http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20030724/05/

July 24, 2003
Action to stop EU brain drain
EC proposes measures to improve researchers' careers,
but member states will need to act

By Andrew Scott

The European Commission (EC) has set out a range of measures intended to improve the career structure for researchers in Europe. One main aim is to stop the EU brain drain. In its press release, the commission emphasized the need to "prevent Europe's best scientists abandoning their careers in Europe in favour of more lucrative opportunities in the US and elsewhere."

The researcher brain drain is one of the EC's key concerns. It was highlighted in the European Report on Science and Technology Indicators 2003. This document addressed the central problem that 75% of researchers who spend time working in the United States choose to remain there rather than returning home.

Steps now proposed by the commission include developing: a "European Researcher's Charter"; a "code of conduct for the recruitment of researchers"; a common way of evaluating and recording researchers' skills, qualifications, and achievements; advanced training tools; access to adequate funding; and minimum social security benefits for PhD students.

In a statement, European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin said: "Building on recent developments aimed at enhancing the mobility of researchers, such as the European Researcher's mobility portal, the [proposals] represent another important step forward in improving the EU's attractiveness for research talent across the world."

"These measures will help," Enric Banda, secretary general of the European Science Foundation, told The Scientist, "The Commission are doing their best… their efforts are remarkable, but the major responsibility is with member states." Banda feels the member states are making progress in developing more flexible and harmonized career structures and financial systems. But he criticized the slow pace of change, which he described as "on a geological timescale."

Banda emphasized that the problem is not just the brain drain, but also Europe's poor record in attracting skilled foreigners. "We do want to keep our talent, but we also have to import talent from other continents… the low numbers of foreign students in Europe as a whole is ridiculous."

Frederic Sgard, vice president of Euroscience, supports Banda's viewpoint. He told The Scientist, "The commission can only suggest initiatives for governments to apply. They cannot actually do very much except provide a few grants. Most of their ideas are pretty good." He added, "One definite thing the commission could do is improve the recognition of time students spend working abroad, which is not currently recognized well enough in career development if they return."

Like Banda, Sgard emphasized that a flow of talented scientists in both directions would make the brain drain much less of a problem. He said making European career structures more attractive to foreign scientists is a priority. "People tend to talk about the brain drain but I don't think it is the main issue. Unfortunately, science is not a priority for [most] governments in Europe... The commission is doing a good job trying to convince governments they have to tackle that."

Christian de Duve is one of six Nobel laureates who wrote a joint letter to EU leaders in 2002, criticizing the EU's science policy and demanding a doubling of research funds to stem the brain drain to the United States. He told The Scientist, "The situation in continental Europe is certainly not getting any better because the countries are spending less on research than the US and Japan." He feels that EU attempts to improve the situation suffer "paralysis by the excessive bureaucratic rules in the commission, and another factor is that individual member states are not willing to abandon some of their prerogatives to the commission."

And de Duve strongly supports efforts to set up a European research council with significant spending power. He stressed the need for the EU to "establish a central [body] that would allocate resources as they do in the US."

Links for this article
European Commission
http://europa.eu.int/comm/index_en.htm

"Researchers in the European research area: one profession, multiple careers," Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliment, July 18, 2003.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/fp6/mariecurie-actions/pdf/c areercommunication_en.pdf

"Taking action to stop EU brain drain: Commission proposes measures to improve researchers' careers," European Commission press release, July 18 2003.
http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettx t=gt&doc=IP/03/1051|0|RAPID&lg=EN&display

A. Scott, "EU science and technology check-up," The Scientist, March 20, 2003.
http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20030320/08/

Philippe Busquin
http://europa.eu.int/comm/commissioners/busquin/index_en.html

The Researcher's Mobility Portal
http://europa.eu.int/eracareers/index_en.cfm

European Science Foundation
http://www.esf.org/

Euroscience
http://www.euroscience.org/

P. Hagan, "A Nobel cause," The Scientist, June 21, 2002.
http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20020621/03/

L. Spinney, "European Research Council gets thumbs up," The Scientist, February 20, 2003.
http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20030220/05/

H. Gavaghan, "New head for European Science Foundation," The Scientist, June 9, 2003.
http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20030609/03/

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http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20041022/02

Brain drain anger
Germany's 'lost generation' of researchers say the brain drain problem is all too real

By Ned Stafford

Over the past year, Germany's scientific institutions have said repeatedly that brain drain is not a problem for the country. But German scientists who have left the country to find jobs abroad say these pronouncements reflect anything but the truth of the situation.

