Together, in 2021, the institutions graduated 5,600 masters and 3,623 doctors, in a total of 9,223 degrees, the lowest number in the last ten years — in 2011, there were 9,925.
USP, Unicamp and Unesp are responsible for training almost a third of the masters and doctors in Brazil. Although there are no national figures available on the total number of graduates in other educational institutions in the last two years, the drop in the three most representative universities alerts us to a possible retraction across the country.
According to the postgraduate pro-rectories, the drop is partly explained by the extension of deadlines for the defense of theses during the pandemic. But it is also a reflection of the reduction in funding for science in the country in recent years.
The total number of masters graduated from the three universities in São Paulo in 2021 was 25.4% lower than in 2019, before the pandemic, when there were 7,505 degrees. The total number of new PhDs fell by 24% in this period – in 2019, they registered 4,721 titles at this stage.
“The progress of research has had a very significant impact with the pandemic and isolation. Despite the effort to continue with classes and qualification benches in the remote system, some steps, such as field investigations, laboratory use, had to be paralyzed”, says Marcio de Castro Silva Filho, pro-rector pro tempore of Graduate Studies at USP.
A doctoral student at the USP School of Nursing, Dionasson Marques had to ask for a six-month extension to complete his thesis, as the pandemic forced him to change his research methodology. He collected data in health facilities on the use of alcohol by women and, with isolation, the face-to-face approach had to be replaced by the telephone.
“The extension was essential, because I had to change the methodology. It was a very difficult period. I still want to go on to a postdoctoral degree, but the context of science in the country is very discouraging. I want to continue through my training, but I feel that I cannot there is appreciation”, he says.
According to USP, about 50% of graduate students asked for a deadline extension, which should make the numbers for the next few years still below what had been recorded before the pandemic. The pro-rector points out that, in the same period, the university’s graduate programs had a 20% drop in new entrants.
Silva Filho attributes the drop to the lack of financial support for students. In addition to being increasingly scarce in the country, scholarships from federal agencies, which are the main source of funding for graduates, have not been readjusted since 2013. Master’s students receive R$1,500, and doctoral students, R$ 2,200.
“It’s been nine years without inflation adjustment, the scholarship is currently very unattractive. It is not enough to keep students, especially in larger cities and with higher cost of living. finance”, he says.
At Unesp, the number of titles in both modalities dropped 15% in two years. For Maria Valnice Boldrin, pro-rector of Graduate Studies, the drop is the result of the strangulation of science in the country, and the reduction could be even greater this year and next.
“Master’s and doctoral degrees at leading institutions, like ours, require exclusive dedication, which is why scholarships are so important. Without them, students will have to work to maintain themselves. would understand that it is a full-time job, and the remuneration of researchers would be higher.”
At Unesp, only 36% of doctoral and master’s students receive some type of scholarship. In the last five years, the university had a 30% cut in the scholarships it received from the CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development), an agency of the federal government.
At Unicamp, the total number of master’s and doctoral theses defenses has fallen by 25% since the beginning of the pandemic. Dean Rachel Meneguello says the drop was not caused by the abandonment of courses, but by the extension of deadlines and also a reflection of the reduction in pre-pandemic entrants, when science funding became more scarce.
Between 2015 and 2020, Unicamp suffered an average decrease of 15% in postgraduate scholarships. “The federal government’s policy of disaffection with education, science and culture, with cuts in funding to agencies and ministries, is certainly affecting teaching and research in all Brazilian universities”, he says.
Although the three universities in São Paulo are experiencing a period of retraction in postgraduate studies, the deans believe that the institutions still have a more protected situation than those in the rest of the country. In São Paulo, they have research funding from FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo), albeit to a greater extent than federal agencies.
“Certainly, universities in states that rely only on federal agencies are suffering much more to maintain their scientific production”, says Silva Filho.
Capes (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel), linked to the Ministry of Education and responsible for the largest number of scholarships offered in the country, still does not have a balance on the number of master’s and doctoral degrees in the last two years.
Since last year, Brazil has not had a National Postgraduate Plan. So far, not even a commission has been appointed to draw up the next plan. The president of Capes, Cláudia de Toledo, is responsible for appointing members who will compose the commission.
In a note, the funding agency said that “several names, with wide recognition from the scientific community, are being consulted to compose this commission, which should be released soon”. It did not inform the forecast for the appointment or for the conclusion of the plan.
Capes also defended that it has a larger budget for 2022 than for 2021, which will guarantee the “continuity of all actions” and ensure the “payment of postgraduate scholarships in the country”. According to the agency, the budget rose to R$3.8 billion, an increase of 27% compared to last year, when it was R$3.01 billion.
Even so, the value is much lower than the budget that Capes had ten years ago. A survey by the SBPC (Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science) shows that the agency had R$ 5.13 billion available in 2012. The CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) also lost almost half of its budget in this period, from R$ $2.04 billion to R$1.3 billion.