Conacyt: the new science law seeks to “uproot corruption”

Laura Poy Solano

Newspaper La Jornada
Friday February 3, 2023, p. 9

The general law initiative on humanities, sciences, technologies and innovation, sent by the Executive to the Chamber of Deputies last December, it was not done on the knees nor is it an occurrence. It is the result of dialogues, forums, meetings and seminars in which thousands of members of the scientific community participated, including those who systematically oppose everything proposed by the Fourth Transformation, no one was excludedsays Elena Álvarez-Buylla, general director of the National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt).

He assures that the project took four years of gestation and search for consensus, because one of the objectives is make a real, deep and substantive federalization, since each state must issue their respective local laws, within the framework of the general norm, to ensure that science and its benefits are a universal right.

In an interview, Álvarez-Buylla highlighted that the proposal for a new regulatory framework, which is expected to be discussed at the current regular session in San Lázaro, recognizes the knowledge as a common good and not as a commodity, because science is not for the privilege of elites.

In addition, the project seeks to establish zero corruption, administrative efficiency, scientific rigor, as well as social and environmental relevance.

The Conacyt director rejects criticism that the future law will limit academic and research freedom. One of its basic precepts is the unrestricted respect for the freedom of scientists. It is not a question of defining what is or is not science, nor of determining what the scientific community can or cannot do..

Recovered, 26 billion pesos

Álvarez-Buylla, an expert in molecular genetics and 2017 National Science Award winner in the field of physics-mathematics and natural sciences, highlights that this initiative was born in accordance with what is established in the third article of the Constitution, which mandates making science a right human and also has as one of its central axes root out corruption.

He stresses that only in the first three years this government was able to recover, for the benefit of the treasury, more than 26 billion pesos due to the detection that Conacyt allocated more than 7 billion pesos to 10,000 unfinished and unmonitored scientific projects. funds that we managed to recover and deliver to the Federation Treasury.

The bill, he explains, is consistent with the principles of Mexican humanism, with which corruption is fought, transparency, honesty and democracy are encouraged in all decisions.

As all states do in the world, he emphasizes, it also proposes strategies and priorities to address urgent problems. It seeks to optimize the use of public resources, guarantee universal access to knowledge and its applications, as well as respect for our cultures and a dialogue of knowledge that does not disdain different ways of generating knowledge..

Another advantage, he stresses, is that It was born with concept demonstrations, because through modifications of regulations, guidelines and following what the very patched Science and Technology Law allows us, we managed to generate the National Postgraduate System, which allows financial support to reach students directly, without intermediaries.

With this initiative, says Álvarez-Buylla, Basic and frontier science is strongly promoted, so that never again, as happened in 2017 and 2018, investment in this sector is left at zero pesos, but an explicit mandate is also given so that investment in science cannot trim.