Análise dos fluxos de conhecimento existentes entre universidades e instituições científicas brasileiras e atores internacionais na área da saúde humana

Abstract

The conducted research has its focus on the analysis of knowledge flows between Brazilian universities and scientific institutions and international actors in the area of human health. The relevance of this study lies in understanding the mechanisms of construction and transfer of knowledge generated by Brazilian universities and scientific institutions from the interactions established with international actors. These flows are understood as important elements for scientific and technological progress. The research problem investigated, therefore, is: what are the characteristics of knowledge flows between research groups in the area of human health of Brazilian universities and international partners and what is their importance for developing countries like Brazil? The methodology used was based on secondary data analysis. The database used was the Directory of Research Groups (DGP) of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). Data were collected from the 2016 DGP Census and, complementarily, from the current base, by means of the SQL Server database system. Several characteristics regarding the research groups were analyzed, being centrally: the main types of partners and their geographical distribution, the types of relationship and remuneration. The results pointed out, in terms of volume of interactions, that the research groups in the area of human health that claimed to interact with international partners were fewer in number (382) in relation to the groups that claimed to interact with national partners (1,922). Likewise, the number of interactions (660) established by these groups was lower than the total number of interactions (4,191) with national partners. This finding informs that the mechanisms of construction and transfer of knowledge of the Brazilian research groups analyzed occur mostly within the national territory, highlighting that there is an important local knowledge base. It can also be inferred that those international partners are present in the knowledge construction process in the area and this fact deserves attention. The main partners of the interactions are the Universities; and the firms and hospitals have a very small participation in these interactions. The main health areas that concentrate the research groups that interact with international players are Collective Health and Medicine. The main types of relationships found were scientific research without and with considerations of immediate use of the results and training of personnel of the group by the partner and of the partner by the group. In terms of remuneration, interactions are aimed at partnerships without the transfer of resources or qualification of human resources between partners. In terms of the direction of the flows, the Brazilian research groups that interact with international actors, in their majority, are public universities located in the southeastern and southern regions of the country, corroborating with the literature in the area presents regarding the distribution of interactive research groups in the national territory, as well as regarding the development of regional innovation systems. The established partnerships are centered on the North-South relationship, with an emphasis on partnerships with actors from North America and Europe, and most of the partners are located in the United States. In terms of comparison of a specific set of interactive research groups (154) between 2016 and the current base, it could be noticed that the number of interactions with international partners increased, indicating certain strengthening of this type of flow for the construction of knowledge in the area of human health and highlighting its importance. The directions of the flows remained centered on North-South relations.