September started with an attack against world Science. The Brazilian government just announced additional cuts to federal scholarships for research. So far in 2019, 17,424 grants were cut, affecting all levels of the national educational system. Brazil has faced budgetary contingencies in previous governments, but never as part of an open strategy against the credibility of scientists and their institutions.
In 2019 we also learned that Science entered the long list of endangered species worldwide. It is not coincidental that the Amazon burns while Brazilian scientists get fired and scientific funding gets cut.
The recent case of the dismissal of Ricardo Galvão, an internationally awarded researcher, as the direction of the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), is another example of the dark days Brazilian scientists are facing. Galvão was fired after INPE published a report on the alarming increase in the deforestation of the Amazon.
