Performance of Brazilian scientists and the pattern of scientific training: a comparison between physicists and chemists

RESUMO

Measuring the success in the academic career for scientists with different patterns of scientific training is a form of choosing which is the more suitable pattern to be pursued and supported by national programs. A peer-ranking analysis was carried out among Brazilian physicists. A total of 43 physicists nominated by their peers were ranked anonymously as the best-performing in terms of relevance and impact of their scientific findings. The most common patterns of scientific training among these scientists were (i) PhD abroad/Postdoc abroad (53.4 per cent), (ii) PhD in Brazil/Postdoc abroad (25.6 per cent), (iii) PhD abroad/No Postdoc (16.3 per cent) and iv) PhD in Brazil/No Postdoc (4.7 per cent). The comparison of (ii) and (iii) reveals that, in terms of a single long tenure abroad, the Postdoc training is better than the PhD abroad, a conclusion further stressed by other studies which show that the total number of PhD abroad exceeds the total number of Postdoc abroad by a factor of three to four. This conclusion is similar to that drawn from a similar previous study among Brazilian chemists. The difference was that the vast majority of the best-performing Brazilian chemists (86.7 per cent) presented the training pattern of PhD in Brazil/Postdoc abroad. The possible reasons for the different trends between chemists and physicists, in terms of pursuing PhD training abroad, are discussed considering the different historical origins of these two scientific communities in Brazil. The results indicate that a careful reevaluation of the policies of the Brazilian scientific agencies is necessary in order to determine whether it is advisable to continue the massive program of PhD abroad. An interesting alternative is encouraging extensive programs of Postdoc abroad.