- Argentina - Portal público de noticias de la República Argentina.
In Argentina there are several kinds of scientific centers. Even though the CONICET has the largest number of research centres, public and private universities, professional associations, and businesses, as well as some provincial governments, also engage in this type of activity.
The ones which depend on CONICET are considered the Executing Units of the institution policies, and they may operate within universities or in other private or official entities, The CONICET assesses its own performance. According to it, “the activities of research institutes in the different areas of knowledge, show the following percentages: 41% of the institutes conducts research work on health and biological sciences areas; 29% is engaged in natural and exact sciences research; 12% is devoted to conducting research work in the field of liberal arts and social sciences and 18% in undertaking research in materials, engineering and agrarian sciences”.
In addition to its Executing Units, the CONICET also has Associated Units by means of specific agreements. These units may be universities or another type of entities. The CONICET researchers, supporting personnel. or fellowship holders conduct their research work in these institutions.
Similarly, the CONICET has researchers and fellowship holders that conduct research work in technology-based companies, or businesses that include research projects aimed at fostering innovation in goods and services production.
These are companies that also resort to signing agreements with universities with the purpose of expanding their technological research work and undertakings.
There are also private foundations carrying out research work, as well. The Leloir Institute, in the biochemistry field, and the Favaloro Foundation in the field of medicine are good examples of this, and highly renowned.
It is interesting to point out that despite being autonomous institutions, each one of them enters into agreements with universities, the CONICET, and private entities thus complying with a cross-sectional cooperation requirement, which is of outmost signficance in these years.
