Scholarships in Brazil: a FAPESP’s modality promotion to Communication research

Abstract

This paper’s goal is to present part of the results obtained in our PhD thesis, which investigated the legitimization, contribution and construction of the Communication Area in the context of research supported by the Foundation for Research Support of the State of São Paulo (FAPESP). We present here the perspectives and tendencies pointed out, from 583 Scholarships in Brazil, one of the modalities of fomentation that makes feasible studies of Scientific Initiation, Masters, Doctorate, Direct Doctorate and Postdoctoral. This scenario is presented based on multi-methodological strategies, the most representative being Bibliographic Research, Documentary Research and Content Analysis. It is concluded that in 25 years analyzed (1992-2016), the Area continues to be attractive to new researchers and that the production flow allows us to say that the beneficiaries produce knowledge for the Area, validated by the technical-scientific body of the Foundation.

Keywords
Scholarships; Brazil; Communication; FAPESP; Support

Resumo

O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar parte dos resultados obtidos em nossa tese de Doutorado que pesquisou a legitimação, a contribuição e a construção da Área da Comunicação no contexto das pesquisas apoiadas pela Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP). Trazemos aqui as perspectivas e tendências apontadas, a partir de 583 Bolsas de Estudo no Brasil, uma das modalidades de fomento que viabiliza estudos de Iniciação Científica, Mestrado, Doutorado, Doutorado Direto e Pós-Doutorado. Tal cenário é apresentado com base em estratégias multimetodológicas, sendo as mais representativas a Pesquisa Bibliográfica, a Pesquisa Documental e a Análise de Conteúdo. Conclui-se que em 25 anos analisados (1992-2016), a Área segue sendo atrativa a novos pesquisadores e que o fluxo de produção nos permite dizer que os beneficiários produzem conhecimento para a Área, validado pelo corpo técnico-científico da Fundação.

Palavras-chave
Bolsas de Estudo; Brasil; Comunicação; FAPESP; Fomento

Resumen

El propósito de este artículo es presentar parte de los resultados alcanzados en nuestra tesis de Doctorado que ha investigado la legitimación, contribución y construcción del Área de la Comunicación en el contexto de las investigaciones apoyadas por la Fundación de Apoyo a la Investigación del Estado de San Pablo (FAPESP). Hemos traído las perspectivas y tendencias apuntadas, tras 583 Becas de Estudio en Brasil, una de las modalidades de fomento que permite los estudios de Iniciación Científica, Maestría, Doctorado, Doctorado Directo y Pos-Doctorado. El escenario se presenta sobre estratégias multimetodologicas, siendo las más representativas la Investigación Bibliográfica, la Investigación Documental y el Análisis de Contenido. Se concluyó que en 25 años analizados (1992-2016), el Área sigue siendo atractivo a nuevos investigadores y que la producción permite decir que los beneficiários aportan conocimiento al Área, reconocido por el cuerpo técnico-científico de la Fundación.

Palabras clave
Becas de Estudio; Brasil; Comunicación; FAPESP; Promoción

Brief overview

The discussion about the production of research, through scholarships in Brazil, involving researchers from the Scientific Initiation, Masters, Doctorate, Doctorate (Direct)¹ and Post-doctorate degrees, who succeeded in obtaining the promotion from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), between 1992 and 2016, is the motto of this article that presents part of the results obtained during our Doctoral thesis research (GABRIOTI, 2018), carried out during the Postgraduate Program in Communication, from Universidade Metodista de São Paulo, under the supervision of the late beloved Professor José Marques de Melo².

First, it is necessary to address the path of research which involves multimethodological strategies with emphasis on the bibliographic revisions and documentary research, from abstracts of projects enrolled at FAPESP´s Virtual Library³, for quantitative aspects and content analysis, following the assumptions of Bardin (2011), in relation to qualitative aspects. Gobbi (2015) considers that one of the major challenges to understand the communicative scenario in Brazil, academically, is to know and recognize the themes that routinely instigate researchers. Imbued with this perspective, and having FAPESP´s scenario as basis, we scrutinized data such as: responsible researchers, institutions, key-words, among others, recorded on the database during a specific period of time that goes from 1992, the first year of surveys recorded in the system, until 2016, the last year of funding research that would be completed before the end of our doctorate, in the first half of 2018⁴.

Therefore, we have a total of 25 years on which it was possible to map the studies that represent momentum research, i.e., research supported in the most diverse modalities that have contributions and evidence to what has been produced in the area. The analyzed period signals Communication tendencies, exposes established academic relations, demonstrates working procedures adopted in the most diverse academic possibilities and awakens the interest of researchers, from new generations to the most experienced ones, with some being seminal references to think, discuss and theorize the area.