These scientists see themselves as Germany's "lost generation." Each time a new program is announced to lure young scientists to Germany, they grow more frustrated. Each time members of Germany's scientific establishment insist that brain drain is not a problem, they grow angrier.

In recent weeks, The Scientist was contacted by three expatriate German scientists who bluntly criticized the German Ministry of Education and Research, the German Research Foundation (DFG), and others in the scientific establishment they feel are trying to conceal a problem.

Thomas Michelitsch, a lecturer in the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering at the University of Sheffield, said, "There is no doubt there is a serious brain drain out of Germany." Rainer Klages, a lecturer in applied mathematics, Queen Mary, University of London, agreed: "The problem is simply swept under the rug by the German government."

Florian Frank, a research ministry spokesman, told The Scientist: "At this time, we believe we don't have a brain drain problem." However, he acknowledged that combating brain drain presented Germany with a "permanent challenge, because the scientific world is not a static world."

Markus J. Buehler, a postdoctoral scholar at the California Institute of Technology, said he left Germany for what he feels is a better system for young scientists. In the German system, even after a scientist receives his doctorate, he or she basically remains in the shadow of a professor for the next 10 years, he said.

"I think I have more possibilities here in the US, a better chance to realize my vision," Buehler said. "If Germany wants to attract and keep good scientists, it needs to provide a better atmosphere."

A major complaint from the expats who contacted The Scientist was a severe shortage of permanent research positions in Germany. Klages said that a couple of new highly publicized programs from Helmholtz Association to combat brain drain typify the problem.

One of those programs, the Helmholtz Young Investigators, targets German and non-German scientists abroad no older than 36 years of age who earned doctorates in the previous 2 to 6 years. Only group leaders who fulfill contractual evaluation requirements are guaranteed permanent positions at the end of the 5-year program. A second program, administered jointly by Helmholtz and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), offers fellowships to 27 doctoral and 12 postdoctoral students to work at Helmholtz centers for periods of 1 to 3 years.

Klages said: "Germany is a paradise for people, foreigners as well as Germans, looking for short-term fellowships. There are plenty of sources of money for that, but rarely anything for permanent positions. This guarantees a big pool of highly qualified scientists that can be hired on a come-and-go basis, but there's almost nothing in Germany for a long-term scientific future after you have passed this postdoctoral period in your life."

And there is another problem for Klages. He is 38 years old: "For people like me and others of the 'lost generation,' this initiative doesn't apply because we are over 36."

Klages and Michelitsch were highly critical of a DFG-commissioned study released earlier this year that indicated brain drain was not a serious problem in Germany. The study, which followed career paths of recipients of DFG foreign fellowships, concluded that 85% of scientists who leave Germany for work or research abroad eventually return to jobs in Germany.

Michelitsch said the DFG study was defective because it focused only on people who had received grants to go abroad for limited time periods. "Certainly they have to go back (to Germany) after their grant expires," he said. And he added: "All those who went abroad without a DFG grant from Germany to occupy a paid position, as I do here in Sheffield, are ignored by the study." Michelitsch also claimed that many people counted in the study as having come back to Germany had in fact never left the country.

Cornelia Pretzer, a DFG spokeswoman, defended the findings of the study. She also provided The Scientist with a 4-page statement describing the design of the study from co-author Alexis-Michel Mugabushaka.

In an E-mail, Pretzer said: "We would like to state that the DFG is sorry about each and every brilliant researcher who has decided not to work in Germany. But nevertheless, we appreciate the way especially European scientists work together across borders. And additionally, the study Mr. Mugabushaka conducted states clearly that the problem is not as big as public opinion thinks it is."

Links for this article
N. Stafford, "Brain drain? What brain drain?" The Scientist, December 23, 2003.
http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20031223/03/

Lost Generation
http://www.tu-berlin.de/fb1/AGiW/Cricetus/SOzuC3/ResBetr.htm

Thomas M. Michelitsch
http://www.shef.ac.uk/civil/staff/tmm.html

Rainer Klages
http://www.maths.qmul.ac.uk/~klages/

Markus J. Buehler
http://www.wag.caltech.edu/home/mbuehler/

N. Stafford, "Germany tempts young scientists," The Scientist, August 9, 2004.
http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20040809/02

N. Stafford, "More temptation in Germany," The Scientist, October 5, 2004.
http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20041005/03/

N. Stafford, "German brains not draining," The Scientist, May 13, 2004.
http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20040513/03/