THE IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS IN SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTIVITY

Fifty Brazilian scientists working in life sciences were interviewed i n order to explore reasons of bursts and falls in their scientific pro ductivity. Scientists recognize specific periods of time of their care er during which they are more productive. Bursts of productivity are i nfluenced mainly by human relationships and, to a lower extent, by mat erial conditions (equipment, grants, etc), time dedicated to work and reasons linked to the kind of work carried out. The most productive sc ientists tend to attribute more importance to human relations than the ir colleagues with lower productivity scores. Some possible reasons fo r this discrepancy are discussed.