When we mention scholarships in Brazil, we cover between 583 researches among 912 projects that meet our research question: regardless of the experienced and poorly solved Communication conceptual impasse, when considered this whole sample detail, which tendencies and perspectives can be attributed to the construction of the taxonomic nature of the studies in communication?

The systematization of the produced knowledge is possible because of the research themes, validated under two theoretical frameworks, one from Bachelard (1996) and another from Dilthey (2010). In the scientific spirit concept, Bachelard (1996), observes an inflection in the applicability of the research, which we do by investigations carried out with FAPESP´s support. A very long process for a plausible and so young science at the peak of its midlife and that experiences its first secular passage whose sense of construction leads, as Bachelard (1996) himself establishes, the Approximate Knowledge as differential equation of epistemological movement.

The contributions of Dilthey (2010) point to a reality which gives a certain degree of materiality to researchers who understand and interpret phenomena in the construction of concepts and judgments on a social and historical process that revises the conditions experienced in spaces and times that provide a significant assembly faced and assimilated by the spiritual condition of the researcher whose particularities and understandings reconstruct the experiences, from the perspective of the present time, assigning to the produced knowledge, a significance of experiences for the formulation of concepts. Using an empirical approach, researchers attribute meaning to a problem and question it, thus building and validating the scientific spirit, which is not characterized by an opinion on what is not known (BACHELARD, 1996). For Bachelard (1996), without questions, there is no knowledge. And the researcher that settles for the answers obtained has its scientific spirit ceased in growth.

Science: from exercising to financing

At FAPESP, all promotion derives from public money. Analyzing the years 2016 and 2017, the investment in Brazilian scholarships was R$ 69,933,056.14 (6.48%). In 2016, only for scholarships in Brazil, R$ 85,267.060.09 were invested. The amount can be perceived as high if considered its historical evolution in this decade 2011-2020, marked by reduction in investments in Brazil, whose political and financial crisis put science at stake with scholarships cuts, transfer delays, damaged laboratories and researchers’ hands tied by lack of funds.

According to Professor Dr. Esther Império Hamburger⁵, FAPESP can be considered a model of management since, in the decade of 1950, visionaries included in the paulista constitution a rule that researches should be feasible with money originated from state revenues. Hamburger (2017) emphasizes that the Foundation is not indifferent to the events of the world and that although the economic crisis in Brazil has shrunk the revenue, FAPESP does not lose its credibility with assumed investments. But if the revenue decreases, consequently the transfer of resources becomes smaller. The diagnosis is a clash between science and management that explicitly lists administrative decisions with scientific ones.

This reduction makes the job of whom is deciding very painful because you see that people have access in general, handle well the criticism that the referees make, you know, and redo their projects. Then, they improve. And, finally, with this wave of publications, a demand for productivism... They are producing, and are publishing too. This, I think, is not only in our area. It is in general. The level is improving too. The thing is that the areas have more or less scholarships with the proportion of requests

(HAMBURGER, 2017 – Our translation).

The approved works will receive an amount for the development of the research; however, we do not see that research problems are linked directly to this issue. We believe that by seeking the promotion, the researcher wants the funding of its work and that the return of FAPESP is the encouragement and scientific endorsement to knowledge. The public oversight in the relationship between FAPESP and researcher as a kind of contract on behalf of the scientific knowledge exists to sustain the transparency throughout the process. It is evident that the interests are strictly different.

Without specific data, within the organization of FAPESP, the Communication incorporates the set of knowledges of Humanities and Social Sciences, that as Area, was ranked in fifth place in the investments of the institution in 2016⁶ and reached the second place in scholarships hiring with an investment of R$ 80 million in the national scenario that same year. These are evidences of how the investments in the area are still small, a peculiar characteristic that made the professor José Marques de Melo declare to Moura (2014) the little prestige of research in communication from an investment perspective.

Although the financial issue is of greater interest of FAPESP, as an institution, researchers are interested in knowing how the area is being discussed and constructed with the aid of promotion. Therefore, our cut in the thesis general sample involves scholarships in Brazil (Scientific Initiation, Masters, Doctorate, Doctorate (Direct) and Post-doctorate), fellowships abroad (stage for Scientific Initiation Scholarship, Scholarship Internship for Master’s, doctoral scholarship Internship, scholarship and internship for Postdoctoral Research Fellowship) and aid for research (Regular Aid, Aid Publications and Visiting Researcher).

The construction of the sample is given by the data collected from the Virtual Library considering the idea of Campos and Gomes (2007), which identifies the problem that the taxonomy attempts to respond and the volume of aggregate information. So, our problem is to identify what was produced with promotion and the aggregate volume are the samples and results arising from Scholarships in Brazil.

