In the Pampas grass of the Americas, bordering five of the South American countries, is the Argentine Republic. While Argentina has three Nobel Prizes in the sciences and a successful nuclear program, its research and development (R&D) expenditure has been in decline for the last four years. As in most countries, the COVID-19 global pandemic reinforced these budget cuts and the R&D budget (0.54% GDP) is the lowest from the last 10 years.
Raúl Bolmaro and Orlando Auciello, both Argentinian citizens, working in R&D as full professors, and highly active in their professional associations in Argentina and the USA, respectively, explain further how the pandemic affected their work, and affected Argentinian R&D and its collaborations.
Prof. Raúl Bolmaro (Universidad Nacional de Rosario) and president of the Argentinian MRS (Asociación Argentina de Materiales).
Prof. Orlando Auciello (University of Texas at Dallas) and past president of the Materials Research Society (2013).
Prof. Bolmaro at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario, who is also the director of a research institute and president of the Asociación Argentina de Materiales (Argentinian MRS), has switched his activities strictly to a “home office” to draft scientific papers using past experimental results and ideas. He says that the accumulated knowledge on smart materials and characterization techniques have re-oriented his research group’s activities in support of bio-chemical and bio-technological developments, pursuing either detection, treatment, or relief techniques. Nevertheless, his activities also involve keeping the infrastructure of the institute ready for all areas. “Further continuing our regular research topics may seem somehow a waste of time; however, life must continue, considering that COVID-19 might be around for such a long time,” he says.
On the other hand, Prof. Auciello—who also holds a US citizenship and is on the faculty at the University of Texas-Dallas (UTDallas)—has been able to continue research on campus since January because his group is working on his patented technology of antiviral ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) coating with pores ≤10 nm for application on protective masks to stop the transmission of the COVID-19 virus. “The COVID-19 virus, which has diameters in the range 60-140 nm, is not stopped efficiently by current masks with pores of 10-30 microns,” he says. His research group has continued its collaboration with colleagues in México, Argentina, Panama, and Brazil. Prof. Auciello says that the international collaborations facilitated the advancement of his research. “We have been doing clinical trials on UNCD-coated dental implants, in México, since 2018. The USA-México collaboration is enabling the introduction of the revolutionary UNCD-coated dental implants in México by 2021-2022. So, collaboration with scientists from Latin America has been and will continue to be extremely productive to insert new medical devices in the market,” he says.
As a past president of the Materials Research Society (MRS), Prof. Auciello, who has been a strong advocate for substantial changes in terms of diversity within MRS awards and is part of the diversity committee at UTDallas, says, “[Professional scientific] societies should have more minorities, from within and outside the USA, involved in committees and [positions that influence] Society direction.”
When asked about the impact of the pandemic on the educational system in Argentina, Prof. Bolmaro pours his frustration about the 200 days of frozen activities followed by classes on virtual mode and its difficulty to deliver experimental courses that shape many of the skills needed for technical knowledge. “The complete learning-teaching interaction has been damaged profoundly, despite the efforts made by professors and students to imagine new ways for transferring back and forth information and knowledge,” he says. Like its neighboring countries, undergraduate education at all Argentinian public universities is tuition-free. However, Prof. Bolmaro worries about the students from less economically favored families during this pandemic.
“The economic burden of getting your own electronic devices falls on your own shoulders, already weakened by successive social and economic crises,” he says. With sadness, he adds, “What has been for many years a motive for pride (tuition-free education) has become the main source for despair among the students who cannot sometimes even go back to their home cities or countries.”
He is very concerned about the declining situation of R&D in Argentina as well. “We must take in account that Argentina has been economically declining for the last 30 years and with a stagnated per capita national income for more than a decade,” he says. Prof. Bolmaro goes further explaining the decline of both infrastructure and salaries in the Argentinian R&D. R&D recovery in a post-pandemic situation is alarming, as he points out. “The main problem will come from the needs of renovation and spare parts for fixing an already aging large science equipment and facilities. Salaries have been cut to a third in terms of dollars in the last year, which makes the research activity less attractive to new generations,” he says.
When asked about how they have been coping with the exchange of knowledge through virtual conferences versus in-person conferences, Prof. Bolmaro and Prof. Auciello both agreed that the only drawback is not being able to interact personally with more scientists, but they both have observed the several advantages of the virtual conferences, such as the more efficient use of time and resources. Prof. Auciello has been able to deliver talks to Dubai, Europe, and Asia, by either sending the talk in a video format and being present to answer questions, or presenting it live. He seems satisfied with his virtual experiences: “Given my age, I need to apply the science-based knowledge and look for keeping my health,” he says.
Prof. Bolmaro, who has also been able to deliver talks and online classes to various countries, adds: “Because of being somehow in the end of the world, as sometimes the south cone and Patagonia are called, our journeys to attend conferences and workshops are reduced to no more than one every year in average, if we are talking about northern hemisphere events.” He believes the post-pandemic situation will have its own challenges for organizing international conferences: “We hope for having better funding when the activities reopen, but we keep thinking about the long journeys that we will have to endure and survive in the expected interregnum of better COVID safety in the north and poor coverage in the south. Organizing international conferences will become such a challenge, with a transition perhaps dominated by hybrid-conducted ones.”
-Mônica Jung de Andrade
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