The Decision-Making Process in the Construction of the Synchrotron Light National Laboratory in Brazil

Abstract

In 1981, a small group of Brazilian physicists started a very effective campaign to construct a national synchrotron radiation laboratory. By the end of 1984, the project was officially approved and, surviving political shifts brought about by the end of military rule, construction of the lab began in 1987. Why, in these times of declining budgets in world science, should a relatively poor country, struggling with financial difficulties, decide to invest millions of dollars in a Big Science facility? We examine the decision-making process leading to the lab's construction, focusing on three intermediate stages: the decision to build the lab; the choice of its site; and the size of the machine. We show that basic support came much more from policymakers than from scientists and potential users, and that the political ability of the few scientists directly involved with the project was crucial for its implementation. We conclude that the decision to build was made, not to answer scientific problems or to achieve new technological applications relevant to Brazil, but mainly to stimulate technological development, and to introduce the country to the new level of scientific organization represented by Big Science and National Laboratories.

Les générations de synchrotrons : des communautés et des équipements au croisement du national et de l’international

“…Un troisième ensemble de travaux porte sur des synchrotrons en particulier et étudie les processus et mobilisations à l'origine de leur création (Velho et Pessoa, 1998 ;Gingras, 2002 ;Farge, 2012 ;Westfall, 2012) et/ou leur mode de fonctionnement (Doing, 2009 ;Hallonsten, 2011 ;Simoulin, 2012aSimoulin, , 2012bAvadikyan et al, 2014 ;Hallonsten, 2015 ;Heinze et al, 2015aHeinze et al, , 2015b. Ce sont les seuls à relever, pour certains d'entre eux, de la sociologie, et à s'intéresser aux phénomènes d'apprentissage, de circulation des hommes et des savoirs, d'interactions entre les dynamiques scientifiques et les évolutions des politiques de la recherche.…”

Co-producing Social Problems and Scientific Knowledge. Chagas Disease and the Dynamics of Research Fields in Latin America

“…2 Nuclear physics is a particular case, both in Argentina and Brazil, because research and production (of energy) have been traditionally close while the connection with the fi eld's international mainstream has been strengthened over time. See Hurtado deMendoza ( 2005 ) for the Argentinean case andVelho and Pessoa ( 1998 ) for the Brazilian one.…”

Mobilité scientifique et réflexivité des chercheurs

“…Sur les processus de décision menant à la construction du synchrotron de Campinas, voir Velho et Pessoa (1998).…”