South American science has been developing strongly over the past years.
This is well illustrated by an analysis by Holmgren and Schnitzer in PLoS Biology (2004) entitled ‘Science on the rise in developing countries’. The authors show that the scientific output per dollar spent in Latin America is now higher than in North America, and that the trend in Latin America is upwards, whereas in North America it is downwards.
On the other hand, Latin American science tends to reach lower impact journals and citation scores.
We feel that the time is ripe for an institute that could catalyze a development towards high impact science that serves to enhance the region’s long term sustainable development; an institute that would help the network of scientific cooperation within South America, and strengthen the links to an international network of excellent scientists.
