This article aims to identify what are the autonomy spaces and the organizational and managing flexibility of public research organizations in Brazil, given the limits imposed by its legal framework and the consequences for the accomplishment and performance of institutional missions. In order to do it, different experiences on organizational restructuring, legal models and legislation of public research institutes in Brazil and around the world were analyzed, and two case studies with Brazilian public research institutes were presented - the National Institute of Space Research (Inpe) and the National Center for Information Technology Renato Archer (CTI) -, both belonging to the federal administration and governed by the same legal framework. The conclusions point out for the existence of degrees of managing freedom, which bring perspectives of flexibility and autonomy that could be used and explored in different ways and expanded by this kind of organization.
R&D management; governance of R&D; legal framework; public research organizations