To achieve this goal, four steps were met. To meet the first one, Knowledge Gathering, we accessed the Virtual Library to identify the processes of promotion in communication. In the second step, Analysis of Documents and Information, each process was retrieved and scanned to the identification of elements of information. The third step consisted in the Elaboration of the Classificatory Structure formulating seven categories: (1) Institutions: Colleges and universities, public and private, that adhere to the promotion as a resource for research; (2) Researchers: men and women who conduct researches, considering head researchers and beneficiaries, who are not always the same person; (3) Research Themes: revealed by keywords and cited as research themes; (4) Methodologies: quantification of the types from the projects submitted; (5) References: authors used as theoretical, analyzed by the dichotomy of Brazilian nationality versus foreign; (6) Foreign researchers: Those who have received colleagues or Brazilian students in institutions abroad; and (7) Host Countries: Where researchers conducted their work.

The fourth step was the Validation, with the application of Content Analysis, in quantitative bias to generate Indicators, and in qualitative bias, to generate Inferences. Specifically, in this article, the interest is by the indicators generated by Scholarships in Brazil.

Quantitative scenarios

Among the 912 promoted projects, 583 are linked to Scholarships in Brazil. This amount represents 63.92% of the total number of financed researches as shown in the table below.

Table 1
Scholarships in Brazil

CATEGORY	YEARS	QUANTITY
Scientific Initiation	1992-2016	299
Masters	1992-2016	178
Doctorate	1993-2016	68
Direct Doctorate	2007-2016	2
Postdoctoral	1998-2016	36

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

Scientific Initiation has 299 financed projects, which represents 51.28% of financed research. This means more than half of the studies supported by FAPESP. UNESP (São Paulo State University), with the Faculty of Arts, Architecture and Communication (FAAC), Bauru campus, represents half of the scholarships (50.83%). In second place are USP (University of São Paulo), with 79 scholarships (26.42%); Universidade Metodista de São Paulo; and PUC-SP with 10 scholarships each (3.35%). The following table shows the distribution scenario of these 299 scholarships.

Table 2
Distribution of 299 scholarships in Scientific Initiation

INSTITUTION TYPE	QUANTITY	PERCENTAGE INDEX
Public Universities	250	83.61%
Private Universities	38	12.71%
Colleges	3	1%
Research Institutes	7	2.34%
School	1	0.34%

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

The highest yield (63.55%) is in the countryside of the state of São Paulo. Among these 299, 162 studies had men as advisors (54.18%), while 137 searches (45.82%) were guided by women. The professor that guided most projects was Maximilian Martin Vincent, from UNESP, Bauru campus, with 26 studies. Considering all the research grants, 193 studies (64.55%) were carried out by women and 106 (35.45%) by men.

Scientific Initiation gathered, between the years analyzed, 756 research themes⁷. Journalism responds by 45 entries (5.95%); Press by 18 entries (2.38%); Culture and Censorship, had 15 entries each (1.99%); Public Relations and Theater had 12 entries each (1.59%). In relation to Methodologies, the following features are represented:

Table 3
Methodologies in Scientific Initiation

METHODOLOGY TYPE	NUMBER OF ENTRIES	PERCENTAGE INDEX
Bibliographical Research	29	21.32%
Interview	14	10.29%
Content Analysis	11	8.09%
Documentary Research	9	6.62%
Case Study	7	5.15%
Exploratory Research	6	4.41%
Qualitative Research	6	4.41%
Speech Analysis	6	4.41%
Field Research	6	4.41%
Quantitative Research	4	2.94%
Theoretical Research	3	2.21%
Descriptive Research	3	2.21%

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

To learn about the References adopted in the 299 Scientific Initiation Scholarship, we had to eliminate 269 studies that failed to inform their bibliographic references. In other words, in a total of 30 studies, 64 authors are cited among 74 bibliographical references. The numbers are different because in many cases, despite considering different studies, the authors are cited more than once.

Table 4
Bibliographical references in the Scientific Initiation

AUTHORS	NUMBER OF STUDIES	PERCENTAGE INDEX
Umberto Eco	3	4.05%
Mikhail Bakthin	2	2.7%
J. Greimas	2	2.7%
Jürgen Habbermas	2	2.7%
Meyer	2	2.7%
Benedict Andersen	2	2.7%
Charles S. Peirce	2	2.7%
Gilles Deleuze	2	2.7%

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

Of these 64, 40 related names are foreigners (62.5%), 19 Brazilians (29.69%) and five (7.81%) had not identified the origin due to lack of full name in the summaries of research. As you can see, the number of foreigners is more than twice the national researchers used and identified.

