📋 Tender Overview
The Ministry of Science, Humanities, Technology and Innovation (SECIHTI) was launched at the beginning of the year and largely takes over the functions of the National Council for Humanities, Sciences and Technologies CONAHCYT. In future, SECIHTI will articulate and coordinate the Mexican state's policy in the field of research, technology and innovation promotion. Rosaura Ruiz Gutiérrez has been entrusted with the management of the ministry.
The creation of the Secretaría de Ciencia, Humanidades, Tecnología e Innovación - SECIHTI is the result of President Claudia Sheinbaum's initiative to strengthen state responsibility in the fields of science, technology and innovation. In November 2024, the decree to reform the Federal Administration Law, introduced by the government, was approved by Congress and published in the Official Gazette, formalizing the integration of the ministry into the country's administrative structure as of January 1, 2025. With the new ministry, CONAHCYT will be dissolved.
SECIHTI will thus become the Mexican government entity that will formulate and implement national policies in the humanities, science, technology and innovation. SECIHTI will also contribute to educational policy, particularly in the higher education sector, in coordination with the Ministry of Public Education (SEP). SECIHTI and SPE will jointly develop curricula and programs for the academic offerings of the country's universities.
The Ministry will design and implement strategic projects through two subsecretariats: for Science and Humanities ( Subsecretaría de Ciencia y Humanidades ) and for Technological Development, Integration and Innovation ( Subsecretaría de Desarrollo Tecnológico, Vinculación e Innovación ). In addition, a department ( Unidad de Políticas Transversales ) will be entrusted with the interdepartmental and interinstitutional coordination of the country's institutions.
The focus of the Mexican research system on solving social problems requires cooperation with scientific and non-scientific actors. Through the new ministry, the Mexican government is bringing together the various members of the National Ecos Network ( Red de Espacio Común de Educación, Ciencia, Humanidades, Tecnología e Innovación - Red Ecos Nacional ); these include other state ministries, federal and municipal administrations, public and private companies, non-university research centers (including SECIHTI), public and private higher education institutions, and civil society. New approaches to project funding had already been developed under Obrador's presidency within the framework of the so-called National Strategic Programs ( Programas Nacionales Estratégicos - Pronaces) and the National Projects for Research and Implementation (Proyectos Nacionales de Investigación e Incidencia - Pronaii).
One of the key tasks of the ministry is to strengthen the scientific community and scientific work through various calls for proposals and scholarships from the National System of Researchers in Mexico ( Sistema Nacional de Investigadoras e Investigadores - SNII ) and the Program for Researchers for Mexico ( Programa de Investigadoras e Investigadores por México ).
In addition to many other responsibilities, SECIHTI is also responsible for promoting
the training of highly qualified human resources for the development of research, dissemination and integration into strategic projects in the fields of humanities, science, technology and innovation;
humanistic, scientific and technological progress through collaboration, cooperation and national and international exchange, as well as through the formulation and promotion of national and international cooperation and mobility programmes;
the institutional strengthening of basic and frontier research and the development of technologies and innovations in all areas of scientific and humanistic knowledge;
the quality of scientific research, technological developments and innovation, ensuring their social benefits and universal access to scientific and humanistic knowledge.
The Ministry also manages the National University of Rosario Castellanos and the University of Health and coordinates the National System of Public Centers of SECIHTI ( Sistema Nacional de Centros Publicos - CP SECIHTI ).
Rosaura Ruíz Gutiérrez was designated as the first incumbent of the new department . She studied and received her doctorate in biology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and specialized in the study of evolutionary theories. Before her appointment as minister, she was director of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at UNAM, president of the Mexican Academy of Sciences and head of the Secretariat for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation in Mexico City.
As part of the reform of the Federal Administration Act, a department for digital transformation and telecommunications ( Agencia de Transformación Digital y Telecomunicaciones - ATDT) was established. It is intended to drive forward Mexico's digital transformation, including the digitization of public administration processes, and thereby contribute in particular to the fight against corruption. The ATDT will also take over responsibility for telecommunications policy, which was previously located in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport (SCT). In conjunction with this, the Mexican Space Agency and the Center for Research and Innovation in Information and Communication Technologies (INFOTEC), among others, will be placed under the ATDT.
