Today in Word That Is News we spoke with Pablo Studio, a researcher at the Autonomous University of Chile and author From “Manifesto for Science” and “Liberated Science”, as well as founder of More Science for Chile.

These days we have learned about some aspects of government programs for applicants to La Moneda, but little or nothing is said about the contents related to science and innovation. That is, the support of science is usually subject to economic development, which is a brake on this field which is, without a doubt, vital to the strengthening of today’s society. Whoever analyzed the scope of content related to science and innovation is our next guest.

Astudillo points out: “There are two schools of thought: the first is one that focuses on science which is limited to its economic excellence and there is a synchronicity in nominations with respect to that. But there is another way beyond economics: science for the sake of public policy, as a cultural aspect of states. This is neglected when it comes to We must broaden our view and admit that the scientific dimension is no less important than the economic dimension or more.

Candidate proposals in science

“The scientific community has been doing analysis for a long time and the same thing has happened from election to election: there is an absence of specific proposals from candidates. Or you have proposals that frame science in economic development. Of the six primary candidates, 4 address science, the fifth does so shyly and the last does not mention it. This last case is Joaquín Lavín who does not mention anything in the foundations submitted to Servel”, notes the researcher.

The three candidates who best prepared a proposal on science are the two from the left and also Ignacio Briones. They take time to talk about science, although it is always and unfortunately an economic chapter. What we need to do is have good policies based on the available experiences. He adds that candidates must mature their proposals and comprehensively address the problems facing the science.

Lessons from the epidemic

“What the pandemic has left us, among many things, is that science is the key to meeting the challenges of societies. Chile has a small capacity for dominant surveillance compared to other countries, because Chile has not set out to be excellent in biomedical sciences,” says Pablo Astudillo. What we have to learn from this epidemic is that one must be excellent in all areas of knowledge.

Creation of the Ministry of Science

“We have been struggling since 2010 to establish the ministry and today we have an institutional framework that is not just the ministry. This is the basis. It is since then. Moving forward, we need more investment and more dialogue when developing these policies, which is not happening today. What the state is asking for is more participation and that should be reflected in the ways we produce our science and innovation policies,” he points out.

Discussions on the topic in Chile

There are two debates: how much should Chile spend based on its level of income. Countries with an individual level similar to ours invest 3 times more in relation to Chile. There is room for growth in terms of impact, but there is debt to be repaid. You have to do the prioritization exercise. This exercise cannot focus only on productive considerations. Today the standard of errands is in fashion. Pablo Astudillo argues, and this must be done with the citizens.