The first impressions of Scientific Initiation analysis are, among the research topics, the predominance of Journalism which can be seen in several ways: Scientific Journalism, Community Journalism, Reportage, Journalistic Interview, to list a few. Press studies follows the influence of this theme. The same occurs with the Communication theme, which is divided, in the researchers view, in Public, Integrated, Visual, Intercultural, in its Philosophy etc... Little approach is perceived in relation to the digital thematic, mainly occupied nowadays by social media; Journalism; Media and Culture. A curious symptom as Scientific Initiation brings together young undergraduate students, although this is justified by the long period in which the Internet has had scale of exploitation and integration to human life, in particular, with the arrival of the 21st century. Finally, the ramification of the area is one of the indicators of its complexity, making it the result of a greater key concept that instead of considering the number of possibilities in which Communication can be studied, encompasses its “own fields” of knowledge.

It is still a notable characteristic that these researchers, at the beginning of their academic life, participate in larger projects, especially in their advisors, and adopt the Bibliographical Research as the main methodological strategy, a plausible condition in this first contact of the young researcher with the knowledge.

Master’s Degree Scholarships (1992-2016)

Among the 583 scholarships granted, 178 were for Master´s degree, which represents 30.53% of the funding. USP concentrates the majority of the scholarships, which was achieved by undergraduate researchers of the School of Communications and Arts (ECA), with 65 scholarships, the equivalent to 36.51% of the funding achieved by the institution. In the private sector, PUC-SP leads with 16 scholarships, corresponding to 8.98% of the benefits granted by FAPESP.

Of these 178 scholarships, 171 have been awarded to Universities (96.06%), and only seven were granted to Colleges (3.94%). When we look at the data from universities, it is possible to establish the numerical differentiation between what is provided to the public and to the private universities. Thus, we need to consider as a base, a total of 171 which is further subdivided into 145 funding for public universities (84.8%) and 26 for private universities (15.2%). The following tables to show this breakdown.

Table 5
Distribution of the 145 Master’s Degree Scholarships to Public Universities

INSTITUTION	NUMBER OF SCHOLARSHIPS	PERCENTAGE INDEX
USP	71	48.97%
UNESP	41	28.28%
UNICAMP	22	15.18%
UFSCAR	10	6.89%
UFABC	1	0.68%

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

Table 6
Distribution of the 26 Master’s degree Scholarships to Private Universities

INSTITUTION	NUMBER OF SCHOLARSHIPS	PERCENTAGE INDEX
PUC-SP	16	61.54%
METODISTA	3	11.54%
S. PAULO
UNIP	3	11.54%
USCS	3	11.54%
UNISO	1	3.84%

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

Table 7
Distribution of the 7 Master’s Degree Scholarships to Private Universities

INSTITUTION	NUMBER OF SCHOLARSHIPS	PERCENTAGE INDEX
CÁSPER LÍBERO	4	57.15%
ESPM	3	42.85%

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

The largest number of scholarships have been granted to the Capital, but the countryside and the region called ABC Paulista also appear in the statistics.

Table 8
Location of Studies with Masters Scholarships in the State

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION	NUMBER OF SCHOLARSHIPS	PERCENTAGE INDEX
S. PAULO - CAPITAL	97	54.50%
S. PAULO - COUNTRYSIDE	74	41.57%
GREAT SAO PAULO (ABC)	7	3.93%

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

All these scholarships had as advisors, 93 men (52.24%) and 85 women (47.76%). As well as in the Scientific Initiation, the professor who guided most in the Master´s program, was Maximilian Martin Vicente, with 10 projects. In relation to the advisees, women predominate: 115 (64.61%) against 63 men (35.39%).

In regards to research themes, the initial survey pointed to 440, however, it was necessary to eliminate 59 surveys that have failed to inform their themes and others that mistook methodologies for research themes. This confusion is recurrent in that regard. Therefore, the actual number is 381 themes on which the samples above 2% will be represented. Indicators show us quite superficial themes, confirming the diversity as an influential variable in the formation of the area.

Table 9
Master’s Research Themes

THEMES	NUMBER OF ENTRIES	PERCENTAGE INDEX
Journalism	18	4.72%
Internet	11	2.88%
Language	10	2.62%
Technology	9	2.36%

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

On methodology, 97 (54.5%) of the 178 studies, did not provide this information. As a result, 81 studies (45.50%) have informed their methodologies, summing up 127 citations. The most representative methodologies exceeded the rate of 5% in the sampling.

