United kingdom. Within the framework of the official visit of the President of the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), Daniel Salamon, to the United Kingdom, a group of Argentine scientists residing in that country held a meeting with the official at the embassy in London. In addition, they handed him a letter in which they expressed their “concern over the situation that the Argentine scientific and technological system is going through.”
In the document signed by more than 30 experts who are part of the Network of Argentine Scientists in the UK (RCARU), they highlighted that “measures implemented or announced by the government (such as the Code of Rules) in the “field of science and technology” could mark “the end of CONSET as an institution.” A regional leader in scientific research. That is why they highlighted “the need to maintain and even increase international scientific and technological cooperation.”
Likewise, after the meeting held at the residence of the Argentine Embassy in London, the experts highlighted the delivery of the letter, “underlining the concerns that network members have about the critical situation that Conicet is experiencing, in particular, and the scientific and technological system in Argentina in general.” .
During the meeting, members of the Network of Argentine Scientists in the UK expressed “concern about the negative impact that the emptying of Coniset is having on Argentina’s ability to maintain its position as a leader in scientific research in the region.” They also expressed that members of the network have made themselves “available to Dr. Salomon to work together to strengthen collaborative relations between the UK and Argentina.”
They stressed that “the message delivered emphasizes the impact of mass layoffs, reductions in scholarships and income, declines in the value of salaries and allowances, and budgetary obstacles that threaten the continuity of the regime.” “The report also notes that current government actions could weaken Consett as a regional leader in research.”
Likewise, it highlights “the historical importance of international cooperation for scientific and technological progress in Argentina, as well as the need for adequate funding to ensure its continuity and to strengthen cooperation between Argentine professionals abroad and in Argentina,” the experts said in the document. They distributed them after the meeting.
They concluded: “The Network of Argentine Scientists in the UK (RCARU) urges the CONCIT authorities and the Argentine government to take immediate action to reverse the scientific void and ensure a prosperous future for research in the country by making itself available and ‘committing to cooperate in strengthening links of international cooperation’.”
Signatory scholars include: Dr. Ignacio Aguilo (University of Manchester); Associate Professor Natalia Aris (University of Oxford); Sebastian Cerea, Ph.D. (found); Professor Marta Cohen (Sheffield Children's Hospital); Dr Mauricio Pablo Contreras (Sainsbury Laboratory, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, UK); Emeritus Professor, Fellow of the Royal Society Alejandro Caselnick (University of Oxford); Lican Julieta Molina Flores (University of Cambridge); Dr.. Pablo Poggi (University of Strathclyde), postdoctoral researcher Micaela Sartoretti (Francis Crick Institute); For you. Ivan Schlamovitz (MRC-LMB – University of Cambridge).
