AS CONTRADIÇÕES DA COLABORAÇÃO INTERNACIONAL: UM ESTUDO SOBRE A PESQUISA EM ENERGIA NO BRASIL E NA ARGENTINA

Fabrício Monteiro Neves

doi:10.67937/30861128.2026.46

Authors

Fabrício Monteiro Neves UNB https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2886-0577

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.67937/30861128.2026.46

Keywords:

internationalization of science, energy research, center-periphery, scientific values, international cooperation

Abstract

This study analyzes the contradictions inherent to the process of science internationalization, focusing on collaboration strategies employed by research groups linked to CENPES (Petrobras, Brazil) and Y-TEC (YPF, Argentina). Using qualitative methods, including semi-structured interviews and content analysis, we investigate how researchers navigate significant tensions between national and international objectives, as well as between scientific and technological production. The results reveal the operation of a "regime of management of irrelevance" that deeply structures research practices and internationalization strategies. This regime is anchored in real constraints—internalization of perceptions of inferiority, differential access to high-impact journals, institutional evaluation practices—affecting choices of research themes, publication strategies, and conceptions of scientific relevance. We observe a predominant preference for publications in English-language international journals and adaptation of research agendas to global interests. However, the data reveal that researchers develop varied strategies to deal with these pressures: some choose technical objects that facilitate internationalization; others invest in analogies that preserve local relevance; still others make deliberate choices to prioritize national agendas. Questions of intellectual property and technology transfer emerge as genuine points of tension, reflecting legitimate historical concerns about how locally-produced knowledge can be captured in cooperative arrangements. We conclude that international scientific cooperation functions in contradictory ways: it opens genuine opportunities for advancement and recognition but contains a structural inclination toward imbalances. The relative weight of these two movements varies according to contexts and individual choices, suggesting possibilities for alternative forms of partnership that acknowledge asymmetries without accepting them as inevitable.

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Author Biography

Fabrício Monteiro Neves, UNB

Fabrício Monteiro Neves é Doutor em Sociologia e Professor do Departamento de Sociologia da Universidade de Brasília (UnB). Sua pesquisa concentra-se nos estudos sociais da ciência e tecnologia, com ênfase nas dinâmicas de internacionalização científica e nas relações centro-periferia no sistema científico global. Analisa em suas pesquisas como pesquisadores em contextos periféricos navegam assimetrias na produção e circulação do conhecimento. Atualmente desenvolve estudos comparativos sobre colaboração científica internacional na América Latina.

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