Table 10
Research Methodologies in the Masters

METHODOLOGY TYPE	NUMBER OF ENTRIES	PERCENTAGE INDEX
Case Study	14	11.02%
Bibliographical Research	13	10.23%
Qualitative Research	9	7.08%
Documentary Research	7	5.51%
Speech Analysis	7	5.51%

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

When analyzing the Bibliography, a significant number of studies that have not included this information can be noted. Of the 178 scholarships, 146 (82.02%) failed to do so. Information about bibliography are shown in only 32 studies (17.98%), with the authors being referenced 103 times and used in more than one research. The table that follows brings the authors that exceeded 1.5% of representativeness. It timidly shows Brazilian and Latin American literatures present. Possibly, this is justified by the use of the texts of Professor Lúcia Santaella, in investigations of their advisees, which give the PUC a good performance of research in this modality, and also by the presence of a thinker with great transit in Brazilian research in Communication: Jesús Martin-Barbero.

Table 11
Most cited authors in Master’s Studies

AUTHORS	NUMBER OF STUDIES	PERCENTAGE INDEX
Lucia Santaella	3	2.91%
Jacques Lacan	3	2.91%
Mikhail Bakthin	3	2.91%
Manuel Castells	2	1.94%
Maurizio Lazzarato	2	1.94%
Boaventura de Souza Santos	2	1.94%
Christine Greiner	2	1.94%
Jesus Martin-Barbero	2	1.94%
Michel Foucault	2	1.94%
Marshall McLuhan	2	1.94%
Erving Goffman	2	1.94%
J.Greimas	2	1.94%
Dominique Wolton	2	1.94%
Pierre Lévy	2	1.94%
Harry Pross	2	1.94%
Helena Katz	2	1.94%

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

Among the 83 authors cited, it is noticeable, once again, the predominance of foreign literature in the area.

Table 12
Nationality of the authors referenced in Master’s degree

NATIONALITY	AUTHORS	PERCENTAGE INDEX
Foreigners	70	84.34%
Brazilians	10	12.05%
Not identified	3	3.61%

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

When analyzing the bibliographic references data and their nationalities, the Brazilian researcher Lucia Santaella appears as one of the most cited. About the predominance of foreign literature in our Area, she said⁸ that this is History related, after all, the first universities were created during the 11th century, and since then, European thinkers are working for so many centuries. In Brazil, the first universities date as of the 20th century, and she even recalls the beginning of institutional Communication, in the year 1970. For this reason, this most recent character is the justification given by the researcher to the exposed condition. Santaella (2017) emphasizes that “our choices have to be guided by the quality of the information that we seek and find and not by the nationality of the authors. A great thinker has no nationality. He, or she, belongs to the species of thinkers and not to a country”.

As first impressions of Master´s scholarships, the question of subject fragmentation, cited in Scientific Initiation, is recurrent. When we look at methodology, there is balance between Case Study and Bibliographical Research, which signals to specific studies in this phase of the researcher´s education. Among the themes, Journalism is still predominant, but studies on new practices can also be observed, given that Internet & Technology appear among the most representatives.

Doctorate and Doctorate (Direct) Scholarships (1993-2016)

Due to the little representativity of Doctorate (Direct) Scholarships, we decided to bracket this category with Doctorate, which data is equivalent to 25 years, from 1992 to 2016, whereas Doctorate (Direct) started years later with funding research records dating from 2007 to 2016. The low demand for Doctorate (Direct) is not a funding exceptional condition because its adhesion is practically in the post-graduation.

As it is more representative, we started with the Doctoral research. The scholarships for this stage of the researcher’s education sum up to 68 and within the amount of 583 scholarships granted in Brazil, their representativeness is 11.66%. USP, exclusively with ECA, predominates with 43 funded researches, which represents 63.23% of the scholarships. PUC-SP, in the private institution sector, has 19 scholarships, and an index of 27.94%. These 68 scholarships are integrally in universities being 47 (69,12%), in the public ones, and 21 (30,88%), in the private ones, as illustrated in the tables below.

Table 13
Distribution of the 47 Doctorate Scholarships in Public Universities

INSTITUTION	NUMBER OF SCHOLARSHIPS	PERCENTAGE INDEX
USP	43	91.49%
UNICAMP	4	8.51%

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

Table 14
Distribution of the 21 Doctorate Scholarships in Private Universities

INSTITUTION	NUMBER OF SCHOLARSHIPS	PERCENTAGE INDEX
PUC-SP	19	90.48%
METODISTA	2	9.52%
S. PAULO

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

Researchers granted with these scholarships are based in São Paulo, São Bernardo do Campo and Campinas, being the capital of São Paulo the most benefited by the granting of funding.

