Research In Uruguay

For 35 years, research in psychology was conducted at the Laboratory of Psychopedagogy of the Instituto Normal de Montevideo. Most of this research was published in the Bulletin of the Laboratory of Psychopedagogy from 1943 to 1961. To a lesser extent, other laboratories, both past and present, published the results of their research in journals.

Nowadays, most research in psychology is carried out by academics at the School of Psychology who apply for funding from the Research Commission of the University of the Republic (CSIC). There are two types of research grants: Initiation to Research, which seeks to promote independent scientific scholarship among young academics, and Research and Development, which support broader and more complex investigative programs. The quality of the projects submitted for funding has improved since 2005 so that the number of investigations underway has increased considerably. Two research centers were created at the University of the Republic in last years (Clinical Psychology Research Center, and Basic Psychology Research Center). Also, an important number of Uruguayan academics in psychology working overseas were hired, improving the research programs and number of faculty staff with doctorate degree.

In addition, funding from the National Agency for Innovation and Research (ANII) had become more required by researchers from all Universities, specially from the UCUDAL . Also, many of them had been listed as national researchers for ANII standards. Some international organizations (e.g., the U.N., NGOs) also finance research designed to increase understanding of issues and problems that bear on the policies and practices of these organizations.

To a lesser extent, research is done at the Uruguayan Society of Psychoanalytic Psychosomatics and at the Department of the Medical Psychology, School of Medicine – Hospital de Clínicas.

Concerning ethical aspects, recently the government approved the Statute N° 379/008, regulating research with humans. It clearly state mandatory ethical practices for researchers, such as type and characteristics of informed consent, the use of research protocols and the role of the Ethics and Research Committees that every Institution carrying out research should have. It also creates the National Commission of Ethics in Research.

(adapted from Uruguay National Overview by Alejandro Vasquez Echeverria)