Creation of CNPq

The creation of the National Research Council (CNPq) on January 15, 1951 is the defining milestone of the institutionalization of modern science in Brazil. Born from a strategic alliance between the military and scientists, the agency emerged with a dual mission: to promote scientific development across all fields and, as a priority, to coordinate nuclear energy policy and the control of strategic minerals.

In the post-war period, science had reached a new level of global prestige, symbolized by "Big Science" (such as the Manhattan Project), which tied technological progress to national security.

In Brazil, scientists were calling for state support and the military was concerned about ensuring sovereignty over uranium and thorium deposits.

The institutional model was inspired by funding agencies in the US, Canada and France, alongside UNESCO recommendations.

1. January 1951
   President Eurico Gaspar Dutra signs Law No. 1,310, creating CNPq as an autonomous body reporting directly to the Presidency.
2. April 1951
   President Getúlio Vargas appoints Admiral Álvaro Alberto as the agency's first president.
3. Early tenure
   The Council takes over the control of atomic mineral exports and sets up the national system of research grants and scholarships.
4. Tech push
   At its first deliberative meeting, CNPq already discussed acquiring a synchrocyclotron (particle accelerator) to train Brazilian technicians.

CNPq shaped the institutional backbone that would later host the entire Brazilian nuclear effort. It anchored the fight for technological sovereignty, coordinated the response to the 1956 crisis that led to the birth of CNEN, and to this day remains the main federal agency financing science and technology in the country.