Table 15
Location of Studies with Doctorate Scholarships in the State

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION	NUMBER OF SCHOLARSHIPS	PERCENTAGE INDEX
S. PAULO - CAPITAL	62	91.17%
S. PAULO - COUNTRYSIDE	4	5.88%
GREAT SAO PAULO (ABC)	2	2.95%

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

For all of these scholarships, there are 38 women (55.88%) responsible for the supervision of research while men are 30 (44.12%). The head researcher, with more scholarships contemplated, was Lucia Santaella, with a total of nine. Among the advisees, figures show that between 1992 and 2016, in Doctorate programs, women were 39 (57.35%) and men were 29 (42.65%). Of these 68 scholarships, 14 that did not mention their themes were excluded and work with the beneficiaries who reported, in 54 (79.41%), 125 themes. The most representative were considered from 1.5% of representativeness.

Table 16
Doctorate Research Themes

THEMES	NUMBER OF ENTRIES	PERCENTAGE INDEX
Organizational Communication	3	2.4%
Journalism	3	2.4%
Interactivity	2	1.6%
Internet	2	1.6%
Digital Media	2	1.6%
Arts	2	1.6%
Contemporaneity	2	1.6%
Fashion	2	1.6%
Design	2	1.6%
Public Relations	2	1.6%
Cultural Identity	2	1.6%
The Cultural Industry	2	1.6%
Television	2	1.6%

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

In the analysis of the use of methodologies, of 68 scholarships granted by FAPESP, 46 (67.65%) had no reference to the methodological adoption while the minority, in other words, 22 scholarships (32.35%), such information was provided with their representativeness considered above 5%.

Table 17
Doctoral Research Methodologies

METHODOLOGY TYPE	NUMBER OF ENTRIES	PERCENTAGE INDEX
Bibliographical Research	7	31.81%
Documentary Research	4	18.18%
Interview	2	9.09%
Semiotics of Culture	2	9.09%
Case Study	2	9.09%
Observation Research	2	9.09%

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

Another important datum, which is part of our analysis and is not cited very often, is the Bibliography. Among the 68 scholarships supported by FAPESP, 44 (64.7%) did not provide this information, it is important to signal the theoretical path in which the research is sustained. In 24 studies (35.3%), authors information is provided and the most cited ones, considering a margin above 5%, are the following.

Table 18
References adopted in Doctoral Research

AUTHORS	NUMBER OF STUDIES	PERCENTAGE INDEX
Charles S. Peirce	5	20.83%
Michel Foucault	2	8.33%
Vladimir Propp	2	8.33%
Arlindo Machado	2	8.33%

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

In the bibliographic references, 69 authors are listed and were distributed according to their nationalities in the table below:

Table 19
Nationality of the authors referenced in Doctorate

NATIONALITY	AUTHORS	PERCENTAGE INDEX
Foreigners	55	79.71%
Brazilians	11	15.94%
Not identified	3	4.35%

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

As cited, due to the lack of representativeness and because it is a funding modality that is not so significant, Doctorate (Direct) appears, among 583 scholarships, with only two (0.34%). The only beneficiary is ECA/USP, which obviously makes it an exclusive funding and 100% of the capital with the same index on the public university context. There are two researchers responsible: Ivan Prado Teixeira and Waldomiro de Castro Santos Vergueiro. The same happens with the beneficiaries, in this case, researchers Celbi Vagner Melo Pegoraro and Thiago Mio Salla. One scholarship has informed its subject, the other has not. The one that informed, brings as its research history, Comic Books, Animation and Artistic Production. None of them mentions methodology and reference authors.

And here it becomes explicit why Doctorate (Direct) is impractical, since it eliminates an important step of the academic life, the Master´s Degree. Whereas in relation to traditional Doctorate, it is possible to say initially that there is greater concern with the current tendencies of processes related to Digital Revolution, when themes such as Internet and Digital Media, arises. In comparison to Scientific Initiation and Masters, even having less funded studies, its perceived that subject fragmentation is not so common, as occurred with Journalism and Communication, and a greater participation of disciplines that form the Communication Area. In methodological terms, Bibliographical Research predominates. Foreign literature predominates, with some Latin authors in the midst of a European majority.

Postdoctoral Scholarships (1998-2016)

In 18 years of scholarships granting, this more mature phase of the researcher represents only 6.18% of the funding in a scenario of 583 supported studies, that means 36 funded scholarships. USP holds the highest number (19), followed by PUC-SP, with 13, UFSCAR and UNICAMP, with two each. All scholarships are in universities, of which 63.88% went to public and 36.12% to private ones, in this case, exclusively, PUC-SP.

