Biophysical Society Bulletin | September 2025

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Around the World Budget Cuts in Science, Technology, and Innovation in Mexico: A Setback for National Development By Eduardo Jardón-Valadez, BPS Ambassador, Mexico

graduate students. Furthermore, they hinder efforts to inter nationalize academic programs and recruit new faculty, thus weakening the pipeline of highly trained professionals. This trend is especially concerning given Mexico’s demo graphic advantage: a majority of the population is under 30 years old—a so-called “demographic bonus” that could serve as a foundation for strengthening the national scien tific community. Yet, current policy priorities appear to favor short-term subsidies and politically motivated infrastructure projects that exceed originally approved budgets, rather than long-term investment in education and innovation. The consequences of these decisions will become increasingly visible in the coming years: slower economic growth, limited technological advancement, and a critical shortage of highly skilled professionals. For a country seeking to transition into a knowledge-based economy, continued disinvestment in sci ence and technology is not only short-sighted but ultimately unsustainable. Advance Your Career Visit the BPS Career Center to search for open positions, upload your resume to allow employers to find you, and find resources and materials to help you with career development! biophysics-jobs.careerwebsite.com

How costly is science for emerging economies? According to the World Bank, in 2023 Mexico had only 272 researchers per million inhabitants working in research and devel opment—a figure comparable to low- to middle-income countries and significantly below the regional average of 583 for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Eduardo Jardón-Valadez

Despite this gap, the Mexican federal budget for 2025 includes a 7.4% reduction in funding for science, technology, and innovation—amounting to a cut of 2.1 billion pesos (ap proximately US$105 million) compared with the 2024 budget. This austerity measure has forced leading public institutions such as Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Uni versidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Cinvestav, El Colegio de México, and Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas to absorb losses ranging from 10% to 15% of their operational budgets. In a 10-year period from 2015 to 2025, investment in science, technology, and innovation decreased from 0.28% to 0.16% of Mexico’s GDP. These cuts directly affect the quality and accessibility of higher education and research in Mexico. They constrain the ability of institutions to support basic and applied research, organize international scientific events, foster global collab oration, and maintain scholarships for undergraduate and

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