yet the path is strewn with needless obstacles

What is it about?

I am a young Brazilian scientist and I agree with Tomas Prolla’s point in Correspondence1 that the rigid bureaucracy in Brazil turns scientific research into a nightmare. Four years ago, I asked the director of the institute where I did my PhD to release funds (about US$20) so I could send reprints to England, as one of my results was going to be cited in a textbook to be published there. The director punched his desk and said that he was not there to support my megalomania. I sent the reprints using my own money, and my result was cited in the book2. A professor from another university told me that to behave as I had done, at my level of seniority, would cause fear among my superiors. I recently entered the selection process for a professor’s position in one of Brazil’s leading universities. One of the interviewers asked why I wanted to stay in academia instead of working in industry for better pay. I did not get the job. The person who got the job has published about six papers in journals, and is corresponding author on none of these. My curriculum vitae lists 21 papers in good international journals. In 20 of these I am the corresponding author and in 11 I am the sole author. I have spent $23,000 of my own money doing serious research in this country and I receive about $200,000 as a government grant. In my laboratory I have the first atomic force microscope for biological research in the country.

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Photo by Katie Moum on Unsplash

Photo by Katie Moum on Unsplash