact factor for the period of nearly 0.5.
Relative impact factor is a comparison parameter that measures the frequency
of citations to scientific articles; the world average is set at 1.0
[4].
[More]
This article was contributed by
Prof. Eduardo J. Delgado (Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty
of Chemical Sciences, Casilla 160-C, Universidad de Concepción,
Concepción, Chile; E-mail: [email protected]),
Secretary of the Chilean Chemical Society.