Secretary of Science says Tarcísio will not interfere in universities and Fapesp

The new Secretary of Science and Technology of São Paulo, Vahan Agopyan, said that Governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) will not interfere in the financial and management autonomy of the state universities of São Paulo and FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo ).

“The governor was very clear in saying that he respects the autonomy, both financial and management, of the institutions and that this will be maintained without any problems”, said the former dean of USP in an interview with Sheet.

Since 1989, article 271 of the State Constitution determines that FAPESP and the three state universities receive 9.57% of the ICMS (Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services) for the entire state —which represented R$ 13.3 billion from January to October 2022.

According to Agopyan, financial and administrative autonomy has always been respected in the state, and the new governor, in a meeting with the university presidents and the president of the body, assured that he will not interfere with the transfer.

The new secretariat will have as institutes and areas linked to the portfolio the three state universities of São Paulo —USP, Unesp and Unicamp—, Fapesp, IPT (Institute of Technological Research of the State of São Paulo) and Ipen (Institute of Energy and Nuclear Research ).

Still according to Agopyan, the creation of the new Secretariat for Science and Technology, which used to be within the Economic Development portfolio, is to provide greater integration of the science portfolio with the others.

“Traditionally, the coordination of science, technology and innovation was an undersecretary within the Secretariat for Economic Development, but the governor understands, and that’s why I accepted the invitation to be secretary of the portfolio, that whoever takes care of science cannot be below economic development,” he said.

A civil engineer graduated from the Polytechnic School of USP, where he was director from 2002 to 2005, Agopyan signed a manifesto last year against Tarcísio’s candidacy for governor in SP, as revealed by the Sheet. Asked why he would have then accepted a portfolio in the new government, the secretary stated that it was because of the position of the current governor in favor of science.

“I accepted when he said that he was separating the science and technology portfolio from economic development because science was never a priority in the government. For those who fought for this idea over the last 30 years, it was clear that the governor has a vision that is totally compatible with mine,” he said.

Agopyan said that São Paulo society recognizes the importance of scientific production in the state, and that is why the autonomy of state institutions and transfers are guaranteed, but this was not the case in the past.

During the pandemic, then-Governor João Doria (who belonged to the PSDB) tried to approve two bills for fiscal readjustments in which the surplus of state and FAPESP would be transferred to the state treasury, reducing the transfer to institutions from 1% to 0.7%. After much pressure from the academic society, he ended up giving up the measures.

In 2007, Governor José Serra (PSDB) also tried to withdraw resources from the institutions and withdrew after one of the longest strikes in USP’s history, occupying the rectory for 51 days.

Regarding the hiring of professors and employees from state institutions and about a possible nod from public universities to the private sector, Agopyan said that recruitments have resumed after two years of blockade due to the pandemic and that he will work closely with each institute linked to the science folder to define the contribution of each one to the private sector.

“Some institutes, like the IPT, already have a better translation of what is the knowledge produced in the academy for the industry, but others have more difficulties. The missing step is the finalization: how to make this knowledge or product reach the market. And the reason for that is the cost,” he said.