Table 20
Distribution of 38 Scholarships in Postdoctoral Programs

INSTITUTION	NUMBER OF SCHOLARSHIPS	PERCENTAGE INDEX
USP	19	52.78%
PUC-SP	13	36.12%
UFSCAR	2	5.55%
UNICAMP	2	5.55%

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

Postdoctoral scholarships were awarded to researchers based in the cities of São Paulo, Campinas and São Carlos. Out of the 36 scholarships, 32 were in the capital, São Paulo, (88.89%) and four (11.11%) in the countryside of the state. They were granted to 19 women (52.78%) and 17 men (47.22%). The researcher who received more scholarships under supervision conditions was Ciro Juvenal Rodrigues Marcondes Filho, from ECA/ USP, with four supervisions.

Among these researchers, five (13.89%) did not inform their research themes, and another 31 of these researchers (86.11%) did. In total, there were 69 themes. Considering the top margin of 1.5%, the Censorship subject appears in the first position (4.34%), being cited three times, followed by Scientific Dissemination (2.89%), that was cited twice. When considering the methodologies, the majority of studies - 23 (63.89%) - also provided information, but this did not occur in 13 studies (36.11%). The methodologies were cited 38 times and the most representative are the above 5% on average.

Table 21
Postdoctoral Methodologies

METHODOLOGY TYPE	NUMBER OF ENTRIES	PERCENTAGE INDEX
Documentary Research	8	21.05%
Case Study	4	10.52%
Film analysis	2	5.26%
Compared Study	2	5.26%
Bibliographical Research	2	5.26%
Observation Research	2	5.26%

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

When it comes to Bibliography, 21 (58.33%) out of 36 postdoctoral scholarships, did not cite the authors used. This piece of information is only available in 15 studies (41.67%). They produced 41 references that may appear in more than one research. Considered the top margin of 2.5%, the most representative authors are Villém Flusser (three citations - 7.35%) and Hans Belting, J.Greimas, Marshall McLuhan, Eric Landowski and Walter Benjamin, all with two citations each and reference of 4.87%. All cited authors reach 34 names and the division, by nationality, is in the table below.

Table 22
Nationality of the authors referenced in Postdoctoral

NATIONALITY	AUTHORS	PERCENTAGE INDEX
Foreigners	30	88.24%
Brazilians	4	11.76%

• Source: FAPESP Virtual Library.

It can be observed, by the data collected, especially in relation to the themes, the interdisciplinarity with other areas of knowledge, such as Neurosciences, Psychoanalysis and Psychology; the fragmentation of the Communication subject and everyday topics that directly address the common aspects of society life. Although when we come to what is more representative there are two work fronts only: censorship and scientific dissemination. In relation to methodologies, there is a greater typification, particularly with regard to Documentary Research. With respect to bibliography, there is a predominance of foreign literature, with a strong influence of European thinkers and authors that move through interdisciplinarity.

Final Considerations

From a quantitative perspective, the analyzed productivity allows us to affirm that Communication is attracting new researchers, which demonstrates to the institutions that undergraduate students may also consider a career as researchers, starting from their chosen course.

As to the scope of the funding, it is evident that the greater engagement is among students in public universities. This is positive, on the one hand, because in such dark times to Brazilian science, the interest for academic research is still surviving; on the other hand, the large amount of scholarships obtained may suggest an “erroneous vision” that FAPESP´s funding is something strictly governmental, destined exclusively to the public education sector. This poses a challenge for private institutions to learn more about the possibility to plead the funding. For this reason, there are references as PUC-SP, one of the centers of excellence that qualify in the Communication Area.

By Centers of Excellence, we considered the institutions with greater number of support and constant presence in obtaining funding in our sample. In addition to PUC-SP (who realized positively this possibility to encourage its students to pursue the funding), we still have USP (whose history is tangled with the history of FAPESP) and UNESP, Bauru campus (which stands out in Scientific Initiation, and Masters), contributing to the formation of new generations of researchers. Although the campus of UNESP in Bauru, ensures the relevance of the state´s countryside, it is still the capital of São Paulo, the destination of those who want to study Communication themes in more depth. However, it is important to highlight the growth of the city of São Carlos, with UFSCAR, and the city of São Bernardo do Campo, with Universidade Metodista, and its 40-year tradition in research, completed in 2018. These tendencies indicate that the institutions of the countryside of São Paulo should venture themselves on requesting scholarships, mainly from Doctorate onwards, and by doing so, achieving a higher score in the area, promoting the decentralization of the great center.

