The advance in the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge around the world has been causing an increase in public actions to contribute to decision makers at specific levels of competence. Within this context, this study aims to analyze the impact of investments in public policies at the beginning of the academic research chain in Brazil, that is, scientific initiation and regional disparities about it. This research has a qualitative nature and is based on information obtained from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development. As a result of this analysis, it was found that, despite the existence of a legal basis that protects the North, Northeast and Midwest regions, regional disparities are still critical. Additionally, the participation of private Higher Education Institutions in the Scientific Initiation scholarship system is still low, which is mainly due to the low quality of the projects presented by these institutions. Thus, more effective actions to reduce disparities and increase the quality of research in private Higher Education Institutions, such as, for example, the use of clear criteria and scripts in the notices for the evaluation of research projects, must be adopted by the governmental sphere of public policies to foster research in Brazil.