FGV is among world’s 10 best think tanks

Fundação Getulio Vargas is among the world’s 10 best think tanks, according to the 2016 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report, published today by the University of Pennsylvania. FGV climbed four positions since the last evaluation, in 2015, from 13th to 9th place. The institution has now been ranked the best think tank in Latin America for eight years in a row, and this year it reached the top in another very significant category: it was rated the best managed think tank in the world.

“These results are due to our teamwork and motivation. Grounded in the national interest, for 20 years we have dedicated ourselves to building our institution’s success,” says FGV’s president, Carlos Ivan Simonsen Leal. In his view, this year’s achievement now poses a new challenge: “It will be hard to remain there, among the top 10, and it will also depend on how the Brazilian economy performs. The battle will be even tougher now.”

Within international rankings, Leal notes the importance of observing not just FGV’s positions, but also its geographical location: “South of the Equator there are very few think tanks with the musculature needed to compete among the best in the world. FGV stands out despite being in the Southern Hemisphere and despite Brazil’s crisis, because it is our duty to excel. We are an exception, a very special thing.”

He also points out the big difference between the robust budgets of American, English and German think tanks, for example, and those of think tanks south of the Equator: “Those in our region are much leaner, limiting their scope for success. This bears out the opinion of the people who voted for FGV. We only managed to get into the top 10 because we are the best managed think tank in the world, not only from an administrative perspective, but also a strategic one.”

This year, FGV improved its ratings in 8 of the 23 categories in which it was nominated. In addition to its leadership in Latin America and its recognition as the world’s best-managed think tank, it also performed well in the Social Policy (9th place) and New Idea or Paradigm Developed by a Think Tank (10th place) categories.

The University of Pennsylvania’s Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program has been producing this ranking since 2006, based on assessments of nearly 7,000 think tanks across the world. The full report will soon be available on the Global Go To Think Tank Index website.

About think tanks

Think tanks are organizations that carry out independent research, generate engagement in crucial subjects, and develop innovative solutions to problems in areas such as the economy, technology, public and social policies, foreign policy, strategic policies, and business policies.

The role of these centers is to analyze public policies, find ways around obstacles, devise solutions, and promote knowledge and discussion among society.