In the advisor/advisee relationship, while the tutors are predominantly male, between the advisees, women obtained the majority of scholarships. This leads to a turnaround possibility in the near future, because, if women are seeking for more scholarships, at FAPESP, the projected future scenario is that they will become advisors in greater numbers.

Among the research themes, Journalism predominates and there is an explanation for that: Journalism is mistaken for and assimilated to Communication itself, being in fact, in our country, the first area of knowledge in which a doctorate was obtained with the work of professor Luís Beltrão. Moreover, Journalism was the initial motivation of studies along the history of research in Communication, and still is essential for the institutionalization of the area.

In relation to methodologies, FAPESP needs to set a higher standard in relation to research data information or, review its database input, because sometimes, there are no indications regarding the use of methodological research, that among all steps of “Scholarships in Brazil”, move towards to the recurrent use of Bibliographical Research. In parallel to this, the bibliographic referential that provided more information was among the Master´s program researchers. It was evident that the area is still relying on foreign literature. The predominance of productions from outside Brazil is extensive and is greater in number among the postdoctoral researchers. In contrast, the type of funding in which many Brazilian authors can be found is Scientific Initiation, which makes sense since the majority of our productions is to discuss the complexity of the field, a crucial question of understanding, debating and provoking for those who are new to the area.

From the point of view of Content Analysis, the qualitative implications arise from some variables of inference built from the samples. The Interest for Research in Communication is confirmed when Scientific Initiation and Masters have great demand for scholarships. In the variable Public University, it is observed that the requirement of exclusive dedication prevents many researchers in training from working while studying; the reduction of government investment has hindered the performance of these institutions, questioned in their representativeness, in a clear denial of our progress as a nation. In Private Universities and Colleges, funding seems to have become tuition for education.

The research object lacks greater systematization due to the great fragmentation that the area experiences in the midst of the false statement that everything is or might become communication. Bibliographical Research is an inherent resource, but not the main one of the research. In relation to interdisciplinary, it is necessary to understand the limits posts with the area of Communication which preserves a systemic weakness in open to other knowledges without prioritizing its roots. And on Geographic Location, capital and hinterland, although similar, if “separate” when the city of São Paulo was confirmed as a major center for studies in communication.

The results achieved are an inventory of the production flow of knowledge to the FAPESP itself so you can view the return given by the researchers, in terms of knowledge, the money invested, without which it is only by means of bureaucratic reports that demonstrate the proper use of public funds. It is possible to say that behind the database of the Virtual Library of FAPESP, there are taxonomic trends that give representation to the Social Sciences, once the scientific researches are validated by technical-scientific body of the Foundation.

About the challenges in the area of Communication, whereas as FAPESP contributes, builds and legitimates the communication, some notes. The contribution is pointed, throughout this article, and denotes as the researchers exploit scientifically its objects. By legitimizing, the area has strong institutional representation, in Brazil, which on the other hand does not have a communicational thought itself. It seems to us that the greatest challenge for the construction of the area of pedagogical framework. A good start, already revealed, is this attraction aroused by the area between the young people who fall in research. In the face of excess foreign bibliography, in principle, we have the chance to show the productive potential of the area. Advancing on this path shows that we can work pedagogically a conceptual model for communication to which it has fewer objects fragmented; know its limits in the face of other areas; add more researchers arisen from in their knowledge; leveling our researchers and their reflections to the theoretical impact from outside. This epistemological sense proposed could begin by post-graduate programs revisiting their production over time.

• 1
  FAPESP defines it as a category of students, without the title of master, who will develop research project that results in thesis.
• 2
  He was born in Palmeira dos Índios, a city located in the Brazilian state of Alagoas, in June 15th, 1943 and died in São Paulo, in June 20th, 2018.
• 3
  The Center for Documentation and Information, stores data about projects that achieved promotion in the most different modalities. The 2016 Activities Report from FAPESP revealed that the Virtual Library accounts, between 1992 and 2016, with 118,583 scholarships in Brazil; 9,392 scholarships abroad and 90,393 registered research aid. Access to the Virtual Library at www.fapesp.br/BV.
• 4
  The year of 2017 was disregarded to avoid the inclusion of ongoing researches.
• 5
  Coordinator of FAPESP CHS II Area, in an interview granted to the author in October 10th, 2017.
• 6
  Until the closing of the thesis, the last Report issued by FAPESP was in 2016.
• 7
  From a total of 801 themes, a total of 45 were extracted from those not informed and those who are mistaken for research methodologies.
• 8
  Interview granted to the author by email on October 3rd, 2017.

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Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  27 Apr 2020
• Date of issue
  Jan-Apr 2020

History

• Received
  25 Oct 2018
• Accepted
  11 Dec 2019