Recent expansion of the prioritization policy for scientific research in public universities in Argentina

Abstract

The article analyses the emergence of an agenda and the design of incentive instruments toward a strategic definition of scientific research between 2007 and 2015, and its effect on public university circles in Argentina. Through a qualitative approach, a cross-sectional study of targeted promotional instruments —funded with the resources of the national universities themselves— was carried out and interviews were conducted with authorities in this policy area. From the perspective of public policies analysis, this research reveals that policy ideas and the instrumental creation of the standards, guidelines and instruments of the main agencies of the sector —in particular those of the ANPCyT and CONICET— achieved some persuasion at the local university level, so that the definition of strategic areas gained a considerable expansion in a recent survey of the scientific policies in national universities.