Stupid Economy

University funding crisis to hit new students hard

This article in the Irish Independent puts some meat to the argument that the governments strategy on the Smart Economy is looking more illusionary by the day. Interestingly, it has been picked up by the The Chronicle of Higher Education’s “Global Ticker”:Ireland’s ‘Smart Economy’ Strategy in Question

Europe must do more to build careers for young researchers

Finally, this article in ResearchProfessional.com presents many of the issues in a European context and argues for greater coordination on research careers across Europe and particularly for a change of attitude from Europe’s universities and national education systems:

Marja Makarow
ResearchProfessional.com
Research Europe: Issue 24/6/2010

Europe’s young researchers deserve better. European nations in and beyond the EU are striving to become knowledge economies. That should mean greater investment in education, research and innovation. With traditions of scholarship that began with the founding of the first university in Bologna in 1088 and of modern science that began with Copernicus, Europe is already a fantastic place to do research. But it must become even better to stay ahead of the competition.

While the drive for research begins with personal intellectual passion, I believe the idealism of young people will be inspired by the grand challenges ahead of us: the energy crisis, climate change, food security and the conservation of biodiversity. These are global challenges, and science, humanities, the social sciences and innovation are part of the global answer. So our young researchers really could make the world a better place. Our schools and universities must help them see they can produce results of global importance, and our governments, ministries and universities should be examining ways to enhance careers in research.

But to do this, Europe must act at a pan-European level. The many first-class institutions that fund research tend to act within national borders. They must start forging a common understanding: they must begin working together, designing complementary science policies, and funding greater international collaboration. They must also improve Europe’s collaborative infrastructure: some projects—Cern, ITER and the European Space Agency—are too expensive, ambitious and complex for any one country but could benefit all. So Europe needs strategic thinking about the resources it can offer all its young scientists, and encourage them to compete and co-operate in the wider science community.

We all benefit from such investment. My own university education was in Finland; I did my PhD at the University of Helsinki. But I was fortunate: my post-doctoral research was at an intergovernmental research institute, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg. It really opened my eyes. I began to understand the importance of quality in research: the thrill of working with fellow post-docs of high quality, the privilege of working with supervisors of distinction, and of course the potential of equipment that would simply not be available in any one university. I was in an international environment, working with people from very different backgrounds, and all this added up to an experience much greater than the sum of its parts. I learned to strive for quality, and my own research was better for it because it taught me about collaboration, about the assessment of projects, and about good peer review.

Europe needs to create a climate that offers young people both the incentive and the opportunity for a career in research. The European Science Foundation has hosted a forum for national research funding and performing organisations to discuss the challenge ahead for research careers, and will continue to encourage debate. The next step is to look beyond the Bologna process to create common standards for the different stages of the research career. The European Research Council will certainly encourage mobility, if only because ERC award winners are likely to have had international experience already. And there will be pressure from the student common rooms and the laboratory floor as well: Europe’s best young brains will be constantly pushing for wider experience and greater challenges, and their professors and supervisors too will want the best for them.

But attitudes need to change within Europe’s universities, and within national education systems. We must make sure there are proper career paths for our researchers. After a successful post-doctoral period, a starting principal investigator should be able to look forward to work in an attractive research environment, encouraging the next generation. Some countries offer research awards but no positions thereafter. Some countries separate research and teaching; others recognise that the two academic traditions enrich each other. Young scientists and scholars who have proved their worth must have somewhere to go: a university post, a government laboratory, an international institute, or industry. Researchers are often at their best just when they have begun life’s other great adventure—starting a family. We cannot afford to have our brightest and best surviving on grant after grant, with no security ahead of them, or abandoning research altogether. Europe cannot afford to lose them. There is too much at stake. We need a better world for our young researchers, and they will repay us in turn by building a better world.